Last Saturday, February 11, 2012, pop superstar Whitney Houston died at the age of 48.
To many, she was known as “The Voice.” Whether you first grew to love her through her many smash hit songs or, like me, her portrayal of Brandy’s fairy godmother in the 1997 musical version of Cinderella, Whitney Houston’s iconic vocal talent resonated with all who heard her.
Houston was born and raised in New Jersey where she was an active member of her church’s gospel choir. She
spent her teenage years singing in nightclubs and modeling for magazines such as Seventeen before releasing her eponymous debut album in 1985. Her first three albums were met with great critical and popular claim and, in the 1990s, she ventured into the world of film, acting in The Bodyguard, The Preacher’s Wife, and, one of my childhood favorites,Cinderella.
After years of success, Houston began a tumultuous marriage to R&B singer Bobby Brown and later suffered from problems with drug abuse. Unfortunately, her personal life eventually interfered with her career. At the time of her death, Houston had not been able to regain the success of her promising early career. She was found submerged in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills and was pronounced dead half an hour after paramedics arrived. Although the cause of her death is still unknown, some speculate that it was related to her frequent drug use.
Like many singers before her, Whitney Houston is gone much too soon. Despite her early death, she will continue to influence generations of music-lovers to come and demonstrate that music is really the “Greatest Love of All.”
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Brandeis chapter.