 "Photo: MCT Wire Service")
Once upon a time, Whitney Houston was the biggest name in music. With more than 170 million albums sold, seven consecutive number one singles (and a total of 11 number one hits) and over 400 awards, including six Grammys, she was one of the most accomplished singers the world had ever known. She won an Emmy Award, a trophy often given to those in the acting and TV-centric fields, for just performing at the 28th Grammy Awards. Her vocals were recognizable everywhere.
For a brief time, she was also one of the biggest box-office draws. Her starring vehicles "The Bodyguard" (1992), "Waiting to Exhale" (1995) and "The Preacher's Wife" (1996) were box-office hits and have become regulars for weekend TV movies. Her sole TV acting gig, as the fairy godmother in "Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella", featured a multi-ethnic cast, including singer-actress Brandy as Cinderella. It drew 60 million viewers and earned Houston an Emmy nomination for producing.
Whitney Houston had The Voice. She also had a personality just as big as that Voice.
At the beginning of her career, she was presented as a good girl, the one who could do no wrong. Everyone adored her.
But then the good girl image faded away. Many speculate that it was her marriage to troubled singer Bobby Brown that caused her downfall. And her troubles with drugs and public humiliations soon overshadowed her talent.
Despite the tabloid accounts and an arrest in 2000 for marijuana possession, it was a 2002 interview with Diane Sawyer that strongly confirmed the downward spiral Houston had placed herself in.
"If you had to name the biggest devil (for you) among them?" asked Sawyer.
"That would be me," she replied, followed by a chilling smile right into the camera.
Watching that clip now online is more painful that it was 10 years ago on network television. One of the most watched interviews in broadcast history, tens of millions of people tuned in for the downward spiral and were introduced to the phrase "Crack is wack." Those three words launched a thousand jokes, comedy sketches and t-shirts but not before instantly overshadowing an entire career for an incredibly gifted yet troubled woman.
"Once again, the world watched an artist slowly and painfully self-destruct, and no one did a damn thing to stop it," wrote Jim DeRogatis of WBEZ in his blog Feb. 13.
It was devastating to hear that Whitney had passed away, but let's be honest—it wasn't much of a surprise.
She would eventually leave Brown and take custody of their daughter, Bobbi Kristina, but it seemed that the best of her had died long ago, somewhere between the crack-cocaine sessions and the fights between her and Brown. In a 2009 interview with Oprah Winfrey, her voice had become brittle. The then 46-year singer looked great for her age, but when she spoke, she sounded much older. When she performed a song from her now-final studio album to Oprah's audience, The Voice was gone.
Whatever had happened behind the scenes, one cannot deny the power of that Voice. Many people have long admired her for being able to deliver such towering performances.
"That Voice, there was something about that voice that touched you deeply than anybody else that was emulating her," said singer Gladys Knight.
In more than one occasion, The Voice was deemed a national treasure. Her rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl in 1991, which was held days after the start of the first Iraq War, is one of the most heart-rending songs ever recorded. I dare you to listen to this song and have a dry eye at the end. It was one of the first songs I heard after the September 11th attacks, giving it even more weight. "Gave proof to the night/That our flag was still there."
She inspired countless singers, from Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera to Robin Thicke and Jennifer Hudson, who delivered a remarkable performance of "I Will Always Love You" at last week's Grammy Awards. But her extraordinary vocals weren't the only influence. She was the first black female artist to have a music video in heavy rotation on MTV. "How Will I Know" was her breakthrough to the masses, and it won a Video Music Award for Best Female Video in 1986.
She was also the first artist to sing ballads and have those ballads become smash hits. "She had to fight for air play with hard rockers," wrote Richard Corliss for TIME Magazine. It was a bold move to have the first 45 seconds of "I Will Always Love You" unaccompanied by any music. The ballad allowed her to showcase those vocals she had been training since she was a little girl, singing choir and backup for her gospel singer mother.
There are many artists and songs who wouldn't exist without Whitney coming first to perform the love ballads. Without "I Will Always Love You", there would be no "Unbreak My Heart" by Toni Braxton, "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion, "Fallin'" by Alicia Keys, "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera or "Someone Like You" by Adele.
Those songs, as well as hers, have become the soundtrack to countless romances and breakups.
I will always remember her first and foremost as The Voice. My personal favorite is "I'm Your Baby Tonight" (1990), one of my favorite 90s songs. She sounds like she's having a great time on that track. She gave us so much of herself in each song.
Whitney Houston has secured herself a place as one of the greatest singers in music. R.I.P. The Voice.