Whitney Houston was born on August the 9th, 1963 in Newark, New Jersey. She was the daughter of Cissy Houston, a critically-acclaimed but commercially less successful gospel singer. She was also the cousin of Dionne Warwick. Whitney began singing at age 11 with the gospel group New Hope Baptist Junior Choir. As a teen, she worked as a backup singer for Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls. She then began a modelling career in 1981, posing on the front cover of Seventeen and in Glamor magazine.
Her big break came in a few years when Clive Davis of Arista records discovered her and "saw the gift of stardom in her eyes". Soon she began a singing career and became a valuable asset for Arista. In fact, during the Bodyguard's peak success, she sold a million a week and got a 6 million certification in only 2 months. Arista held the monopoly of record sales with just a single album. In her contract, a clause was included, even, saying that if Clive should leave Arista, Whitney would be coming with him. Soon, Whitney began recording material Clive had carefully chosen for the debut album. Songs included two duets with Jermaine Jackson and one with Teddy Pendergrass. But it wasn't those tracks that highlighted the release of the album. "Whitney Houston" was an album composed mostly of ballads. These ballads showcased the power of Whitney's voice, a pure flawless soprano. "Whitney Houston" featured tracks like "Saving All My Love For You", "Greatest Love Of All" and "All At Once", which all brought 
out the best in her. Out of ten tracks, only two dance tracks were included. "Someone For Me" and "How Will I Know" were overshadowed by the beauty of her ballads. The first single "Someone For Me" was not particularly successful in Europe where it was released but the first release in the US, "You Give Good Love" was released to "establish Whitney in the black community". "You Give Good Love", an R&B influenced track, produced by Kashif and written by Lala, soon became a crossover pop-R&B hit. It also reached sales of over half a million, becoming a gold single. Soon enough, she reached no. 1 on the R&B charts and no. 3 on the pop charts. But it was the second single, "Saving All My Love For You" that established Whitney as a major force in the music industry. "How Will I Know" and "Greatest Love of All" reached number one as well as "Saving All My Love For You" and brought the album up to number one for 14 weeks, selling 12 million copies in the US alone and 20 million worldwide. The album also managed to outsell Madonna's True Blue in the US, her major competitor at that time. Madonna's album racked up 7 million sales, unable to match the 9 million sales of its predecessor, "Like A Virgin". Whitney's debut album held the title of the biggest selling debut album by a female artist for over a decade until Alanis Morrissette surpassed "Whitney Houston" with "Jagged Little Pill", which has racked up 14 million sales so far in the US alone.
Whitney's second album, Whitney, was the first ever album by a female artist to enter at number one. It also produced 4 number one hits, the most from a single album at that time. These included the dance-pop single of 1987, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody", the ballads "Didn't We Almost Have It All" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" and another dance hit, "So Emotional", a gold record for her. This record was beaten a year later by Michael Jackson who managed to get 5 #1 hits from his "Bad" album. "Whitney" was pure pop at its best. "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" is one of those songs that stays in your head for ages and won't get out. It was the only platinum single in 1987 and it easily topped the pop, AC, airplay and sales charts. It also peaked at number 2 on the R&B charts. "I Wanna Dance With Somebody"'s cute ending and wonderful video is one of those classics. Other tracks on the album included the romantic ballads "Didn't We Almost Have It All" and "You're Still My Man", both written and produced by 
Michael Masser, who produced most of the ballads on "Whitney Houston". Narada Michael Walden produced seven of the eleven tracks on "Whitney" including "I Wanna Dance With Somebody", "So Emotional" and "Love Is A Contact Sport". These songs quickly became popular dance hits and classics. Other wonderful tracks include the magical duet with her mother, "I Know Him So Well", taken from a Broadway production and remade to give a magical ending to the album. "For The Love Of You" was an R&B ballad which even managed to get nominated even without single release. "Whitney" remains one of Houston's most beautiful album to date, wound together perfectly. It also became a huge success, making 9 million sales in the USA. Whitney also got best pop female vocal performance grammy for "I Wanna Dance With somebody". Earlier, she also got one for "Saving All My Love For You". "Love Will Save The Day", the fifth single from "Whitney" did not match the success of her first 4 hits, peaking at number 9.
Whitney took a long break from album-making. She did however have small projects to continue her dominance in America. Her next single, "One Moment In Time" reached no. 1 in the UK and no. 5 in the US, providing inspiration to many athletes during the 1988 Summer Olympics. Other projects between 1988 and 1990, included contributions to "Heaven", an album by Bebe and Cece Winans, her good friends. She also contributed a christmas song, "Do You Hear What I hear" and a duet with Aretha Franklin, "It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be" peaking at no. 41 on the pop chart.
Whitney's third album, "I'm Your Baby Tonight" was disappointing to her fans, after about 3 years after the release of "Whitney". The new album was R&B flavored and included many dance numbers. This type of music was highlighted by hip-hop influenced dance tracks like "I'm Your Baby Tonight" and "My Name Is Not Susan" as well as the Whitney-produced track "I'm Knockin'". She also tried more R&B ballads like "I Belong To You" and "Lover For Life". This album was full of variety, including other songs that were reminiscent of her old ballads like "All The Man That I Need" and "Miracle". Coming into the nineties, Whitney was willing to change and settle for less "pop" material. "I'm Your Baby Tonight" and "All The Man That I Need" reached no. 1 on the singles charts, but the album reached only number 3, selling 4 million copies. This seemed disappointing after the success of "Whitney Houston" and "Whitney". The album was overshadowed by newcomer Mariah Carey's 8 million selling self-title debut smash. It seemed like Whitney was fading away. But she proved her fans wrong.
"The Bodyguard" was Whitney's first major acting role and for a rookie, she did a great job. The film grossed over 400 million dollars worldwide and was a box-office smash. Whitney's acting was superb with Kevin Costner as the leading man. Whitney's movie making success established her as an actress as well as a singer, making her one of the most powerful women in show-biz. To match the success of the hit movie, the soundtrack created another peak in her career. The first release, "I Will Always Love You" went to number one in only 2 weeks of its release to stay at the top for 14 weeks in the US and 10 in the UK. In the US, it sold 4.6 million copies, the single alone. It has become the biggest selling commercial single in the US of all time. It also sold 8 million worldwide, 1.7 million in the UK. The album sales were just as phenomenal. Around the world, it sold 33 million copies and in one week in the US, it sold 1 million copies. The singles, "I Have Nothing" and "I'm Every Woman" also went gol
d and "Run To You" and "Queen of the Night" were big hits overseas. "The Bodyguard" showcased Whitney's balladeering power once again. "I Will Always Love You", "I Have Nothing" and "Run To You" showcase Whitney's voice, from a soft whispering sound to a loud earth-shattering note she holds for many seconds. "I Have Nothing" was another David Foster produced single. The production itself was as wonderful as the singing and together, it made #1 for 6 weeks on the airplay charts in the US. "I'm Every Woman" was a remake of Chaka Khan's original hit. In fact, Chaka Khan wouldn't let anyone do a cover version of her #23 hit, but in Whitney's case, she said "I'll let you Whitney because you're every woman." It was a wise choice as the song promptly went to number 2 on the airplay charts. "Queen of the Night" was a different kind of song and Whitney's first shot at songwriting that ended up on an album. It was co-written by her "I'm Your Baby Tonight" collaborators L.A. Reid and Babyface. "Queen of the Night" had a tough sound and was very different from her other songs. Perhaps the most underrated track in "Bodyguard" would be "Jesus Loves Me" her gospel song which was really beautiful and Whitney made it really special. Soon after, Whitney took a break, giving birth to a baby girl, Bobbi Kristina after marrying Bobby Brown earlier.
"Waiting To Exhale" became Whitney's second movie and it was not as successful as the Bodyguard but it was a beautiful story nonetheless. Forrest Whitaker directed the movie. It was about four women trying to find love and career success. Whitney once again proved her acting skills. The soundtrack established Whitney as an R&B singer more and more. "Exhale", "Count On Me" and "Why Does It Hurt So Bad" were Whitney's 3 contributions to the Soundtrack and it sold 8 million copies in the US. "Exhale" made number 1 on the R&B for 8 weeks. "Count On Me" was a beautiful duet with Cece Winans, her good friend, and it went gold. "Why Does It Hurt So Bad"'s performance in the MTV Movie Awards was included in the maxi-single of the track. It included remixes of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" by Junior Vasquez. The song peaked at #26. The soundtrack was not supposed to include Whitney singing in it as she didn't want the commercial success of the album to overshadow the movie success. But in the end, she was convinced by Forrest Whitaker and Babyface to sing three tracks. The other tracks were sung by various female singers including Mary J. Blige, Brandy, Faith Hill, Aretha Franklin and Chaka Khan. The album became a smash, hitting #1 in the midst of competition.
"The Preacher's Wife" has gone on to become one of the most beautiful albums ever made by Whitney. It steps away from all the "pop" that's highlighted her career to go back to her roots, in gospel where she sang as a kid. "I Believe In You And Me" hit number 4 in the US charts and became her fourth platinum single. "The Preacher's Wife" may not be as commercially successful but it is certainly a beautiful part of Whitney's career, where she sings gospel, a daring move for Whitney. In fact, the album is fast approaching 3 million copies in the US.
"Step By Step" became Whitney's 16th gold single, being a big sales hit, but received minimal airplay. "My Heart Is Calling" will accompany the release of "The Preacher's Wife" on video. The song, produced by Babyface, is R&B influenced. Other tracks like "You Were Loved" and "Somebody Bigger Than You And I" are pop-R&B tracks that prove to be powerful in their own right. However, gospel tracks like "Who Would Imagine A King", "Joy" and "I Go To The Rock" are pure gospel and sung by Whitney in a beautiful fashion.
Whitney has worked with many producers over the years including Narada Michael Walden who produced hits like "How Will I Know", "So Emotional", "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" and "I'm Every Woman". Narada Michael Walden's style is very unique and his strength lies in producing upbeat dance music for our diva. Walden was mainly responsible for the best-selling "Whitney" album where he also managed to produce great ballad hits like "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" and "For The Love of You". Whitney has worked with Michael Masser known for producing most of Whitney's hits in the past. Whitney says "she can hear the mountains and the valleys" when she works with Masser. Masser has produced hits like "Greatest Love of All", "Saving All My Love For You", "Didn't We Almost Have It All" and "All At Once". He has since stopped producing for Whitney after one production in the "I'm Your Baby Tonight" album, "After We Make Love" which was overshadowed by many more powerful tracks.
Whitney has also worked with Babyface recently since her 1990 album "I'm Your Baby Tonight". Babyface's R&B style is reflective over such numbers as "Exhale", "Miracle", "Why Does It Hurt So Bad" and "You Were Loved". Babyface also produces a few of Whitney's dance numbers including the highly upbeat "Queen of The Night" and the R&B influenced dance grooves "My Name Is Not Susan" and "I'm Your Baby Tonight". Babyface is like a brother to Whitney, she states. She states how their chemistry works and how Babyface can say something on the phone and she can get it quickly. In fact, the "Exhale" chorus of "shoop shoop" came about when Babyface (Kenny Edmonds) ran out of words!
David Foster is another producer who has worked with Whitney for a long time. He is best known for his productions in the 16 times platinum "Bodyguard" soundtrack including the hit ballads "I Will Always Love You", Houston's biggest hit, "I Have Nothing", her second biggest airplay hit of her career and recently, the beautiful ballad "I Believe In You And Me", the single version. Foster hits the drums and gives her ballads a powerful sound to it. His wonderful productions were present in 3 Whitney Houston tracks on the "Bodyguard", all became hit singles.
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