Originally published by L.S. Media. February 12th 2012. 
In the early hours of Sunday the 12thFebruary, the news wires that had been quiet except from the fall out and the disintegration of Syria and the non-handshake that dominated the football match between Manchester United and Liverpool suddenly exploded with the news that American singing legend Whitney Houston had passed on at the age of 48.
The multi-award winning singer had music in her veins and her talent shone through at a very young age. The daughter of Emily ‘Cissy’ Houston, cousin of Dionne Warwick and god-daughter of soul legend Aretha Franklin had it all, a voice that sold millions upon millions of records, a film career and a host of Grammy Awards to her name but she also had the flip side of drug addiction and a marriage that if not abusive then certainly bad for her.
Although at this time the cause of death is unconfirmed, it has long been noticed that Whitney Houston had not been well and many of her closest friends had commented on her state of mind and ill health.
Miss Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1963 and went onto become a singer, actress, model, producer and became the most awarded female artist of all time. These included Two Emmy Awards, Six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards in amongst a total of 415 awards.
She began singing at her local church junior gospel choir at the age of 11 and began performing alongside her mother Cissy in the nightclubs of New York. Her future was assured after singing background vocals for Chaka Khan’s 1978 hit I’m Every Woman when she was just 15, from there, her future was assured. In time would be the only recording artist to chart seven consecutive no 1 Billboard 100 hits. There was no stopping this prestigious talent when you consider the songs that she recorded included Saving All My Love, the bouncy I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) and the lead single from the film The Bodyguard, I Will Always Love You. The original soundtrack for this film propelled her beyond anything anybody had done before when she became the first act (male or female, solo or group) to sell more than a million copies of an album within a single week.
Miss Houston continued to act after the success of The Bodyguard and starred in films such as Waiting to Exhale and The Preachers Wife and also created many of the much loved songs for the soundtracks.
At Super Bowl XXV in 1991 and with the United States embroiled in the 1st Gulf War, Whitney Houston performed a stunning rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Due to the overwhelming response it was released as a commercial single and reaching as high as the American Top 20. This made her the only act to turn the National Anthem of the United States of America into a pop hit of such magnitude. Rolling Stone Magazine at the time commentated that “her singing stirs such strong patriotism. Unforgettable.”
In 1992 Whitney Houston married singer Bobby Brown and it was a marriage that produced one daughter but also bad press and negativity. Rumours of drug abuse circulated and followed her around for the later part of her life. In 2002 Whitney Houston recorded an interview with Diane Sawyer to promote her new album, during the show she spoke candidly on many subjects including the rumours of drugs, she said that “First of all, let’s get one thing straight, Crack is cheap. I make too much money to ever smoke crack…We don’t do that. Crack is wack.”
It is without doubt a stark reminder of the pressure of so called celebrity and fame that will endure as words that will go along with the image of her singing the Dolly Parton song I Will Always Love You over the next few weeks until it is disclosed how Whitney Houston died.
Whitney Houston, born August 9th 1963- Died February 11th 2012.