Biography
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American R&B and pop singer, actress, and former fashion model. Recognized by Guinness World Records as the most awarded female artist ever, her accolades include 2 Emmy Awards, 6 Grammy Awards, 16 Billboard Music Awards, and 22 American Music Awards, totaling 415 career honors by 2010. Houston ranks among the world's top-selling music artists, with over 170 million albums and singles sold globally.
Influenced by notable soul singers in her family, such as her mother Cissy Houston, cousins Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick, and godmother Aretha Franklin, Houston started singing in her New Jersey church's junior gospel choir at age 11. She performed with her mother in New York City nightclubs before being discovered by Arista Records' Clive Davis. By 2011, she had released six studio albums and three movie soundtracks, all earning diamond, multi-platinum, platinum, or gold certifications.
Her 1985 debut album, Whitney Houston, set the record for the best-selling debut by a female artist at that time. The follow-up album, Whitney (1987), was the first by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Houston's widespread success on popular music charts and MTV, highlighted by her video for "How Will I Know," paved the way for other African-American female artists. She made her acting debut starring in the 1992 film The Bodyguard, whose soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The lead single, "I Will Always Love You," remains the best-selling single by a female artist in history. The album ranks fourth among the top-10 best-selling albums by a female artist.
Houston continued her film career and soundtrack contributions with Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher's Wife (1996). Three years after releasing her fourth studio album, My Love Is Your Love (1998), she renewed her contract with Arista Records. Her fifth studio album, Just Whitney, came out in 2002, followed by the holiday-themed One Wish: The Holiday Album in 2003. Despite extensive media coverage of personal and professional challenges, Houston ended her 14-year marriage to singer Bobby Brown in 2006. In 2009, she released her seventh studio album, I Look To You.
The above description is adapted from the Wikipedia article on Whitney Houston, licensed under CC-BY-SA, with a full list of contributors available on Wikipedia.
30 wins and 59 nominations
