By Kate Henshaw
“She was not more than three feet away from me the whole night. She was quite tired because we partied the whole night and that is how I would like to remember her”.

Dated February 12, 2011 filed photo shows US singer Whitney Houston performing onstage during the 2011 Pre-Grammy Gala & Salute to Industry Icons, with Clive...Source: AFP

That was Kelly Price talking about the lady with one of the most incredible voices I have ever heard. She had performed a duet with Whitney Houston on Thursday, February 9,2012, at a Pre-Grammy award party. Whitney Houston was found dead in the bath of her Beverly Hilton Hotel room on Saturday. She was found with her head under water in the bath, but an autopsy has ruled out drowning as there was not enough water in her lungs to signify that.

The exact cause of her death is yet to be determined though there were medicines prescription found in the hotel room. Her 18-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina was rushed to the hospital to be treated for stress. Whitney Houston was billed to perform at the Grammy awards on Sunday, February 12,2012. She was 48 years old.

Unless you were born in the last 10 years, you will know Whitney Houston,and would have swayed to or been serenaded by many of her chart-topping songs. Whitney Houston was born on August 9, 1963, in Newark, New Jersey to gospel great Cissy Houston, cousin to both Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick and goddaughter to Aretha Franklin. Houston’s upbringing was the embodiment of musical greatness. She began singing in church,and in the night clubs of New York (Clive Davies spotted her in a nightclub) and was a model before being signed on by Arista Records.

She has also starred in a few films namely: “THE BODYGUARD”, “WAITING TO EXHALE”, “THE PREACHER’S WIFE”. Sony Pictures has announced that it would release the superstar’s final film, “SPARKLE”, which is loosely based on the story of the Supremes, in August.

Whitney Houston released her debut album, “Whitney Houston” in February 1985,to wide acclaim. The single “Saving All My Love For You” was an instant hit in 1985, and that brought her into the lime light. She won her first Grammy in 1986. At the height of her career in 1980s and 90s, she won many awards and enjoyed several number one singles and albums. Her rendition of Dolly Paton’s “I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU” is still the best selling single by a female artiste of all time.

Her marriage to Bobby Brown which ended in 2007, was quite a volatile relationship. The tempestuous marriage was with allegations of domestic abuse as well as alcohol and drug addiction. She struggled for a while to make a comeback, but it seemed she was never quite the same. Once in an interview when asked if she was taking crack (cocaine) she said” Crack is whack, Crack is cheap and no one can make me do what I don’t want to do”.

“The biggest devil is me. I’m either my best friend or my worst enemy”,Houston told ABC’s Diane Sawyer in an interview in 2002. In recent years, drug use had taken its toll on the star and her voice-once acknowledged as one of the finest in pop music-was badly damaged and this was evident in 2009 at an X-factor performance.

The pressure to maintain a certain lifestyle and stay on top of one’s game as a superstar is quite immense and she is not the first to turn to drugs to take the edge off the pressure.

She however was trying to retrace her steps and reclaim her spot in the top billing of music stars and this was evident in one of her songs “I LOOK TO YOU”. Her family had been supportive through her trying times and her mother was once rumoured to have gone to the home she shared with her then husband, Bobby Brown, to remove her physically from an environment that was clearly unhealthy for her.

Whitney Houston has sold 170 million records worldwide. She has 11 US and four UK number one hits. She has won six Grammys, including three for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. She has also won 30 Billboard awards and 22 American Music awards.

At the Grammy awards, tributes abound for Whitney with L.L. Cool J opening with a prayer which started this way:“There has been a death in the family; we thank you God for sharing our sister, Whitney with us”. Jennifer Hudson gave a rendition of her best selling song”.I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU” in an emotion-laden voice and Bruno Mars prayed to God to give him the strength to lift peoples spirit at this very sad time.

Civil Rights activist Rev Al Sharpton said on the morning of the Grammys, “the world should pause and pray for the memory of a gifted songbird”. Country singer Dolly Paton – who wrote one of her most memorable hits, I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU, said in a statement: “Mine is only one of the millions of hearts broken over the death of Whitney Houston. I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song, and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed.

She was described as a soft- spoken, sweet and beautiful person with an endearing and heart-warming smile. Undoubtedly, her songs, which lyrics were quite soulful and beautifully written and sung, will top the charts for a while yet and she will not be forgotten in a hurry. I join millions around the world to say “Adieu Whitney, I will always keep your songs close to my heart”.