Born Whitney Elizabeth Houston on August 9, 1963 in Newark, New Jersey, Grammy award winning Whitney Houston, Dionne Warwick's cousin, Aretha's Franklin's goddaughter, and daughter to former Rhythm & Blues singer Cissy Houston.
Whitney Houston was raised a Baptist and performed as soloist in the junior gospel choir at her Baptist church at age 11. Later, she was exposed to the Pentecostal church and eventually attended a Roman Catholic single-sex high school, quite opposite to her first steps into music singing touring nightclubs alongside her mother.
Between 1977 and 1979, Whitney sang in Cissy Houston's "Think It Over", and was the lead singer on Michael Zager Band’s single “Life’s a Partyâ€. She also made background vocals for Lou Rawls and Chaka Khan's single "I'm every woman" that eventually would be one of Whitney Houston's major hits after the film "The Bodyguard" soundtrack album.
In 1980, Whitney Houston fulfilled her dream and worked as a fashion model, appeared in a Canada Dry soft drink commercial, and was cover of Seventeen Magazine. However, she continued touring with her mother and making background vocals for other artists until she debuted with her own self-titled 1985 album in 1985.
Although, the album was aimed to the black audience, the single “You Give Good Love,†hit number 3 on Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the R&B Charts. Other singles were cut from this album and all of them topped the Billboard charts.
In 1986, the album "Whitney Houston" hit the Billboard 200 album chart, staying there for 14 consecutive weeks and breaking into the international music scene.
Although, the following albums brought new nominations and commercial success, it was not until 1990 when another single, "I'm your baby tonight", gave Whitney Houston heavy rotation on MTV and airplay around the world. Then, in 1992, Whitney Houston debuted on the silver screen as actress in "The Bodyguard".
Whitney Houston has recorded seven full-length studio albums, several live and compilations recordings, home videos and video singles. She has also produced films and television series and her tortuous relationship with Bobby Brown ended in divorce in April 2007.
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