Whitney Elizabeth Houston: August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012
The Obituary: Whitney Houston, Pop Superstar, Dies at 48
Whitney Houston, the multimillion-selling singer who emerged in the 1980s as one of her generation’s greatest R & B voices, only to deteriorate through years of cocaine use and an abusive marriage, died on Saturday in Beverly Hills, Calif. She was 48.
Her death came as the music industry descended on Los Angeles for the annual celebration of the Grammy Awards, and Ms. Houston was — for all her difficulties over the years — one of its queens. She was staying at the Beverly Hilton hotel on Saturday to attend a pre-Grammy party being hosted by Clive Davis, the founder of Arista Records, who had been her pop mentor.
Ms. Houston was found in her room at 3:55 p.m., and paramedics spent close to 20 minutes trying to revive her, the authorities said. There was no immediate word on the cause of her death, but the authorities said there were no signs of foul play.
From the start of her career more than two decades ago, Ms. Houston had the talent, looks and pedigree of a pop superstar. She was the daughter of Cissy Houston, a gospel and pop singer who had backed up Aretha Franklin, and the cousin of Dionne Warwick. (Ms. Franklin is Ms. Houston’s godmother.)
Ms. Houston’s range spanned three octaves, and her voice was plush, vibrant and often spectacular. She could pour on the exuberant flourishes of gospel or peal a simple pop chorus; she could sing sweetly or unleash a sultry rasp.
Dressed in everything from formal gowns to T-shirts, she cultivated the image of a fun-loving but ardent good girl, the voice behind songs as perky as “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” and as torchy as what became her signature song, a version of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.”
But by the mid-1990s, even as she was moving into acting with films like “The Bodyguard” and “The Preacher’s Wife,” she became what she described, in a 2009 interview with Oprah Winfrey, as a “heavy” user of marijuana and cocaine. By the 2000s she was struggling; her voice grew smaller, scratchier and less secure, and her performances grew erratic.
All of Ms. Houston’s studio albums were million-sellers, and two have sold more than 10 million copies in the United States alone: her 1985 debut album and the 1992 soundtrack to “The Bodyguard,” which includes “I Will Always Love You.”
But her marriage to the singer Bobby Brown — which was, at one point, documented in a Bravo reality television series, “Being Bobby Brown” — grew miserable, and in the 2000s, her singles slipped from the top 10. Ms. Houston became a tabloid subject: the National Enquirer ran a photo of her bathroom showing drug paraphernalia. And each new album — “Just Whitney” in 2002 and “I Look to You” in 2009 — became a comeback.
At Central Park in 2009, singing for “Good Morning America,” her voice was frayed, and on the world tour that followed the release of the album “I Look to You” that year, she was often shaky.
Whitney Houston was born on Aug. 9, 1963, in Newark. She sang in church, and as a teenager in the 1970s and early 1980s, she worked as a backup studio singer and featured vocalist with acts including Chaka Khan, the Neville Brothers and Bill Laswell’s Material.
Mr. Davis signed her after hearing her perform in a New York City nightclub, and spent two years supervising production of the album “Whitney Houston,” which was released in 1985. It placed her remarkable voice in polished, catchy songs that straddled pop and R & B, and it included three No. 1 singles: “Saving All My Love for You,” “How Will I Know” and “The Greatest Love of All.”
Because Ms. Houston had been credited on previous recordings, including a 1984 duet with Teddy Pendergrass, she was ruled ineligible for the best new artist category of the Grammy Awards; the eligibility criteria have since been changed. But with “Saving All My Love for You,” she won her first Grammy award, for best female pop vocal performance, an award she would win twice more.
Her popularity soared for the next decade. Her second album, “Whitney,” in 1987, became the first album by a woman to enter the Billboard charts at No. 1, and it included four No. 1 singles. She shifted her pop slightly toward R & B on her third album, “I’m Your Baby Tonight,” in 1990, which had two more No. 1 singles.
For much of the 1990s, she turned to acting, bolstered by her music. She played a pop diva in “The Bodyguard,” and its soundtrack album — including the hits “I Will Always Love You,” “I’m Every Woman,” “I Have Nothing” and “Run to You” — went on to sell 17 million copies in the United States. It won the Grammy for album of the year, and “I Will Always Love You” won record of the year (for a single). After making the films “Waiting To Exhale” in 1995 and “The Preacher’s Wife” in 1996 — which gave her the occasion to make a gospel album — Ms. Houston resumed her pop career with “My Love Is Your Love” in 1998.
The Thoughts:
If you haven't caught on yet I have been selecting some of the most iconic and misunderstood women in art for my #sundayobitsandeats. The death of Whitney was an incredible loss to the world of music, and follows the same line of thinking that was applied to Amy Winehouse (who was featured a couple weeks back). We loved Whitney. She was an icon. Then she struggled with addiction and she became the butt of late night talk show jokes and used to sell magazines and warn us women that the higher you reach, the harder you fall. Then she died. And the city was at a loss. We had failed one of the greatest voices and now she was gone. The worst part? Her daughter would die three years later in a similar manner.
It's hard not to speculate that the cause was anything other than heartbreak for her mother. I cannot imagine the grief her daughter must have carried and how difficult life was without her.
I hope that amidst all of our own incredibly difficult things life is currently throwing our way that we continue to find ways to have kindness and empathy for people who are struggling, and understand that the ridicule and derision throw their way compounds their struggles and could make it harder for us regular folx to seek help and treatment when we see that our idols aren't able to recover either. Houston seemed to enjoy a vast array of food and snacks, so I picked what I thought was the most fun of her faves; pop tarts!
The Recipe: Blueberry Pop Tarts
Tart Shells
2 cups flour (I used half whole-wheat pastry, half unbleached all-purpose)
1 pinch salt
2/3 cup cold vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)
2-4 Tbsp ice cold water
1 heaping cup frozen mixed berries
1 Tbsp raw sugar for topping (optional // plus more for sweetening compote filling)
Frosting
1 Tbsp Plant Milk
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1 1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
Sprinkles (optional)
Tart Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Prepare the compote by placing berries in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook for 5-8 minutes with a lid on, stirring occasionally and smashing down with a spoon. Add a few teaspoons of sugar to sweeten if desired. I added 1 tsp. raw sugar (amount as original recipe is written). Transfer to a bowl to cool.
To prepare crust, mix flour and salt in a large bowl, then cut in butter with a fork or pastry cutter until well combined.
Using a tablespoon, drizzle cold water over the mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until it starts to form a dough. I added 2-3 Tbsp – you may need to add up to 5 Tbsp (as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size). It should be moist enough to form into a ball, but not too sticky to knead. Add more flour if it gets too wet.
Turn onto a floured surface, shape into a disc, and then use a rolling pin to roll into a large rectangle. I find it helpful to place a sheet of plastic wrap over the dough while rolling to reduce cracking.
Cut into 12 equal squares (not rectangles) and carefully transfer each to the baking sheet (amount as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size).
Place about 1 Tbsp of filling onto half of the squares (6 as original recipe is written), leaving a 1/4 inch border to seal the edges. Then use your finger to dot water around the edges so the two squares stick together. Top the squares with their matching halves and then seal lightly with a fork.
Poke a few holes in the top of each, rub a tiny bit of vegan butter on top of each, sprinkle with raw sugar, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Let cool for a few minutes. Then top with glaze if desired. Not necessary, but recommended for sweeter Pop-Tarts.
Frosting Directions
whisk together 2 tbsp of the jam, the milk, lemon juice and powdered sugar.
Brush a small amount on tarts to create a base. Allow frosting to harden on the tart.
Pour more frosting on tart in desired amount.
Enjoy!