With the death of the late singer Whitney Houston, the music industry lost one of its most legendary stars. According to Guinness World Records, she was the most awarded female act of all time. Much had happened in the life of the deceased singer, and even after her tragic death, her family faced many hardships, including the death of her only child. You must be curious to learn about the life of this legendary singer and find out the real cause of her death, as well as other details such as her married life, husband, and daughter. Read this article to get an insight into the life and family life of the deceased singer.
Whitney Houston Bio
Whitney Houston was a popular American singer, model, actress, and producer. She was born on August 9, 1963, in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of John Russell and Emily Cissy Houston, who were both African Americans. She had an older brother named Michael, who is a singer, and also a half-brother named Gary Garland, a former basketball player. Her father was a military man and was in the entertainment business, while her mother was a gospel singer and choir director at New Hope Baptist Church, where young Whitney began singing.
Even as a child, Whitney Houston was able to wow audiences with her voice. In 1978, at the age of 15, she sang with her mother at Carnegie Hall and tried to get a record deal at the same time. Houston sang background vocals on Chaka Khan’s hit single “I’m Every Woman”, which she later re-recorded and which became an even bigger hit on the soundtrack album of The Bodyguard.
Early Beginnings
She started modeling after being discovered by a photographer, and soon became a highly desirable teenage model, making her the first black woman to appear on the cover of 17 magazines. Whitney has appeared on the pages of Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Young Miss, and played a role in the Canada Dry Ginger Ale TV commercials, among others. When she was 19 years old, she performed in nightclubs where her mother usually performs and occasionally comes on stage to perform alongside her mother.
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Her talents were picked up by the famous Clive Davis and she was signed to his label – Arista Records. He made sure that the little embers he saw were fanned out into flames that burned so brightly that the whole world saw her light and witnessed it. She became one of the world’s best-selling music artists, selling over 170 million albums, singles, and videos worldwide. Her six studio albums, three film soundtracks, and her holiday album have been awarded diamonds, multiple platinum, platinum, and gold. Houston is the only artist to have seven consecutive #1 Billboard Hot 100 hits in the charts.
Whitney created a foundation called the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children. It was a non-profit organization that funds projects to help children in need around the world, especially children with cancer or HIV/AIDS. Her 2002 interview with Diane Sawyer was the highest-rated television interview in history. In a September 2009 interview on Oprah Winfrey, Whitney admitted to using drugs during her marriage to her ex-husband Bobby.
Who Was Whitney Houston Husband?
Robert Berisford, popularly known as “Bobby Brown”, was the husband of Whitney Houston. He was one of six children born to Carole Elizabeth, a substitute teacher, and Herbert James Brown, a construction worker. He was born on February 5, 1969, in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a singer, songwriter, actor, and dancer. Bobby Brown began his career in the music industry with an R&B and pop group called New Edition in 1978, but left the group in 1985 and began a solo career. As a solo artist, Bobby had a number of hit singles and Grammy-winning songs, including “Every Little Step” and “Two Can Play That Game.
Bobby met Whitney at the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards and they became friends afterward. Their friendship began in 1991, they got engaged in April 1992 and got married on July 18, 1992. Their marriage was not a romantic fairy tale because it had its ups and downs. There were times of infidelity, domestic violence, and drug use. In September 2006 Whitney filed for divorce, which was finalized on April 24, 2007. Whitney won custody of her daughter, who was then fourteen years old.
Who is Whitney Houston’s Daughter?
Bobbi Kristina Brown was the only daughter of both actors Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. She was born on March 4, 1993, in Livingston, New Jersey. Her godmother is the famous gospel artist Cece Winans. Kristina appeared on the reality show Being Bobby Brown and was also featured on her mothers’ 2003 Christmas album entitled “One Wish”. Kristina Brown was 14 years old when her parents divorced and she had to stay with her mother, who won custody of her. After her mother’s death, she inherited her mother’s entire estate, and in October 2012, exactly eight months after her mother’s death, Kristina, who was 18 years old at the time, announced her engagement to Nick Gordon.
Nick was a close friend of the family and lived with her since he was 12 years old, which led Bobbi Kristina to call him her “big brother”. Their engagement caused some turmoil in the family, and even her grandmother (Cissy Houston) had described the relationship as “incestuous”. In early 2014, Nick Gordon and Kristina Brown announced their marriage, which, according to Bobby Browns’ lawyer, never took place.
On January 31, 2015, Bobbi Kristina Brown was found unconscious in a bathtub in her Atlanta home, her condition a reminder of her mother’s death in a bathtub. She was found face down in the bathtub and taken to the hospital. She died in July 2015 after lying in a coma for six months at the age of 22. And although an autopsy showed that she had marijuana, alcohol, cocaine, and morphine in her blood, the examiners said they were not sure if what happened to her was an accident or intentional.
Nick Gordon was accused of being responsible for her death. The lawsuit filed against him claimed he attacked Kristina in a fit of jealousy that fateful evening and gave her a toxic cocktail that made her faint and allowed him to lay her face down in her bathtub filled with cold water. As a result, according to the doctor’s report, she contracted lobar pneumonia.
Her funeral service was held on August 1, 2015, at St. James United Methodist Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, and two days later she was buried next to her mother at Fairview Cemetry in Westfield, New Jersey.
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Cause of Death
Whitney Houston died at the age of forty-eight on February 11, 2012, in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in her guest room. She had drowned in her bathtub, completely naked. According to the submitted report, this was a random event caused by her cocaine consumption. Clive Davis hosted a Grammy party at the hotel. Whitney was found lying face down in her bathtub. After being discovered, she was taken by paramedics to the hospital where her death was confirmed.
Quick Facts – Height, Net Worth
Name: Whitney Houston
Birthdate: August 9, 1963
Profession: Singer, Model, Actress
Horoscope: Leo
Spouse: Bobby Brown
Height: 5 ft 7 in
Net Worth: $20 million