Back in 2012, Whitney Houston's death rocked the music industry and devastated fans around
the world. The story didn't end there, though, as we've since learned a whole lot more about this iconic singer
Whitney Houston's third studio album, I'm Your Baby Tonight, hit stores in 1990
The record featured four top 20 hits, including the title track and All The Man That I Need
One song was left off the album, though, Higher Love, a cover of Steve Winwood's 1986 hit
producer Narada Michael Walden finished Houston's version and prepared to send it in to Clive Davis
head of Houston's label Arista Records, for a sign-off. But Davis wouldn't allow the song to
be used. In 2019, he told Rolling Stone, We didn't want her being a cover artist at the time
Higher Love was hidden away for years. It was only heard during Houston's lifetime as a bonus
cut on the Japanese issue of I'm Your Baby Tonight. That all changed in 2019, though
when Pat Houston, the executor of her sister-in-law's estate, arranged for Higher Love to finally be made available
In the years between the song's recording and its release, Arista had been absorbed into RCA Records
who brought in the Norwegian DJ and producer Kygo to create a new, more modern song around Houston's track
A posthumous hit for Houston seven years after she died, Higher Love placed on the American adult contemporary, dance, and pop charts
When she got together with fellow superstar Bobby Brown in 1989, Whitney Houston became part of a very public pop music power couple
After her death in 2012, however, the world learned that the duo were actually two corners
of a love triangle that involved another celebrity. The beginning of Houston's relationship with Brown
sent a clear message to Eddie Murphy that their own romance was decidedly over
In 2019, Houston's close friend Robin Crawford wrote in her memoir that Murphy simply hadn't
made the effort to win her over. She wrote, She was more interested in Eddie Murphy, but he was elusive
Murphy had repeatedly tried to woo Houston and even managed to convince her to go out on a few dates
but he often failed to show up for them. In the end, Houston fell for Brown and the two decided to get married in 1992
When Murphy got word about this, he felt enough regret to telephone Houston the morning of the wedding
and ask her to reconsider. As Crawford recalled, Eddie Murphy called to say she was making a mistake
So the conversation went, you know, only Whitney's in, yes I am getting married, yes I am, yes I am
And, um, obviously she did." When Houston first found fame in the early 80s, it was strictly as a singer, albeit one
with an unparalleled generational voice that embodied the very best of soul, pop, gospel
and adult contemporary music. At first, Houston's husband, Bobby Brown, wasn't all that versatile as a performer either
As a member of New Edition, he was a better dancer than he was a singer
During their relationship the pair actively helped each other get better in the areas where they believed themselves to be lacking Houston for example trained Brown to be a better singer In his 2016 memoir Brown recalled
She taught me how to use my voice, how to blend my notes, how to chop my voice when I need it
In return, Brown helped Houston loosen up. He wrote, I taught her how to dance. At first, she was uncomfortable with dancing
With the two of us working together, sharing our strengths, I think we made each other better entertainers
Whitney Houston toyed with an interest in acting when she was just starting out in showbiz
and in the early 80s, she landed an audition for The Cosby Show. Bill Cosby's hit sitcom was about a professional couple and their five children
and Houston so impressed producers that they offered her the role of cool teenage daughter
Denise Huxtable. The Cosby Show was set to enter production to debut in the fall of 1984
and that's when Houston backed out. After realizing that her contract would tire to
The Cosby Show for at least five seasons, she decided that music was the better path for her
Cosby Show house director Jay Sandrich later told the Television Academy Foundation
This girl we brought back from New York said to me, I can't sign this contract, and I said, why? She said, well, I want to be a singer
Whitney Houston and Robin Crawford met in New Jersey when they were both teenagers
They became the closest of friends and established a deep connection that lasted until the end of the 90s. Publicly identified as Houston's best friend and personal assistant
The relationship likely turned romantic at times, according to associates consulted for the 2017
documentary Whitney, Can I Be Me? Houston's friend Ellen LeVar said, Meanwhile, bodyguard Kevin Amons recalled
Unfortunately, Brown's open resentment toward Crawford eventually forced an end to their
friendship, with everything coming to a head on a 1999 concert tour
Even when the relationship had still been ongoing, Houston's father, John Houston
had endeavored to end it, concerned that news of a same-sex relationship might damage the singer's
career. On at least one occasion, John allegedly paid off a blackmailer to prevent this information
from reaching the media. Crawford herself published A Song for You in 2019, a memoir
that recounted her complicated and intimate relationship with the late star. We learned how to communicate without talking. You needed that in the media business
In 1992, Houston successfully crossed over from music to the movies, landing the lead role of Rachel Maron in The Bodyguard. Houston was offered the part after
pre-production had already begun, but screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan may have nevertheless pulled from
Houston's real-life experiences to make for a more realistic movie about famous musicians
In 1988, Houston's team asked former Metropolitan Police Officer David Roberts to serve as Houston's
bodyguard for a three European engagement in 1988 The job wound up lasting for nearly seven years Roberts was unfamiliar with Houston and her music when he was hired but he quickly became enamored with the singer In 2025 he told the BBC
She had the voice of an angel, clearly. I can't imagine a high-profile personality in so much
demand being easier to look after. Roberts also mentioned that part of his job involved
checking Houston into hotels, which he did using the codename Rachel Maron
By 2012, Houston's once-explosive career had hit a slump. She hadn't enjoyed an original hit
single since 1999 and hadn't starred in a feature film since The Preacher's Wife in 1996
The movie Sparkle was supposed to restore Houston's status as a major motion picture star
A remake of a 1976 drama of the same name, Houston signed on to play the disapproving
mother of three sisters trying to make it as pop singers. As a producer, Houston tried for 12 years
to get her Sparkle remake in front of cameras, but production was delayed, first by the death
of planned star Aaliyah, and then again due to Houston's issues with substance abuse
Then in 2011, Sparkle finally got up and running. Although she managed to finish filming her scenes
Houston wouldn't live long enough to see the movie's release. She died in February 2012
six months before it hit theaters. Although she hadn't had a hit in a while
Houston had a part to play in the festivities surrounding the 2012 Grammy Awards
She performed at an event in Los Angeles on February 9th and was supposed to appear at
other Grammy-related gatherings, but things soon took a turn for the worse
On Saturday, February 11th, Houston's bodyguard discovered the singer unresponsive in her
room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. Revival efforts failed, and Houston was declared dead at about 4 p.m
We have breaking news tonight out of Los Angeles, the death of singing star Whitney Houston
at the age of 48. Police on the scene didn't notice any signs of malicious intent
The singer had been found in the full bathtub of her hotel room. Drug paraphernalia was discovered near the body, and multiple prescription bottles were
found in Houston's room. Blood and toxicology tests indicated that she was under the influence of 12 medications
at the time of her death. An autopsy established that Houston had been a frequent user of cocaine, high quantities
of which were found in her system at the time of death. It was subsequently determined that a combination of cocaine use and heart disease contributed
to her death by accidental drowning. When Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown got together in the late 80s, the accepted narrative of the
time was that a sweet and innocent pop princess had fallen under the spell of a music industry
bad boy. It was Brown, the story went, who introduced Houston to the drugs that caused
the decline in her mental and physical health. Following Houston's drug-related death in 2012
various people who had known the singer before her marriage to Brown called out this myth for what it was Rudy Dolezal co of the documentary Whitney Can I Be Me told the New York Post Whitney took drugs and smoked weed a long time before she could even spell Bobby Brown
Meanwhile, Ellen LeVar said, Everybody did it, and her brothers gave it to her. It was just
something you do to have fun. Houston's brother, Michael Houston, admitted in a 2013 interview with
Oprah Winfrey that he had introduced his younger sister to drugs, particularly various forms of
cocaine. Michael and Whitney Houston were largely inseparable from childhood and into early
adulthood, and she did everything he did. I feel responsible for, always have
Dee Dee Warwick, sister of Dionne Warwick, provided backing vocals for Aretha Franklin
and sometimes performed with the Drinkard Singers, a gospel collective headed up by her aunt
Sissy Houston. That made Warwick Whitney Houston's older cousin by 18 years, and in 2018
an employee and relative of Houston alleged that Dee Dee Warwick had sexually assaulted
Houston during the singer's childhood. This story was corroborated for the 2018 documentary Whitney
which was produced under the supervision of Houston's family. In that documentary
Gary Garland Houston, one of Houston's brothers, claimed that Warwick had assaulted him as well as
his sister. According to Houston's personal assistant, Mary Jones, the abuse resulted in
long-lasting psychological ramifications and identity issues for Houston. It also led her
to wonder about her sexual orientation, while the trauma inflicted by the assault led to a ramping
up of her drug use in the final years of her life. Whitney Houston had one child in her lifetime
daughter Bobbi Christina Brown, born in 1993 during the singer's marriage to Bobbi Brown
As an older child and preteen, mother and daughter were often photographed together
but following Houston's death, the 2018 documentary Whitney revealed that the pair
rarely saw one another during the first years of Bobbi Christina's life. Days after the baby was
born, Houston dropped her off unannounced at the home of a family friend and came back about three
months later to check in. She then left this friend to raise Bobby Christina for eight years
Even after Houston resumed custody of her child, the traditional roles of parent and child were
sometimes reversed. During Bobby Christina's youth, it fell on her to take care of her mother
when she was using drugs. By the time she was a young adult, Bobby Christina appeared to feel
profound resentment of her mother. At a point when Bobby Christina was living with Houston
she attempted to take her own life and was hospitalized as a result. She also once expressed to Houston's sister-in-law, Pat Houston
that she fantasized about killing her mother. Like her mother, Bobby struggled with substance abuse issues
She died in 2015. If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues
visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP-4357