| Biography 
From the moment Whitney Houston first opened her mouth to  sing,  it
  was  obvious  that  she  was bound for greatness. As the daughter of
  'Cissy Houston' (qv), a successful rhythm-and-blues  backup  singer,
  and  a niece of the even more renowned singer 'Dionne Warwick' (qv),
  young Whitney grew up steeped in music. She dutifully  sang  in  the
  New  Hope  Baptist  Junior  Choir,  aspiring  to nothing higher than
  being a backup performer like her mother. But by the  time  she  was
  11,  it  was  readily apparent that hanging in the background wasn't
  in the cards for her. When Whitney took center stage one evening  to
  sing  a  solo,  the  power  of  her  performance  moved  many in the
  congregation to  tears.  Despite  her  shrinking-violet  tendencies,
  Houston's  combination  of  exceptional  beauty  and  her  stunning,
  church-inflected soprano propelled her into the  spotlight.  Houston
  first  put her talent to use professionally as a teenager by singing
  backup for 'Chaka Khan' (qv) and  'Lou  Rawls'  (qv).  A  sleek  and
  exotic-looking  young  woman,  Houston  dabbled successfully in teen
  modeling, gracing the covers of  such  magazines  as  Seventeen  and
  Glamour.  At the same time, she studied acting and dancing, appeared
  in television commercials and sitcoms, and made  occasional  singing
  dates.  But  these  diversions  were  mere warm-up exercises for the
  singing career she was destined for. Adequate  preparation  for  her
  inevitable  rise to global pop superstardom was the ultimate concern
  of Houston  and  her  family,  and  several  weeks  after  her  18th
  birthday  she  signed  a management contract with Gene Harvey. Under
  his guidance, Houston  continued  her  modeling  career,  took  more
  acting  and dancing classes, and worked on her voice. After a couple
  of years spent developing her vocal virtuosity and  making  industry
  contacts,  Houston  was  ready for the big time. In 1985, she signed
  with Arista Records, because its president, 'Clive Davis' (qv),  had
  a  proven  track  record  of  picking  hits  for his singers, not to
  mention a reputation for letting artists take their time to  mature.
  A  period  of two years passed before her debut LP was released, and
  in the interim, Houston increased  her  profile  by  performing  for
  industry  bigwigs,  appearing  on  television shows, and helping her
  advisers choose songs for  her  album.  Applying  a  fluid,  soaring
  technique  to R&B, soul, and disco arrangements, Houston's eponymous
  debut spun off three No. 1 singles—"Saving All  My  Love  for  You,"
  "How  Will  I  Know,"  and  "The Greatest Love of All"—and sold more
  than 13 million copies to become the best-selling debut of all  time
  by  a  female  solo artist. (Houston's multiplatinum titleholder was
  toppled by 'Alanis Morissette' (qv)'s Jagged Little Pill  in  1996.)
  "Saving  All  My Love for You" earned Houston her first Grammy award
  (she has won a total of five thus far), and she spent the  next  two
  years  touring  in support of the album. More record-setting success
  was to come with Houston's 1987 follow-up effort, Whitney. Not  only
  was  it  the  first  album by a female to enter the charts at No. 1,
  but  she  became  the  first  artist  in  history  to  score   seven
  consecutive  No.  1  hits,  surpassing milestones set by the Beatles
  and the Bee Gees. Houston's acting and dancing lessons paid  off  in
  her  dynamic  MTV videos, and her galvanizing rendition of the "Star
  Spangled Banner" at the 1990 Super Bowl.  Houston  promoted  Whitney
  by  heading  back  out  on  tour, and in 1990, she released I'm Your
  Baby Tonight, a more danceable, technically impressive effort.  Five
  years  of  constant  touring  had begun to take their toll, however,
  and Houston decided to take some time off to acquaint  herself  with
  the  palatial, $11 million Mendham, N.J., mansion she had purchased.
  Houston's down time allowed her a chance to get  her  personal  life
  in  order.  After  being romantically linked with 'Jermaine Jackson'
  (qv), 'Eddie  Murphy'  (qv),  and  quarterback  Randall  Cunningham,
  Houston  took  up  with bad-boy rhythm-and-blues artist 'Bobby Brown
  (I)' (qv). In 1992, the Prom Queen of Soul and the  bad-ass  captain
  of  the  glee club were married before 800 well-wishers. Many in the
  crowd couldn't help  but  be  skeptical.  Brown  brought  a  certain
  amount  of  baggage  into  the  marriage--like  three out-of-wedlock
  children by two women, for starters--but despite  all  the  couple's
  highly   publicized  contretemps  since  the  wedding  day,  Houston
  continues to profess her love  for  Brown.  She  once  offered  this
  vehement  assessment  of her husband: "I've got a good man. He takes
  care of me. I don't have to be scared of anything because I know  he
  will  kick  every  ass...  disrespect him and you've got a problem."
  Brown's boozing and womanizing ways and sporadic  run-ins  with  the
  law  may  have  made  Houston  an  occasional  object  of  pity  and
  criticism in some observers' eyes, but others argue that she is  the
  one  who  is  hard  to put up with. She has earned a reputation as a
  prima  donna  for  her  frequent  episodes  of   tardiness--in   one
  unpleasantly  conspicuous  instance, she arrived two hours late to a
  White House dinner honoring 'Nelson Mandela' (qv), at which she  was
  the  featured performer (she breezed in with the excuse, "I just got
  off tour," even though her  final  appearance  had  been  four  days
  previously).  During  an  Anaheim,  Calif.,  concert  appearance  in
  August 1994, Houston  tearfully  requested  that  the  spotlight  be
  turned  away  from  her  and onto audience members Sidney and Justin
  Simpson, the children of O.J. and Nicole Brown Simpson.  Considering
  the  fact  that Nicole had been murdered just two months before, the
  request seemed  bizarre,  and  singularly  mortifying.  Since  1990,
  Houston  has  managed  to  maintain her easily won eminence, despite
  the fact that she has greatly curtailed her  output.  Not  that  she
  hasn't  been  busy:  navigating through some perilous straits in her
  personal life, the pop  diva  managed  to  bear  a  daughter,  Bobbi
  Kristina,  and  conquer  the  world  of  film.  Her  first  feature,
  _Bodyguard,  The  (1992)_  (qv),  banked  more  than  $400   million
  worldwide,   and   boasted   the  most  successful  soundtrack  ever
  released, with sales in excess of 33 million units, due  largely  to
  Houston's  soaring interpretation of the 'Dolly Parton' (qv) classic
  "I Will Always Love You." In 1995, Houston rounded out the  cast  of
  _Waiting  to  Exhale  (1995)_  (qv),  a  film about successful black
  women  looking  for  good  men.  Exhale  became   something   of   a
  phenomenon,  as  did  its  Whitney-heavy soundtrack. Her third film,
  _Preacher's  Wife,  The  (1996)_  (qv),   didn't   fare   quite   as
  spectacularly  at  the  box  office, but the soundtrack for the film
  presented her with an opportunity to get  back  in  touch  with  her
  gospel  roots.  Houston  is  known  for  her charitable bent, making
  significant contributions to the  United  Negro  College  Fund,  the
  Children's  Diabetes  Fund,  St.  Jude's  Children's  Hospital,  and
  several  AIDS-related  organizations,  and   she   established   the
  'Whitney  Houston'  (qv)  Foundation for Children, Inc., a nonprofit
  organization whose work assists homeless children and children  with
  cancer  and AIDS. One noncharitable appearance the diva was supposed
  to make was at "Blessing '97" on Nov. 29, 1997.  The  event,  billed
  as  the  largest  mass  wedding ever, was to earn the diva a cool $1
  million for 45 minutes onstage. But when the press seized  upon  the
  pending  appearance  for  the Moonies (the controversial Unification
  Church started by Reverend 'Sun Myung Moon' (qv) and his  wife,  Hak
  Ja  Han  Moon),  Houston  released  a  statement  declaring that she
  didn't know "Blessing '97" was a Moonie  affair.  Two  hours  before
  the  wedding  began,  she  backed out citing "illness," leaving both
  the Moonies and her own band, which  had  already  set  up,  in  the
  lurch.  While  rumors  still  cloud the rocky 'Bobby Brown (I)' (qv)
  union, the pairing persists,  despite  ongoing  legal  troubles.  In
  June  1998, various tabloids reported that the two were on the verge
  of officially separating, a month shy of  their  sixth  anniversary.
  They  were  proved  wrong  when  the  two  singers  celebrated  that
  occasion, their marriage still  intact  several  months  later,  and
  apparently  remaining  that  way.  In  August, news of a significant
  duet in divadom was made public: 'Whitney Houston' (qv) and  'Mariah
  Carey'   (qv)  were  in  the  studio  together.  The  strong-lunged,
  octave-jumping singers recorded "When You Believe," the  theme  song
  from  the  animated  DreamWorks  pic  _Prince  of Egypt, The (1998)_
  (qv), which tells the story of Moses. 'Kenneth  'Babyface'  Edmonds'
  (qv)  was  on  hand  to  referee, er, produce the single. Dispelling
  rumors of competitiveness, the Houston and Carey  appeared  together
  at  the  MTV Video Music Awards in September--wearing the same dress
  no less. After some canned  banter  ("Nice  dress,"  Carey  offered.
  "Yeah,  you  look  pretty  good,  too,"  Houston answered) the women
  presented Will Smith with the Best Male Video Award. The _Prince  of
  Egypt,  The  (1998)_  (qv)  soundtrack landed in stores Nov. 17, the
  same day as Houston's new solo album, My Love Is Your  Love.  Guests
  on  her  first  full-length  studio recording in eight years include
  Missy Elliott, 'Faith Evans' (qv), and 'Wyclef Jean' (qv). The  disc
  also  sports  a special hidden track, "My Love," produced by 'Lauryn
  Hill' (qv). As for "When You Believe,"  the  track  appears  on  the
  movie  soundtrack, Houston's album, and Carey's new hits collection,
  #1's--all released the same day. Octave overload? Hardly.  Retailers
  the  world  over  will  undoubtedly  make  plenty  of  room on store
  shelves for the dueling--and dueting--divas.
 Biography courtesy of the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com).
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