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Whitney Houston music biography continued...

the 1980s, Houston has continued to produce successful projects into the 21st century as a singer, actress, and film producer.

Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey on August 9, 1963. Her mother Cissy Houston was a gospel and R&B singer whose first cousin was the famous Dionne Warwick, and her godmother, Aretha Franklin. At the age of eleven, Whitney began performing as a soloist in the junior gospel choir. As she grew older, she would sing backup for her mother in concert and would appear on her 1978 album, Think It Over. She later sang backing vocals for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson, and Lou Rawls. In the early 1980s, Houston began to pursue a modeling and acting career as well, appearing on the cover of Seventeen magazine and on the sitcoms Gimme a Break and Silver Spoons. Meanwhile she continued to work on her singing career becoming a featured vocalist on Material's experimental jazz album One Down in 1982. One year later she was discovered singing in a nightclub by Arista Records President Clive Davis who immediately offered her a worldwide contract.

In 1985, she released her self-titled debut album. Following the disappointment of the first single "Someone For Me", Houston experienced her first hit with "You Give Good Love" which topped the R&B and Pop charts. The next three singles "Saving All My Love For You", "How Will I Know", and "The Greatest Love of All" simultaneously peaked on the charts leading the Whitney Houston album to reach number one, selling over 24 million copies worldwide. "Saving All My Love For You" earned a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. In 1986, Houston embarked on the worldwide "The Greatest Love Tour".

Now a rising superstar, she released her follow-up album, Whitney, in 1987 which debuted at number one in the US and UK. She scored five number one hit singles with "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)", "Didn't We Almost Have It All", "So Emotional", and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go". The album sold over 19 million copies worldwide and was the first by a female artist to debut at number one. "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance. The following year, she recorded the 1988 Olympics theme song "One Moment in Time".

In 1990, I'm Your Baby Tonight saw release featuring collaborations with Stevie Wonder and Luther Vandross. Although not as successful as her previous albums, it managed to peak at number three on the Billboard 200 and sold 12 million copies worldwide. She promoted the album by going on the I'm Your Baby Tonight world tour. The year 1992 witnessed her acting debut starring in the film The Bodyguard alongside Kevin Costner. Although not a favorite among movie critics, the film managed to gross $410 million worldwide. The movie featured Whitney's cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You". The song spent a record breaking fourteen weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 pushing the sales of the soundtrack which was eventually certified 17 million Diamond. The subsequent singles off of the soundtrack included "I'm Every Woman", "I Have Nothing", "Run To You", and "Queen Of The Night". Houston achieved several awards for her work on the soundtrack such as Grammy Awards for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Record of the Year and Album of the Year. She also received a record eleven Billboard Music Awards and a record eight American Music Awards. A few months prior to the release of The Bodyguard, Houston married R&B singer Bobby Brown on July 18, 1992. On March 4, 1993, she gave birth to their daughter Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown.

In 1995, she made her second movie appearance co-starring with Angela Bassett in Waiting to Exhale in which she was also an executive producer. The movie featured three of her songs, "Exhale (Shoop, Shoop)" which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, "Count on Me", and "Why Does It Hurt So Bad". The film The Preacher's Wife followed in 1996 accompanied by Houston's gospel inspired soundtrack. A year later she starred in the made-for-television version of Cinderella alongside Brandy, Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg, Bernadette Peters, and Victor Garber.

Whitney released her fourth studio album My Love is Your Love in November 1998 selling over eleven million copies worldwide at the time. The album dabbled with hip hop, R&B, and dance styles featuring collaborations by major artists, Wyclef Jean, Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill, and Babyface. The singles "Heartbreak Hotel", "My Love is Your Love", and "It's Not Right but It's Okay" all peaked in the Top Five. The latter earned a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. Her duet with Mariah Carey, "When You Believe", from The Prince of Egypt soundtrack won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 1999, she performed on the VH1 Diva's Live with Mary J. Blige, Tina Turner, Cher, and Chaka Khan. In April 2000 she issued Whitney: The Greatest Hits on CD and DVD. Surrounding the success of the release, Houston also received much attention following her incident with airport security when they discovered several grams of marijuana in her baggage. Once the charges were dropped, Whitney proceeded and began recording her fifth studio album. Just Whitney was released in December 2002 initially peaking in the Top Ten, however began to decline after its first week due to slow sales.

Her most recent release was the 2003 holiday album One Wish which failed to receive much praise. For the past few years Houston has been in and out of rehab on several occasions. She is currently recording a new album which is expected to be a great success.