Whitney Houston (1963-2012) was a recording artist and actor who sold over 220 million records worldwide. The New York Times once said that Houston "revitalized the tradition of strong gospel-oriented pop-soul singing" and was "one of the crucial figures to hybridize pop in the 1980s." During her career, she won six Grammy Awards, had three diamond (or thirty platinum) albums, and founded the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children.
Some of her hit songs include "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," "The Greatest Love of All," "Saving All My Love for You," "I Will Always Love You," and "I'm Every Woman." She was the cousin of Dionne Warwick.
Her film career launched in 1992 with The Bodyguard (co-starring Kevin Costner), followed by Waiting to Exhale (directed by Forest Whitaker) and The Preacher's Wife (directed by Penny Marshall and co-starring Denzel Washington). She also played the Fairy Godmother in the 1997 TV movie Cinderella (with Brandy as the title character).
Her mother was Cissy Houston.
References[]
- Zoot wrote an extensive piece about Houston in his "Zoot's Salute" column (by Marianne Meyer) in the Summer 1987 issue of Muppet Magazine. Zoot gushes over her first album, promotes the second, and gives a run-down of her beginnings and rise to fame. Houston had previously been briefly mentioned in the "Floyd's Record Rap" column in the Fall 1984 issue.
- The Muppets have twice selected Whitney Houston songs in their playlists on the occasion of their guest DJ appearances on various radio shows and streaming platforms: "How Will I Know" for iTunes Radio and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" on "Miss Piggy's From Moi To Vous Kermie Playlist" for Spotify, both in 2014.