Whitney Houston facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Whitney Houston
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Whitney Houston in 1991
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Whitney Elizabeth Houston
August 9, 1963 |
| Died | February 11, 2012 (aged 48) Beverly Hills, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Fairview Cemetery Westfield, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Other names | The Queen of Pop Whitney Houston-Brown |
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| Years active | 1977–2012 |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | Bobbi Kristina Brown |
| Parent(s) | John Russell Houston, Jr. Cissy Houston |
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| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
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Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American recording artist. She was best known for her hit singles including "How Will I Know", "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and her cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You".
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Early years
Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey. She was the second child of Army serviceman and entertainment executive John Russell Houston, Jr. and gospel singer Cissy Houston. Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick are her cousins. Through her father, she had a second elder half-brother, John III. Her elder brother, Michael, was a songwriter, and her elder half-brother is former basketball player and singer Gary Garland. Her godmother was singer Darlene Love and family friend Aretha Franklin was considered an honorary aunt.
Devastated by the events of the 1967 Newark riots, Whitney's family eventually relocated to a middle-class area in East Orange, New Jersey. Her parents later divorced.
Houston began singing in the church choir at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark at age five, where she also learned to play the piano. By age eleven, she began performing as a soloist for the junior gospel choir, performing the hymn, "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah". She was influenced by her mother, Emily "Cissy" Houston (née Drinkard), who was a gospel singer. Houston was described as having an impressive ranging mezzo-soprano voice. In 1983, she was discovered by an Arista Records representative and signed to the label.
Houston attended Franklin Elementary School (now the Whitney E. Houston Academy of Creative and Performing Arts) and later was transferred to an all-girls Catholic school, Mount Saint Dominic Academy at nearby Caldwell, in her sixth grade year where she eventually graduated from in 1981 at 17.
Career
Houston became a fashion model after she was discovered by a photographer who filmed her and her mother during a performance for the United Negro College Fund at Carnegie Hall. She became one of the first women of color to appear on the cover of a fashion magazine when she appeared on the cover of Seventeen.
Houston released her first album, Whitney Houston, in 1985. It featured the number-one singles "Saving All My Love for You", "Greatest Love of All", and "How Will I Know". Her second album, Whitney, was released in 1987 and featured the number-one hits "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" and "So Emotional". In 1990, her album I'm Your Baby Tonight was released, and the song of the same name also reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, as did the single "All the Man That I Need". She sang the National Anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl and earned widespread praise for the performance. She starred in the film The Bodyguard in 1992 and performed several songs on its soundtrack, one of which was a cover of country singer-songwriter Dolly Parton's song, "I Will Always Love You". The song became Houston's biggest hit of her career and reached number one in countries around the world. Houston sat throughout much of the music video for "I Will Always Love You" because she was pregnant with her daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown. "I Will Always Love You" became the bestselling song by a female artist, with the soundtrack for The Bodyguard becoming the bestselling film soundtrack ever. She performed with singer-songwriter Mariah Carey on the song "When You Believe" for the film The Prince of Egypt.
Houston released albums My Love Is Your Love, Just Whitney..., and I Look to You in 1998, 2002, and 2009, respectively. She also appeared in the film Sparkle alongside singer Jordin Sparks.
Whitney Houston has earned six Grammy Awards and seven number-one songs in a row on the Billboard Hot 100. She had a total of 11 Billboard Hot 100 number-ones, placing her in fourth place for women behind Mariah Carey (18 number-ones), Rihanna (13), and Madonna and The Supremes (12 each). She is the most-awarded female artist of all time.
Marriage
Houston married Bobby Brown in 1992. In 1993, they had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown. The couple divorced in 2007.
Death
On the night of February 11, 2012, at the age of 48, Houston was found dead in her guest room at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. The official coroner's report stated that she had accidentally drowned in the bath. Her funeral was televised.
Legacy and cultural impact
Houston has been regarded as one of the greatest vocalists of all time and a cultural icon. She is also recognized as one of the most influential R&B artists in history.
In March 2020, the Library of Congress announced that Houston's 1992 single "I Will Always Love You" had been added to its National Recording Registry, a list of "aural treasures worthy of preservation" due to their "cultural, historical and aesthetic importance" in the American soundscape.
A number of artists have acknowledged Whitney as an influence and inspiration, including Michael Jackson, Aaliyah, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Sam Smith, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Celine Dion, Adele, Lucky Daye, Demi Lovato, Kelly Clarkson, Nicole Scherzinger, Kelly Rowland, Toni Braxton, Ashanti, Deborah Cox, Robin Thicke, Ciara, Brandy, Monica, LeAnn Rimes, Melanie Fiona, Jennifer Hudson, Christina Aguilera, Jordin Sparks, Alicia Keys, Leona Lewis, Ariana Grande, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Coco Jones, and Nicki Minaj.
Awards and achievements
Houston won numerous accolades, including 2 Emmy Awards, 8 Grammy Awards (including two Grammy Hall of Fame honors), 14 World Music Awards, 16 Billboard Music Awards (31 Billboard awards in all) and 22 American Music Awards. Houston holds the record for the most American Music Awards received in a single year by a woman with eight wins in 1994 (overall tied with Michael Jackson). Houston won a record 11 Billboard Music Awards at its fourth ceremony in 1993. She also holds the record for the most WMAs won in a single year, winning five awards at the sixth World Music Awards in 1994.
In 2001, Houston was the first artist to be given a BET Lifetime Achievement Award. Since she received the honor at just the age of 37 at the time, Houston was and remains the youngest artist to receive this. Five years earlier, in 1996, Houston became the second recipient of the BET Walk of Fame and was, at 32, the youngest to receive that honor. In 2010, BET honored her once more with the BET Honors.
Houston is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, with more than 200 million records sold worldwide. She is the top-selling female R&B artist of the 20th century. Houston had also sold more physical singles than any other female solo artist in history. As of 2025, she was ranked as one of the best-selling artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America with 61 million certified albums. Houston released seven studio albums and two soundtrack albums, all of which have been certified diamond, multi-platinum or platinum.
She is the first and only black artist to have three Diamond-certified albums.
Commemoration
- In 1997, the Franklin School in East Orange, New Jersey, which Houston attended as a child, was renamed to the Whitney E. Houston Academy of Creative & Performing Arts.
- Four posthumous albums have been released, including two compilation albums and two live albums. A posthumous concert tour, An Evening with Whitney: The Whitney Houston Hologram Tour, featuring a projected image of Houston, ran from 2020 to 2023.
- Madame Tussauds unveiled four wax figures of Houston in 2013, inspired by her looks from the music video of I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me), film The Bodyguard, album cover of I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston and The Star-Spangled Banner performance at the 1991 Super Bowl.
- In 2015, Lifetime premiered the biographical film Whitney. Houston was portrayed by model Yaya DaCosta.
- A television documentary film entitled Whitney: Can I Be Me aired on Showtime on August 25, 2017. The film was directed by Nick Broomfield.
- Whitney, a documentary film based on Houston's life and death, premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and was released internationally in theaters on July 6, 2018.
- In 2019, Houston and Kygo's version of "Higher Love" was released as a single. It reached number two on the UK Singles Chart and reached the top 10 in several countries.
- Lifetime released the documentary Whitney Houston & Bobbi Kristina: Didn't We Almost Have It All in 2021.
- A mural of Houston, made of hand cut glass by artist Maude Lemaire, was installed at 45 Williams Street, Newark, New Jersey, in 2021.
- On the tenth anniversary of her death, ESPN ran a 30-minute documentary of Houston's acclaimed performance of The Star Spangled Banner at Super Bowl XXV in 1991 titled Whitney's Anthem.
- I Wanna Dance with Somebody, opened on December 23, 2022, with Houston being portrayed by Naomi Ackie. It grossed around $60 million.
- In December 2023, the New Jersey Hall of Fame unveiled the Whitney Houston Service Area, formerly known as the Vauxhal Service Area at the Garden State Parkway. The New Jersey Hall of Fame explained that the renaming was part of their "ongoing program to honor its inductees by renaming Garden State Parkway service areas after them, and building displays about them".
Discography
Studio albums
- Whitney Houston (1985)
- Whitney (1987)
- I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990)
- My Love Is Your Love (1998)
- Just Whitney (2002)
- One Wish: The Holiday Album (2003)
- I Look to You (2009)
Soundtrack albums
- The Bodyguard (1992)
- The Preacher's Wife (1996)
Filmography
- The Bodyguard (1992)
- Waiting to Exhale (1995)
- The Preacher's Wife (1996)
- Cinderella (1997)
- The Princess Diaries (2001)*
- The Cheetah Girls (2003)*
- The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004)*
- Nora's Hair Salon (cameo) (2004)
- The Cheetah Girls 2 (2006)*
- Sparkle (2012)
- Whitney: Can I Be Me (2017)
- Whitney (2018)
- The Concert for a New South Africa (Durban) (2024)
(*) = only produced, not starred in
Tours
Headlining tours
- US Summer Tour (1985)
- The Greatest Love World Tour (1986)
- Moment of Truth World Tour (1987–1988)
- Feels So Right Tour (1990)
- I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour (1991)
- The Bodyguard World Tour (1993–1994)
- Pacific Rim Tour (1997)
- The European Tour (1998)
- My Love Is Your Love World Tour (1999)
- Nothing but Love World Tour (2009–2010)
- An Evening with Whitney: The Whitney Houston Hologram Tour (2020–2023)
Images for kids
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Houston performing "My Love Is Your Love" with her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown on Good Morning America, September 1, 2009
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Whitney Houston at the O2 Arena, April 28, 2010, as part of her Nothing but Love World Tour
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The Beverly Hilton Hotel, where Houston's body was found
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"We miss you" message at the Los Angeles Theatre
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Flowers near the Beverly Hilton Hotel
See also
In Spanish: Whitney Houston para niños
