Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston is an American pop/R&B singer and actress, Born August 9, 1963. She is the daughter of the gospel singer Cissy Houston and the cousin of the popular singer Dionne Warwick.

Whitney Houston was introduced to the world by Clive Davis (founder of Arista) in 1985, during a nationwide television broadcast. She had, in her teens, backed up Chaka Khan[?] and Lou Rawls[?]. She also appeared in her mother's stage show and showcased at a Manhattan nightclub. At this club, she was talent-spotted by Clive Davis, and soon afterwards, she was singing to the nation on the Merv Griffin[?] TV show.

Whitney has released several albums, many of which have 'gone platinum'. She landed her first major movie role in the hit romantic film, The Bodyguard[?], starring alongside Kevin Costner. She also sang the soundtrack for this movie, which sold many millions of copies around the world.

In the year 2000 era Whitney's public image became tarnished when it was revealed that she had been battling spousal abuse with her husband, performer Bobby Brown. Additionally she had clearly lost a great deal of weight and this, coupled with shaky (if not cancelled) public performances gave way to rumours of cocaine addiction.

In 2002, Houston admitted in a television interview to indulging, throughout her career, in cocaine, marijuana and various other drugs. She claimed to be past that point in her life, but was seemingly making this admittances to address the rumours circulating about her lifestyle. During said interview, she made a comment about having never done crack cocaine because it was "for poor people," causing a whole new uproar of scandal.

Recently, Whitney Houston released a double-CD, 'Whitney- The Greatest Hits'. It included 35 of her most popular hits, including:

• Greatest Love of All
• I Have Nothing
• I Will Always Love You
• All At Once
• I'm Every Woman
• You Give Good Love