Shirley Carter
Everest Online |
[the good, the bad, and the ugly…] |
The Good, the Bad and the ugly The lady that was known as “The Voice” stated (Winfrey, 2009 interview) was someone special above and beyond. People paid hundreds of dollars and waited in line for tickets; some bought her CD’s and soon learned the lyrics to some of her songs was this beautiful diva name Whitney E. Houston. Born and raised in Newark New Jersey (Wikipedia, 2012 para. 2 first line) Whitney was the daughter of the famous Gospel singer Dr. Cissy Houston (Vibe Magazine 2012) and is the cousin to famous song writer Dionne Warwick (VH1 Bio March, 2012). Having a Gospel mother as a singer, Whitney also had a gift that was yet to be discovered she enjoyed singing in the choir at New Hope Baptist Church (Pastor Carter Feb. 18, 2012) her passion was singing and making her mother proud. …show more content…
Whitney loved hearing her mother sing and once her mother saw she was also blessed with the same gift she started teaching her daughter about music.
Whitney went with her mother on tour and she also did some back-up singing for other famous artists Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Chaka Kahn (Ebony 2012 April article) to name a few. Performing and doing little skits got her discovered and drew a lot of attention to other known singers and managers such as the famous CEO Clive Davis. Clive saw Whitney perform for the first time in the 80s and was blow away that he wanted to sign her to his record label because he knew the two of them would work well together but who would have know she was going to be this
big. Once Whitney was able to take off there was no stopping in the early 90s she met famous R&B singer Bobby Brown and in 1992 they had a beautiful daughter and named her Bobbi Kristina (VH1 Bio March 2012). Whitney Houston life changed when she signed her contract with Clive Davis with a voice as powerful as hers, she was performing on late night talk shows doing interviews for VH1 and making commercials as well. Being young and beautiful she still enjoyed life and was also introduced to new things such as Marijuana and Cocaine. In the beginning when she would perform, you could hardly tell there was anything wrong with her. When she performed, she gave her audience what they paid for but before she came out her choice of drugs starting taking a toll on her which gave outsiders looking in something to talk about.
Throughout her years of making music and going on tour; When she would perform instead of getting a standing ovation she started getting booed because her performance was not what people paid for. (England April 2010 CNN live) After her performance in England everyone knew that her drug use turned into drug abuse which led to questions and interviews. When she was interviewed by (Sawyer 2002 ABC) she talked about several drugs that she and her husband did together everyone remembers that interview because she was high and her voice was hoarse.
During her interview she admitted to using cocaine and marijuana then was asked about using Crack Cocaine she stated that “Crack was Whack” and she made to much money to smoke such a cheap drug (Houston 2002 ABC interview). Everyone started saying that Bobby Brown was the one that introduced her to drugs but no one knew that she partied just as much as he did Being able to act and sing was a gift that everyone wanted a lot of young female artist looked up to her because her voice was so powerful and strong. As the years past by Whitney started getting tired in 2004 she and her family took a trip to Lake Tiberius to cleanse her soul she got baptized. Whitney tried to gain her strength back because she knew she was letting her fans down not only her fans her mother and daughter as well she knew it was time for her to make a comeback and that is what is did but she may have done it a little too late.
When Whitney returned to the States, she started on her new journey with just her and Bobbi Kristina. The struggles of life and the drug abuse led to violence from husband Bobby Brown that led to several court dates and nights in jail but through all her abuse she stood by her husband until she was tired of living that way as well. In October 2006 she filed for divorce which did not get finalized until April 2007 and things started to go back to normal she contacted Clive told him she was ready to hit the studio and do what she loved best and was singing.
Whitney started working her project which was released Sept. 2009 “I look to you” and she even got back in the movies with the remake of Sparkle which comes out Aug. 17, 2012 she look so healthy in front of the camera but she only wanted her fans not to worry about her so putting on a smile for them as well as her daughter is what she did. After a while, she was using drugs once again but she did not let that stop her from performing she appeared on the BET Awards in 2010 and she also performed on Xfactor. Oprah did an interview with Whitney in 2010 she talked about her struggles and how her daughter stuck by her every step of the way.
During her interview, she stated how she was able to set the devil free and she talked about how happy she was to be singing and giving her fans back the love that some gave to her. Being a celebrity is not an easy life you have your struggles and you are going to hit rock bottom sometimes you can pull yourself out before it is too late other times you can’t and you end up with no career or something worst like death. Everyone talked about Whitney but no one really knew what was going on because we are all on the outside looking in she gave us the basics of what she wanted us to know some stood by her while other talked down on her.
Being off and on with drugs and dealing with the struggles throughout her legacy, on February 11th 2012 Whitney Houston passed away at the age of forty eight. I enjoyed her good her bad and the ugly because she was fairly misunderstood. Many of her fans including myself find it difficult at times because she seemed to be doing well. Whitney Houston will always be remembered through her voice, and her beautiful heart. I love her good, bad, and ugly because she was human and I was taught to never judge a book by its cover you have to learn how to read that person and that is what I done throughout my years of following her career. Everyone has a number no one knows when it will be their time and for what it’s worth I will cherish her legacy because I have a heart and now she lives in mine...