At that hour we were dancing, and at that hour, midnight and 55 minutes, the news of the death of pop queen Whitney Houston was spread across the ocean. She was only 48 years old and she was in Los Angeles, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and to the utmost of fate she died the day before the beginning of the Grammy ceremony, which in the 80s raised her to the Olympus of the greats of international music! It therefore seems only right to pay homage to her, not by telling the reason for her death, but by remembering a great artist.
Her story is unfortunately the drama of a woman at the top of the charts for years, loved and revered by millions of fans, who in a few years passed from the paradise of success to the hell of drugs and depression.
Born in the suburbs of New Jersey, Whitney was a cousin of pop star Dionne Warwick and goddaughter of the great Aretha Fraklin with whom she sang in church in Gospel choirs from an early age. He reached the pinnacle of his success very young, thanks to his wonderful voice, with enormous intensity and power.
In 1986 he won the Grammy and for years dominated the scene with many world successes. On the Billboard Hot 100 he managed to place seven consecutive singles at number one, breaking the record of five belonging to stars of the caliber of Diana Ross, and even the Beatles! Together with Michael Jackson he holds the record for the most successful black artist. It is estimated that in his short but intense career he has sold about 190 million records, of which 45 million copies only for the soundtrack of the film “The Bodyguard” shot alongside Kevin Kostner, a film that gained enormous popularity in the 1980s. .
With her music and sex appeal she has influenced a generation of young singers, such as Christina Aguilera and Mariah Carey just to name two!
In 1992 she married singer Bobby Brown. Their stormy and fourteen-year marriage ended in 2007, after memorable scenes and beating that Bobby inflicted on her for years and for which he was also tried. That was the beginning of the end.
After the years of success, the collapse and despair: for some time he had been abusing cocaine, marijuana and various pills. In a 2002 interview, he said: “The greatest devil is me. I can be my best friend or my worst enemy ”. And perhaps he had chosen to be his worst enemy.
Goodbye queen of pop, we remind you with a phrase from your perhaps most famous song: “I Will Always Love You”: “… Sweet and bitter memories this is all I carry with me, so goodbye, please don’t cry …