On Saturday we lost a legend, certainly one of the greatest singers of all time Whitney Houston. She was the daughter of Gospel Music legend Cissy Houston, cousin of Dionne Warwick and goddaughter of Aretha Franklin. She was discovered by Clive Davis and had one of the greatest voices of any singer ever. From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s she was the queen of female vocalists and was also popular in film .
She achieved super stardom but also struggled with her own demons. She had a troubled marriage to Bobby Brown, struggled with drug addiction and saw her career come apart. She admitted to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills and in the process saw her pristine image and voice lose much of its luster. She told Diane Sawyer during a 2002 interview that The biggest devil is me. I’m either my best friend or my worst enemy.” In many appearances she was disheveled and made comments that were bizarre. Her comeback attempts seemed to be marred by relapses most notably in 2009 when she appeared to be back. She looked be making a comeback in film having just completed filming of Sparkle. She was in Los Angeles to attend a pre-Grammy party hosted by Clive Davis.
She grew up in the church and had faith in Jesus but struggled in life. On Thursday at a party she sang a verse of Jesus Loves Me the I Know. It is a simple song but so expressive.
Her performance of the Star Spangled Banner at the 1991 Super Bowl is one of the most meaningful of all of her performances to me. It was as we were going to war in the First Gulf War and I was waiting to see if I would be mobilized for the ground war. The performance was one that al most all Super Bowl performers are held to. It was a moment in time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1QmeEdFOSc&feature=player_embedded#!
I think that my favorite of her songs was her performance of One Moment in Time for the 1984 Olympics, her version of I will Always Love You as well as The Greatest Love of All and Didn’t We Almost Have it All.
One Moment in Time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poaXgXQmdIo
I Will Always Love You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPHCThqqt0s&feature=player_embedded
Didn’t we almost Have it All
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_4PlM85NJo&feature=player_embedded#!
The Greatest Love of All
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYzlVDlE72w&feature=player_embedded
I was captivated by her voice and music and I always hoped that she would make a successful comeback and find peace in this life. I will always remember the good things about her and never forget her wonderful voice. As for her problems, struggles and troubles we all have them and some do better than others. Whitney had a lot of struggles but they can never eclipse her wonderful voice.
Rest in Peace Whitney. You will be missed.
Peace
Padre Steve+
The Inglorius Padre Steve's World 
Well said Padre.
Probably the oddest memory you’ll hear, regarding Whitney, is mine – she was the first pop star younger than I was. I was so accustomed to the musical acts being older than I was, I was fascinated to see such a vivacious young lady with such outstanding vocal ability. “How Will I Know” did as much to popularize MTV as it did for promoting Whitney’s career.
Another great talent, lost all too soon.
Pingback: Padre Steve’s Look Back at 2012: The Year that Was and Still Can Be if You Have Access to Time Travel | Padresteve's World…Musings of a Passionate Moderate
I fully agree with this! “I was captivated by her voice and music and I always hoped that she would make a successful comeback and find peace in this life. I will always remember the good things about her and never forget her wonderful voice. As for her problems, struggles and troubles we all have them and some do better than others. Whitney had a lot of struggles but they can never eclipse her wonderful voice.
Rest in Peace Whitney. You will be missed.
” I was so upset when she died I couldn’t sleep. The way she died how she was abandoned used abused and forgotten by so many! Beautiful story about the super bowl! She was one of my all time favorites!