Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1963 into a family steeped in music; her mother Cissy Houston was a noted gospel and soul singer, and Dionne Warwick was her cousin. She began singing in church as a child and performed in New York clubs as a teenager, where her extraordinary range and control soon attracted the attention of record executives.

Her self-titled 1985 debut became one of the most successful first albums ever released, and she went on to achieve seven consecutive number-one singles in the United States, a record that still stands. Her 1992 film debut in The Bodyguard produced a soundtrack of historic proportions, anchored by her rendition of 'I Will Always Love You,' one of the best-selling singles of all time.

Houston's later career was marked by personal difficulties that she faced under relentless public attention, and she died in Beverly Hills in 2012 at age 48. Her legacy endures in the generations of vocalists she inspired, from pop to gospel to R&B. Her performances remain a benchmark of technical brilliance joined to deep feeling, and her voice is still simply called 'The Voice.'

Whitney Houston possessed one of the most celebrated voices in popular music, setting a standard for vocal power and grace that singers still measure themselves against.