Whitney Houston’s legacy continues to reach the hearts of fans old and new. PHOTO CREDIT: People
Whitney Houston is one of my all time favorite singers, thanks to my mom. She played me all of her songs when I was younger and still listens to them now.
Houston, to me and to a lot of people, is the best vocalist and performer of all time. In my opinion, there is no other singer that can compare to her vocals. Something I absolutely love is when a singer goes all out and makes it look effortless; her nickname was literally “the voice.”
Her Super Bowl performance singing the U.S. National Anthem, “Star Spangled Banner” in 1991 is the most viewed and popular performance of that song since Jimi Hendrix’s in 1969. Hearing her singing that made me proud to be an American.
She also played the fairy godmother in Brandy’s “Cinderella,” which to me is the best rendition of Cinderella. None of those “Cinderella Story” movies can ever compare to this masterpiece. You’ve got Brandy and Whitney in one movie, what more could you ask for!
I remember growing up with my mom always playing her music on the weekends, which was cleaning time in my house, and my mom trying to sing along with Whitney. I remember being a little cruel and telling her to stop singing because I’d rather hear Whitney sing because she was better. My mom would always laugh and tell me how awesome Whitney’s voice is and how nobody could ever compare to her; and I agree entirely.
Along with being a singer, Whitney had a huge impact on society as well. According to her website, whitneyhouston.com, “Whitney Houston believed in using her success to help those less fortunate, and she did much of her humanitarian work out of the spotlight, visiting children in hospitals, sending personal notes to the charities that she helped, and organizing Christmas parties for homeless children.”
One of the foundations she created was in 1989, called The Whitney Houston Foundation for Children. The website wrote about how this foundation helped sick and homeless children, taught children how to read, built parks and playgrounds in the city, worked towards preventing child abuse and provided college scholarships.
Unfortunately, she passed away in 2012, which broke the world’s heart. Whitney was a worldwide sensation selling over 200 million records worldwide, and according to rockhall.com, “Her ability to connect with audiences set dozens of industry records. She was the first artist to have seven consecutive #1 hits and the first woman to enter the Billboard 200 at #1 with her album, Whitney. She earned the longest reigning #1 single on the Hot 100 with “I Will Always Love You.”
Dolly Parton was the original singer for “I Will Always Love You,” and Whitney covered it for “The Bodyguard” soundtrack. Dolly sang it well, but Whitney just took that song and made it hers so gracefully. What made the song iconic was Whitney’s high notes and vocal-runs being so stable and strong at the end of the song, and of course that one long high-note everyone tries to sing because they think they can do it.
I wanted to talk about some of my favorite songs by Whitney because I have been in love with her ever since I was seven years old. My dream is to one day interview celebrities on red carpets and on entertainment news shows, and Whitney would have been my dream interview. I would’ve made sure all my questions were unique and perfect, but ultimately I would end up praising her the entire time.
My all time favorite song is “I Have Nothing” from “The Bodyguard” soundtrack. I cannot describe with enough or any words how much I love this song and how I reacted to it when I first listened to it and everytime I listen to it. It is one of the most powerful ballads I’ve ever heard and I have it in every playlist I create. I cannot say this enough, but her vocals were just out of this world. There aren’t enough words to describe her voice in this song or her voice in general.
“So Emotional,” from her self-titled album “Whitney” released in 1987 is another one of my favorites. I honestly do get so emotional listening to this song. I would give everything to hear this song live in concert dancing and trying to sing along with her. She just has so much energy whenever she sings her songs, and that makes it even better cause her being really into the song makes the listener feel really into the song as well.
“I Wanna Dance With Somebody” is one of her most iconic tracks that is still really popular today. When you hear those first two notes of the song you immediately know it’s Whitney Houston about to make everybody in the room dance. The vocals, the 80’s techno beats, the costumes, the music video, everything about this song is just so perfect and so amazing.
“I’m Every Woman” from “The Bodyguard” soundtrack is just a feel-good song that I personally like to listen to while I clean. However, I don’t really get much cleaning done because I’m too busy performing a concert for my dog who has no clue what I’m doing. I also really loved the music video for this song too; fun fact, she was pregnant with her daughter Bobbi Christina Brown during the filming of this video.
Whitney Houston is the voice, as her nickname states. To me, there will never be another iconic or pure energetic and powerful voice and performer like Whitney. I would have loved to talk to her and get to know her better or even go to one of her concerts. Rest in peace Queen.