Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music's queen and the golden girl of the music industry in the '80s and '90s who wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen, but suffered from recurring bouts with drugs and alcohol, was found dead early Saturday evening in a Beverly Hills hotel room, as the industry gathered in Los Angeles for the official Pre-Grammy Gala hosted by her mentor Clive Davis, chief creative officer of Sony Music Worldwide.Began her career just as the video age was just starting to blossom, and she scored some of her greatest success in that medium. With her incredible vocal range and purity, runway good looks and girl-next-door charm, Whitney was an unstoppable force in pop music, and an out-of-the-box superstar when she arrived on the music scene in 1985. Her meteoric rise included record-setting hits, groundbreaking videos and a promising film career.
Whitney's downfall was so long and sad that, in an impatient public's mind, it overshadowed her many accomplishments. Those achievements can be checked off easily in numbers - Grammy Awards, records sold, the string of seven consecutive No.1 singles. Yet if there's any solace to her passing, it is that people will revisit recordings, videos and films to rediscover the majesty of her work. Tonight, the 54th Annual Grammy Awards will sure sending off tributes to Whitney, the winner for the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
I just wanted to pick one of her successful hits to pay my tribute to Whitney. "My Love Is Your Love," is her gorgeous reggae-tinged title track from her 1998 favorite Soul/R&B album, a schizophrenic album with a primer on today's hip-hop/R&B scene: the good, the bad, and the Fugee. The mid-tempo tune draws strong influence from reggae genres, and was lauded by critics. It showcase Whitney in all her creative, soulful maturity. The track was a massive hit worldwide, becoming Whitney's third most successful single, after "I Will Always Love You," and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)." You will always be missed, Whitney!
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