Whitney Houston, once the absolute best singer of any gender for two straight decades, has died. She was 48.
Growing up, Whitney was everywhere in a kid's life. She had a phenomenal hit single that played everywhere ("I Will Always Love You"), she had done a heavily celebrated rendition of the National Anthem at the Super Bowl, she was the host of severe kid's award shows on Nickelodeon, and she both starred and included on the soundtracks of several movies.
The last part was what introduced me to her music. The Waiting to Exhale soundtrack is still one of the best R&B albums for myself, fueled thanks to Houston's two songs, "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" and her duet with CeCe Winans on "Count on Me". This new love brought me to her five singles on The Bodyguard soundtrack, her past great work during her run at the top in the 80's, and her then current output such as her work on The Preacher's Wife and her last signature and successful album in the mainstream, My Love is Your Love.
Despite her present image as a troubled icon with crippling personal demons, I still embraced and supported the woman, thinking there would come a day where she would rise as a phoenix to shut up the detractors. Sadly, this proved fruitless. She will never escape me, especially with her great voice and the plenty of singles: "How Will I Know", "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", "Didn't We Almost Had It All", "So Emotional", "I'm Your Baby Tonight", "When You Believe", "Heartbreak Hotel", "It's Not Right But It's Okay", and of course her soundtracks.
She will surely be missed.
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