Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston born August 9 1963 February 11 2012 was an American RBpop singer actress and former fashion model Houston is the most awarded female artist of all time according to Guinness World Records and her list of awards include 2 Emmy Awards 6 Grammy Awards 16 Billboard Music Awards 22 American Music Awards among a total of 415 career awards as of 2010 Houston is also one of the worlds bestselling music artists having sold over 170 million albums and singles worldwide Inspired by several prominent soul singers in her extended family including mother Cissy Houston and cousins Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick as well as her godmother Aretha Franklin Houston began singing with New Jersey churchs junior gospel choir at age 11 After she began performing alongside her mother in night clubs in the New York City area she was discovered by Arista Records label head Clive Davis As of 2011 Houston has released six studio albums and three movie soundtrack albums all of which have had diamond multiplatinum platinum or gold certification Houstons 1985 debut album Whitney Houston became the bestselling debut album by a female act at the time of its release Her second studio album Whitney 1987 became the first album by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart Houstons crossover appeal on the popular music charts as well as her prominence on MTV starting with her video for How Will I Know enabled several AfricanAmerican female artists to follow in her success Houstons first acting role was as the star of the feature film The Bodyguard 1992 The movies original soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy Award for Album of the Year Its lead single I Will Always Love You became the bestselling single by a female artist in music history The album makes her the only female act ranked in the list of the top10 bestselling albums at number four Houston continued to star in movies and contribute to soundtracks including with the films Waiting to Exhale 1995 and The Preachers Wife 1996 Three years after the release of her fourth studio album My Love Is Your Love 1998 she renewed her recording contract with Arista Records She released her fifth studio album Just Whitney in 2002 and the Christmasthemed One Wish The Holiday Album in 2003 Amid widespread media coverage of personal and professional turmoil Houston ended her 14year marriage to singer Bobby Brown in 2006 In 2009 Houston released her seventh studio album I Look To You Description above from the Wikipedia article Whitney Houston licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia