MARRIAGE AND divorce killed Whitney Houston- the golden girl of music industry. She was one of the best selling artists. Her peerless vocals, tinged by the pop sheen were so much loved by the masses. She had to suffer a lot during last days of her life -erratic life style, ravaged by depression, divorce with Bobby Brown in 2007, and the dishevelled look, and tarnished her image greatly. The singer in her prime was a wonder for all those who loved music. She will remain in the hearts of the people with her hit- the searing, stunning rendition of Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You’.

 

There was a charge of domestic abuse, levelled against Brown in 1993 and the divorce broke her mental spirit totally. The queen of music had her first hit in All My Love for You and it brought her the first Grammy Award for the best female pop vocal.  ‘How Will I Know’, ‘You Give  Good  Love’  and ‘The Greatest  Love of  All’ also became hit singles. The multiplatinum album Whitney came out in 1987 and included hits like ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’ and ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’.

 

The last few months of her life were lost; she just got lost in cocaine, marijuana and pills. Her pristine voice was gone and she was no longer able to hit the high notes with her raspy voice. Drugs killed her, although her final night and real reason for her premature death is yet to be discovered. It is a stunning blow to the Whitney fans and music lovers in general. When people we care for die, we often reflect back on memories of them at their best. Those, whom God loves, die young and Whitney was loved also by millions of music lovers. She is gone and gone forever. Just incredible, that she is gone at the age of 48 with so much possibility in her still remaining, with so much talent yet to be explored.

 

She joined the ranks of other popular singers and performers now that died early deaths after struggles with alcohol or drugs - Amy Winehouse, Elvis Presley, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Brian Jones. Houston's first acting role was as the star of the feature film, The Body Guard 1992. The film's original soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Its lead single I Will Always Love You, became the best selling single by a female artist in music history. It sold more than a million copies of an album within a single week of its release. The album makes her the only female act in the top 10 list of the best selling albums of all time, at number four.

 

Houston continued to star in movies and contribute to their soundtracks, including the films ‘Waiting to Exhale’ in 1995 and The Preacher's Wife in 1996.The Preacher's Wife soundtrack became the best-selling gospel album in history. But where are all these achievements now today when she is no more and her golden voice is not being heard? We can at best say in the words of her own song, Whitney We all love You still. Alcoholism and anger buried them all. After all the sound of fury, life has become a walking shadow, a tale told by an idiot signifying nothing.