Pop artist Whitney Houston at pre-Grammy gala during 2011. Houston was found dead at the Beverly Hills Hilton on February 11, 2012. She was 48-years-old., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Whitney Houston Dead at 48
Singer died at Beverly Hilton Saturday afternoon
by Rolling Stone
Paramedics arriving at the Beverly Hilton found Whitney Houston's body.
While the cause of death is still unknown, Houston's publicist Kristen Foster has confirmed the sad news.
Houston had been scheduled to attend the annual pre-Grammy party of music mogul Clive Davis, who discovered her, tonight and had attended rehearsals for the event earlier this week. CNN reports the party is still going on.
CNN also reports that the Grammy awards ceremony Sunday will include tributes to the singer, including one possible one by Jennifer Hudson. The Recording Academy released the following statement on Saturday evening:
Six-time GRAMMY winner Whitney Houston was one of the world's greatest pop singers of all time who leaves behind a robust musical soundtrack spanning the past three decades. Her powerful voice graced many memorable and award-winning songs. A light has been dimmed in our music community today, and we extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends, fans and all who have been touched by her beautiful voice.
Houston was known for her string of hits in the Eighties and Nineties, including "The Greatest Love of All," "I Will Always Love You," "How Will I Know" and "I'm Every Woman." She also had an acting career, appearing in The Bodyguard and Waiting to Exhale.
In addition to her six Grammys, Houston also won two Emmys and 22 American Music Awards. Her rendition of the national anthem at the Super Bowl in 1991 is often considered the standard by which other versions are judged.
In recent years, Houston was more known for her tumultous personal life and struggles with addiction.
She was married to R&B singer Bobby Brown from 1992 to 2007, and the couple had one daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, born in 1993. The couple appeared in the reality TV series Being Bobby Brown in 2005.
Whitney Houston's Billboard Chart Records
by Gary Trust | February 11, 2012 11:05 EST
Following the news of Whitney Houston's passing today (Feb. 11), here is a look back at the many chart achievements that the gifted vocalist accomplished.
ALBUM CHART QUEEN: No woman led the Billboard 200 albums chart quite like Houston.
The Houston-led soundtrack to "The Bodyguard" stands as the longest-reigning album by a woman in the 56-year history of the survey.
Here is a look at the elite albums by solo females to have spent the most time atop the tally:
Weeks at No. 1, Title, Artist, Year Reached No. 1
20 weeks, "The Bodyguard" soundtrack/Whitney Houston, 1992
19 weeks, "21," Adele, 2011 (*currently at No. 1)
15 weeks, "Tapestry," Carole King, 1971
14 weeks, "Whitney Houston," Whitney Houston, 1986
13 weeks, "Judy at Carnegie Hall," Judy Garland, 1961
12 weeks, "Jagged Little Pill," Alanis Morissette, 1995
12 weeks, "Fearless, " Taylor Swift, 2008
11 weeks, "Mariah Carey," Mariah Carey, 1991
11 weeks, "Whitney," Whitney Houston, 1986
10 weeks, "Forever Your Girl," Paula Abdul, 1989
10 weeks, "The Singing Nun," the Singing Nun, 1963
Houston is the only woman to have tallied reigns of more than 10 weeks with multiple albums. While no other woman has more than one such set, Houston had three: "The Bodyguard" (20 weeks), "Whitney Houston"(14) and "Whitney" (11).
With Houston also leading for a week in 2009 with her last studio album, "I Look to You," her 46 total weeks at the Billboard 200 summit are the most among women.
INSTANT SUCCESS: Four years before the practice became the norm upon the advent of Nielsen SoundScan electronic point-of-sale data, Houston scored the first No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 for a female performer.
The week of June 27, 1987, "Whitney" launched at the chart's top spot, where it held for its first 11 weeks. It remained in the top 10 for its first 31 weeks, through Jan. 23, 1988.
STRONG SEVEN: Houston holds the Billboard Hot 100 record for most consecutive No. 1 singles, having tallied seven in-a-row from 1985 through 1988.
Here is a look at her unequaled chart-topping streak:
Date Reached No. 1, Title (Weeks at No. 1)
Oct. 26, 1985, "Saving All My Love for You" (one)
Feb. 15, 1986, "How Will I Know" (two)
May 17, 1986, "Greatest Love of All" (three)
June 27, 1987, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (two)
Sept. 26, 1987, "Didn't We Almost Have It All" (two)
Jan. 9, 1988, "So Emotional" (one)
April 23, 1988, "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" (two)
Even when her streak ended, Houston's next four solo singles all reached the Hot 100's top 10. (She missed only with "It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be," a sassy superstar duet with Aretha Franklin).
With 11 career Hot 100 No. 1s each, Houston and Rihanna trail only Mariah Carey (18) and Madonna (12) for the most among women. Janet Jackson rounds out the category's top five with 10 leaders.
EXTRAORDINARY: Houston's "Exhale (Shoop, Shoop)" is one of only 13 songs by women to have debuted at No. 1 in the Hot 100's history.
The song, from the "Waiting to Exhale" soundtrack, opened atop the Nov. 25, 1995, Hot 100.
"Exhale" also led R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for eight frames, becoming one of her eight No. 1s on the tally.
Houston additionally notched 10 leading titles on Adult Contemporary, making her one of just seven artists to reach the double-digit mark in the chart's 51-year archives.
ALWAYS BE LOVED: When Houston's remake of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" wrapped its 14-week run atop the Hot 100 in 1993, the song stood as the longest-leading title since the chart's Aug. 4, 1958, inception.
To-date, only Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day" (16 weeks, 1995-96) has surpassed the reign (also matched by five other songs).
Said Parton, who wrote "Always," upon Houston's passing, "Mine is only one of the millions of hearts broken over the death of Whitney Houston. I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song.
"I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, 'Whitney, I will always love you.'
"You will be missed."
Whitney Houston, superstar of records, movies whose career was ravaged by drugs, dead at 48
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.
Houston's publicist, Kristen Foster, said Saturday that the singer had died, but the cause and the location of her death were unknown.
News of Houston's death came on the eve of music's biggest night -- the Grammy Awards. It's a showcase where she once reigned, and her death was sure to case a heavy pall on Sunday's ceremony. Houston's longtime mentor Clive Davis was to hold his annual concert and dinner Saturday; it was unclear if it was going to go forward.
At her peak, Houston the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.
Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale."
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