Houston, Whitney (1963–)
Houston, Whitney (1963–)
African-American pop singer. Born Whitney Elizabeth Houston, Aug 9, 1963, in East Orange, NJ; dau. of John and Cissy Houston (gospel singer); m. Bobby Brown (musician), 1992; children: Bobbi Kristina.
Began performing in mother's nightclub act at 15; appeared on cover of Vogue before signing recording contract; signed with Arista records and released debut album Whitney Houston (1985); had hits "You Give Good Love" (1985), "How Will I Know" (1985) and "Greatest Love of All" (1986); from next album, Whitney (1987), scored more hits with "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," "So Emotional" and "Love Will Save the Day"(1987); made successful transition to film acting, starring in Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Bodyguard (1992), with a soundtrack that included hit covers of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" and Chaka Khan's"I'm Every Woman"; pursued a more urban image with album Your Love is My Love (1998), which included the hits "Heartbreak Hotel" (1999) and "It's Not Right But It's Okay" (1999); exacerbated pre-existing diva image with erratic behavior (early 2000s).