MUMBAI: A night before the biggest musical award ceremony, an eclipse dawn on the pop industry with the loss of the multi-million singer Whitney Houston, who passed away in her suite at the Beverly Hilton hotel on 11 February. The 48 year old singer was staying at the hotel to attend a pre-Grammy party being hosted by her pop mentor and founder of Arista Records Clive Davis.
Houston was found in her room at 3.55 pm local time, and paramedics spent close to 20 minutes trying to revive her. There was no immediate word on the cause of her death, authorities said there were no signs of foul play, but bottles of prescription drugs like those used by Michael Jackson were found in her suite.
Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said, A post-mortem had been completed but that specific details would not be released following a request from detectives investigating the death. No foul play is suspected at this time….
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The death of the star prompted a worldwide outpouring of grief, with tributes paid by some of the biggest names in the music industry. At the Grammy awards, Jennifer Hudson delivered an elegant and simple tribute to the late singer, performing I Will Always Love You… before a silent but appreciative crowd. Hudson has long been compared to Houston.
Houston was signed by Davis signed in 1982 after hearing her performance in a nightclub, and spent two years supervising the production of her debut album ‘Whitney Houston’, which was released in 1985 and marked three #1 singles Saving All My Love for You, How Will I Know and The Greatest Love of All. The debut album and 1992 soundtrack of â€?The Bodyguard’ sold more than 10 million copies in the US. Her remarkable voice which spanned three octaves won her first Grammy awards as best female pop vocal performance for ‘Saving All My Love for You’. Her popularity soared for the next decade with the second album ‘Whitney’ in 1987, which became the first album by a woman to enter the Billboard charts at #1 including four #1 singles.
In 2009, the Guinness World Records cited Houston as the most-awarded female act of all time. Her repertoire of awards included two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, and 22 American Music Awards, among a total of 415 career awards as of 2010. Houston was also one of the world’s best-selling music artists, having sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide. She is the second artist behind Elton John and the only female artist to have two number-one Billboard 200 Album awards (formerly “Top Pop Album”) on the Billboard magazine year-end charts.
Houston, one of the world’s best-selling artists in the 1980s and 1990s, was the daughter of a gospel and pop singer Cissy Houston. Houston was born on August 9, 1963, in Newark. In 1970s and early 80s she sang in church, and worked as a backup studio singer and featured vocalist with other acts.
