Houston, Whitney

(born August 9, 1963, Newark, New Jersey, U.S.) American singer and actress whose first four albums, released between 1985 and 1992, amassed global sales in excess of 86 million copies.

The daughter of Emily (“Cissy”) Houston—whose vocal group, the Sweet Inspirations, sang backup for Aretha Franklin—and the cousin of singer Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston began singing in church as a child. While still in high school, she sang backup for Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls and modeled for fashion magazines. At age 19 she signed with Arista Records, whose president, Clive Davis, groomed the gospel-based singer for crossover pop success. Her debut album, Whitney Houston (1985), yielded three number one singles: “Greatest Love of All,” which became her signature; “Saving All My Love for You”; and “How Will I Know.” Whitney (1987) delivered four more number ones. In 1992 she married singer Bobby Brown and made her motion-picture debut in The Bodyguard; the film featured her rendition of Dolly Parton's “I Will Always Love You,” which stayed at number one for 14 weeks. In the mid-1990s she continued acting in films such as Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher's Wife (1996), and the soundtrack of each film generated hit singles for her. In 1998 Houston released My Love Is Your Love, which did not sell as well as previous efforts but was praised by the critics. In 2000 she signed a new multi-album contract with Arista for $100 million.