Whitney Houston Biography

Fast Facts

• Held the Guinness World Record as the most awarded female artist of all time at her death
• Received an honorary doctorate degree from Grambling State University, Louisiana
• Her mother was Cissy Houston of the Sweet Inspirations, and her cousin was Dionne Warwick
• Grew up around Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight and Robert Flack due to her family's involvement in the music industry
• Sang backup vocals for the Michael Zanger Band, Chaka Khan, Lou Rawls and Jermaine Jackson as a teenager
• Before becoming a professional singer, she worked as a fashion model, appearing on the covers of Seventeen and Glamour magazines
• Quote: "God gave me a voice to sing with, and when you have that, what other gimmick is there?"
• Quote: "That's what's strange about this image business - the more popular you become, the weirder they want to make you․"
• A pop singer and actress, she released the albums "Whitney Houston," "Whitney," "I'm Your Baby Tonight" and the soundtrack to "The Bodyguard," to which she contributed six songs
• Released the hit song "I Will Always Love You," which stayed at the top of the charts for 14 weeks, the longest-running hit single ever
• Was in contention for the role of Sondra Huxtable on "The Cosby Show․"