Whitney Houston#Death

File:NewHopeNewark 02.jpg, where Houston sang in the choir as a child|alt=]]

Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born on August 9, 1963, at Presbyterian Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, to Emily "Cissy" (née Drinkard) and John Russell Houston Jr.{{cite book |last1=Houston |first1=Cissy |title=Remembering Whitney |date=2013 |page=10 |quote=My water broke. So it was right back out the door as John put me in the car and hurried to Presbyterian Hospital.}} Cissy was a Grammy-winning gospel and soul singer who was a member of The Drinkard Singers and the founder of The Sweet Inspirations before becoming a solo artist.{{cite web |title=Emily 'Cissy' Houston 2019 Inductee - Performing Arts |url=https://njhalloffame.org/hall-of-famers/2019-2020-inductees/cissy-houston/ |website=New Jersey Hall of Fame |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317074825/https://njhalloffame.org/hall-of-famers/2019-2020-inductees/cissy-houston/ |archive-date=March 17, 2024 |url-status=live}}{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Jessie Carney|author-link=Jessie Carney Smith|title=Notable Black American women|year=1996|publisher=VNR AG|isbn=978-0-8103-9177-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/notableblackamer00jess/page/304 304]–305|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/notableblackamer00jess}} John was a former Army serviceman who later became an administrator under Newark mayor Kenneth A. Gibson. According to her mother, Houston was named after actress Whitney Blake.{{cite web |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/whitney-houston-at-22-from-the-star-archives/article_1e90be37-fe6b-54ea-8717-9a0441cea7c8.html |title=Whitney Houston at 22: From the Star archives |work=The Toronto Star |date=August 21, 1986 |accessdate=March 16, 2025}} Houston was given the nickname "Nippy" by her father.{{cite book |last1=Crawford |first1=Robyn |title=A Song for You: My Life with Whitney Houston |date=2019 |page=16}}

Houston's parents were both African-American. Cissy Houston stated that she had partial Dutch and Native American ancestry.{{cite news|first=Cissy|last=Houston|title=Visionary Project Video – Cissy Houston: My Family|date=September 2, 2009|url=http://www.visionaryproject.org/houstoncissy/|access-date=February 11, 2012|archive-date=September 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921111821/http://www.visionaryproject.org/houstoncissy/|url-status=dead}} Houston was a cousin of singers Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick as well as a cousin of opera singer Leontyne Price. Aretha Franklin became an "honorary aunt" while Darlene Love was Houston's godmother.{{cite news |title=Whitney's godmother: 'She was a light'|date=February 13, 2012 |url=http://nancygrace.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/13/she-was-a-light/?hpt=ng_bn3 |work=Nancy Grace spoke with Whitney Houston's and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer Darlene Love |access-date=February 17, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130102115445/http://nancygrace.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/13/she-was-a-light/?hpt=ng_bn3}}{{cite web |last=Whitall |first=Susan |title=Aretha Franklin recalls meeting a young Whitney Houston |url=http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120217/ENT09/202170397/1361/Aretha-Franklin-recalls-meeting-a-young-Whitney-Houston |work=The Queen of Soul corrected one thing about her relationship to Houston. She says she wasn't Houston's Godmother, but a sort of honorary aunt.|publisher=The Detroit News|access-date=February 18, 2012}}{{dead link|date=May 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite magazine |magazine=Jet |title=Whitney Houston Sings Her Way To Stardom With Hit Album, Road Tour |date=August 26, 1985 |page=59 |issn=0021-5996 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=prQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA59}} Houston's paternal great-great-grandfather Jeremiah Burke Sanderson was an American abolitionist and advocate for the civil and educational rights of black Americans during the mid-19th century.{{Cite web|title=Jeremiah Burke Sanderson – New Bedford Historical Society|url=http://nbhistoricalsociety.org/Important-Figures/jeremiah-burke-sanderson/|access-date=2020-11-07|language=en-US}}{{Cite journal|last=Lapp|first=Rudolph M.|date=1968|title=Jeremiah B. Sanderson: Early California Negro Leader |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2716356 |journal=The Journal of Negro History|volume=53|issue=4|pages=321–333|doi=10.2307/2716356|jstor=2716356|s2cid=150279633|issn=0022-2992|url-access=subscription}} Houston had three older brothers: paternal half-brother John III;{{cite news |url=https://obits.nj.com/us/obituaries/starledger/name/john-houston-obituary?id=8103622#:~:text=Retired%20founder%20and%20chairman%20of%20Houston%20Associates%2C%20Inc.&text=He%20attended%20Weequahic%20High%20School,Chairman%20of%20Houston%20Associates%2C%20Inc. |title=John Russell Houston III|date=January 17, 2021|newspaper=The Star-Ledger|via=Legacy.com |accessdate=December 4, 2022}} maternal half-brother Gary, a basketball player and singer;[https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/10-things-whitney-houston/story?id=15637223#5 "Top 10 Things You May Not Know About Whitney Houston"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119215437/https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/10-things-whitney-houston/story?id=15637223#5 |date=November 19, 2018 }}. ABC. February 16, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2012. and full brother Michael.{{cite web |url=http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/69412/Michael-Houston-Devastated-At-Death-Of-Sister |title=Michael Houston 'Devastated' At Death Of Sister |work=Entertainment Wise|date=February 12, 2012 |access-date=November 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215191826/http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/69412/Michael-Houston-Devastated-At-Death-Of-Sister|archive-date=February 15, 2012 |last1=Merriman |first1=Rebecca }}

At three, Houston witnessed the Newark race riots of 1967. Following Cissy signing a solo recording contract in 1970, the Houston family relocated to a suburban area of East Orange, New Jersey called Doddtown.{{cite book |last1=Houston |first1=Cissy |title=Remembering Whitney |date=2013 |pages=61-62 |quote=John was able to get in touch with Charles Koppelman, a veteran record man who was running the music division of a new label called Commonwealth United, and he pitched me as a solo artist. They signed me for a modest $15,000 advance and we began recording right away - and in 1970, we released my first solo album, Presenting Cissy Houston. With that advance, we were finally able to leave the Wainwright neighborhood. John and I wasted no time in finding a beautiful new home – a four-bedroom, white clapboard house at 362 Dodd Street in East Orange.}} Prior to moving to East Orange, the Houstons had raised their children at Newark's Wainwright Street. Houston's parents married in the spring of 1964, just months before Houston's first birthday.{{cite book |last1=Houston |first1=Cissy |title=Remembering Whitney |date=2013 |page=45 |quote=In the spring of 1964, almost a year after Nippy's birth, John's divorce was at last finalized, and he and I were able to get married.}} Initially a happy union, the marriage dissolved by Houston's teen years after Houston's father suffered a near-fatal heart attack. By 17, Houston's parents separated; divorcing over a decade later.{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2013/01/28/cissy-houston-whitney-memoir/1862249/|title=Cissy Houston remembers Whitney, with love and candor|last=Gardner, Elysa|date=January 28, 2013|accessdate=December 19, 2017|newspaper=USA Today}}

Houston was raised in the Baptist faith. She joined the church choir at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark at the age of five, and she also learned to play piano at New Hope.{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2013/01/28/cissy-houston-whitney-memoir/1862249/|title=Cissy Houston remembers Whitney, with love and candor|last=Gardner|first= Elysa|date=January 28, 2013|access-date=December 19, 2017|newspaper=USA Today}}{{cite magazine |title=Whitney & Bobby – Addicted to Love |date=September 2005 |magazine=Vibe |page=204 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9iYEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA204 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220323134655/https://books.google.com/books?id=9iYEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA204 |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 23, 2022 |first=Rob |last=Kenner }} She later recalled being exposed to the Pentecostal church nearby as well. Houston made her solo performance debut at New Hope singing the hymn "Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah" at the age of 12.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/divatotallyunaut0000bowm/page/n19/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Diva: the totally unauthorized biography of Whitney Houston |last=Bowman|first= Jeffrey |page=XII-XIII |date=1994 |publisher=Harper |isbn=9780061008535 |access-date=April 30, 2023}} Around this same period, she told her mother that she wanted to pursue a career in music.{{cite book |last1=Houston |first1=Cissy |title=Remembering Whitney |date=2013 |page=76 |quote=Nippy had been hinting for a while that she wanted to sing professionally, but at age twelve, she told me she was sure.}} Houston would be trained on how to sing by Cissy throughout her teen years.{{Cite magazine |last1=Corliss |first1=Richard |date=July 13, 1987 |title=The Prom Queen of Soul |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,964980-5,00.html |magazine=Time}} Houston’s biggest musical influence was her mother. She was also heavily influenced by her successful cousins Dionne and Dee Dee. Other musical influences included Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, and Roberta Flack.{{cite magazine |last=DeCurtis |first=Anthony |title=Whitney Houston: Down and Dirty |date=June 10, 1993 |magazine=Rolling Stone |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/whitney-houston-gets-down-and-dirty-192198/ |access-date=September 7, 2021}}

Houston attended Franklin Elementary School (now the Whitney E. Houston Academy of Creative and Performing Arts) from first grade to sixth grade before transferring to Mount Saint Dominic Academy, a Catholic girls' high school in Caldwell, New Jersey, at 13. She graduated from Mount Saint Dominic in 1981.{{cite web|url=https://patch.com/new-jersey/caldwells/mount-classmate-remembers-whitney-houston|title=Mount Saint Dominic Classmate Remembers Whitney Houston|work=Patch.com|last=Waldman|first=Tyler|date=February 13, 2012|accessdate=June 18, 2018}}

Houston's professional career began when she joined her mother's band as a background singer at fourteen while Cissy performed at Manhattan cabaret clubs. Houston gave her first solo during Cissy's performance at Manhattan's Town Hall in February 1978, performing "Tomorrow" from the Broadway musical, Annie, where she received her first standing ovation.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/divatotallyunaut0000bowm/page/58/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Diva: the totally unauthorized biography of Whitney Houston |last=Bowman|first=Jeffrey |date=1994 |page=58 |publisher=Harper |isbn=9780061008535 |access-date=April 30, 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://www.thetownhall.org/event/the-voice-of-whitney |title=The Voice of Whitney |work=TheTownHall.org |accessdate=February 3, 2025}} Houston began a career as a session vocalist backing up artists like her mother, Michael Zager, Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls.{{cite magazine |magazine=Jet |title=Singer Whitney Houston A Model Of Success |date=July 16, 1990 |page=32 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ra8DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA32}} Houston was the featured vocalist in Zager's disco song "Life's a Party" (1978).{{cite web|url=https://www.whitneyhouston.com/track/lifes-a-party/|title=Life's A Party|work=WhitneyHouston.com|accessdate=May 23, 2025}}

Houston became a fashion model in 1980 after being spotted at Carnegie Hall and signed first with Click Models before moving onto the Wilhelmina Models agency, where she landed the cover of Seventeen.{{cite web|last=Wilson|first=Julee|title= Whitney Houston Graces Cover Of Seventeen Magazine, November 1981 (PHOTO) |work=HuffPost|date=February 13, 2012|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/whitney-houston-seventeen-cover_n_1273472}} Houston's girl next door charm helped her to land in fashion spreads for Glamour, Cosmopolitan and Young Miss. Houston continued her music career during this period, recording demos of gospel recordings.{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/whitney-houston-gospel-songs-i-go-to-the-rock-explained-1235358504/ |title=Whitney Houston Gospel Songs from 'I Go to the Rock' Explained - The Hollywood Reporter |work=The Hollywood Reporter |last=Fekadu|first= Mesfin |date=March 22, 2023 |accessdate=April 26, 2023}} Houston's vocal talent made her sought after for recording deals, but were turned down by her mother, who insisted that Houston finish high school.{{cite book|last=Bronson|first= Fred|title=The Billboard book of number 1 hits|date=October 1, 2003|publisher=Random House Digital|isbn=978-0-8230-7677-2|page=629}}{{cite magazine |magazine=Ebony |title=Forever Daddy's Girl |date=June 1990 |page=136 |issn=0012-9011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8tMDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA136 |access-date=September 7, 2021 |first=Lynn |last=Norment}}

Signing with Tara Productions in September 1981, Houston hired Gene Harvey as her manager, with Daniel Gittleman and Seymour Flics also playing part in managing her.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.classicwhitney.com/interview/billboard1986artistoftheyear.htm |title=Whitney Houston: The Long Road to Overnight Stardom |magazine=Billboard |date=December 1986 |accessdate=April 26, 2023 |last=Scoppa |first=Bud}}{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-06-08-ca-9249-story.html |title=HOUSTON HITS: MASTER PLAN, BLIND LUCK |work=Los Angeles Times |date=June 8, 1986 |last=Grein|first=Paul |accessdate=April 26, 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/journal-news-independent/2012/02/14/fall-river-music-businessman-was/39512011007/ |title=Fall River music businessman was instrumental in launching Whitney Houston's early career |work=Wicked Local |last=Holtzman|first=Michael |date=February 14, 2012 |accessdate=April 26, 2023}} During 1982, Houston auditioned for both Elektra Records and CBS Records.{{cite web |url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/young-whitney-houston-never-seen-150000108.html |title=Young Whitney Houston: Never-Before Seen Photos of the 'One in a Million' Superstar Before Fame |author=Brianne Tracy |date=January 9, 2022 |work=Yahoo News |accessdate=March 27, 2025}} Houston's feature on the song "Memories" from Material's album One Down, led to critical raves, with then-Village Voice critic Robert Christgau calling it "one of the most gorgeous ballads you've ever heard".{{cite web|author-link=Robert Christgau|last=Christgau|first= Robert|title=Material she was a great song writer|publisher=RobertChristgau.com|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Material|access-date=December 12, 2007}} Producer Paul Jabara later featured her on the ballad, "Eternal Love", issued off his album, Paul Jabara & Friends.{{cite web|last=Ripol|first=Vince|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/paul-jabara-friends-mw0000096657|title=Paul Jabara & Friends Album Review|work=AllMusic|access-date=July 27, 2019}}

After seeing Houston perform at the Seventh Avenue South nightclub in Manhattan, Gerry Griffith--then the A&R representative for Arista Records--convinced label head Clive Davis to see her perform at the Sweetwaters nightclub the following evening. Upon viewing the performance, an impressed Davis offered Houston a recording contract. Houston signed the contract on April 10, 1983.{{cite web|url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/bp/rock-backpages-flashback-making-stellar-ascent-whitney-houston-110037870.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAYDJNST27sq9X-E3tt9EiWs-955Fb9v49y8rPIT24CE7y5U7GQMtpSYIjTsLedoHJDPFD6uVeztHSZ1y-31gDUX8zYNl816DwCu25WAqkfQMg4wrxS-Cl9omyVzYiCOjE4GEB-SJRnFAbat0fJW0NvOXLxUbA10LPxSU7S-xtqs|title=The Rock's Backpages Flashback: The Making - and Stellar Ascent - of Whitney Houston |date=February 12, 2012 |first=Barney |last=Hoskyns |access-date=January 2, 2025}}{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/30/style/whitney-houston-clive-davis-sexuality.html |title=Production of a Lifetime: Whitney Houston and Clive Davis |work=New York Times |first=Jacob |last=Bernstein |date=September 30, 2017 |accessdate=May 21, 2024}}

Houston was introduced to a national audience in June 1983, performing the song "Home" from the Broadway musical The Wiz on The Merv Griffin Show.{{cite magazine |magazine=Ebony |date=December 1985 |page=155 |issn=0012-9011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JtkDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA155 |access-date=September 7, 2021 |title=Whitney Houston: For Talented Young Star, Singing Is A Family Tradition}}{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6532886/ |title="The Merv Griffin Show" Episode dated 23 June 1983 (TV Episode 1983) |website=IMDb |accessdate=May 17, 2023}}{{cite news|url=https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2012/02/whitney-houston-dead-her-earliest-tv-appearances-video.html|title=Whitney Houston: Watch her earliest TV appearances|work=Los Angeles Times|date=February 12, 2012|access-date=July 27, 2019}} During this period, Houston almost landed a role on The Cosby Show before pulling out on the show due to her emerging career.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.vibe.com/news/entertainment/whitney-houston-denise-huxtable-a-different-world-reunion-1234721126/ |title=Whitney Houston Was Almost Cast As Denise Huxtable On 'The Cosby Show' |magazine=Vibe |date=December 21, 2022 |author=Mya Abraham |accessdate=March 27, 2025}} Houston landed a cameo role on Gimme a Break!, was featured in a Canada Dry commercial and also sang commercial jingles, including one for the restaurant brand, Steak & Ale.{{cite web |url=https://bennigans.com/whitney-houston-steak-ale-advert/ |title=Listen to a young Whitney Houston's stunning vocal in unearthed TV 'Steak & Ale' Advert |work=Bennigans |last=Lovejoy|first=Hannah |date=October 25, 2021 |accessdate=April 26, 2023}}

Houston did not begin work on an album immediately.{{cite book|last=Finkelman|first=Paul|title=Encyclopedia of African American history, 1896 to the present: from the age of segregation to the twenty-first century|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-516779-5|pages=459–460}} The label wanted to make sure no other company signed her away and Davis wanted to ensure he had the right material and producers for her debut album. Some producers passed on the project because of prior commitments. After seeing her perform in New York, Michael Masser paired Houston with Teddy Pendergrass, on the duet, "Hold Me", which appeared on his album, Love Language.{{cite web |last=Wynn |first=Ron |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/love-language-mw0000650618#review |title=Love Language Album Review |work=AllMusic}} Released in May 1984, the song gave Houston her first taste of success, becoming a top-ten hit on the US R&B and adult contemporary charts.{{cite magazine|title=Arista Aims New Houston Album at 'Core Urban' Fans|magazine=Billboard|date=December 14, 2002|page=64|issn=0006-2510}} Houston also received notice in 1984 after being paired up with Jermaine Jackson, with whom the duet, "Take Good Care of My Heart", was featured on Jackson's Dynamite album, while also appearing with Jackson performing the song and another duet, "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do", on an episode of As the World Turns. All three songs eventually appeared on her debut album.

Whitney Houston was released on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1985.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/feb/12/whitney-houston-obituary |last=Sullivan |first=Caroline |title=Whitney Houston obituary |work=The Guardian|date=February 11, 2012|access-date=July 27, 2019}} The album received mixed to positive reviews in its initial run, with most of the positive remarks aimed at Houston's vocal ability. Rolling Stone called Houston "one of the most exciting new voices in years" while The New York Times called the album "an impressive, musically conservative showcase for an exceptional vocal talent".{{cite magazine|last=Shewey|first=Don|title=Music Review: Whitney Houston|date=June 6, 1985|magazine=Rolling Stone|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/whitney-houston-19850606|access-date=March 17, 2011|archive-date=June 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628231222/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/whitney-houston-19850606|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|author-link=Stephen Holden|last=Holden|first=Stephen|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/12/arts/critics-choices-pop-music.html|title=Critic's Choice; Pop Music|newspaper=The New York Times|page=A2|date=May 12, 1985}} Debuting at number 166 on the Billboard 200 on March 30, 1985, the album reached the top ten 23 weeks later.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/1985-08-31/ |title=Billboard 200 (week of August 31, 1985) |magazine=Billboard |date=August 31, 1985 |accessdate=July 28, 2024}} It reached number one in March 1986, starting a 14-week run, which is the longest run for a female debut album in history.{{cite magazine|title=Charts '86|magazine=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tiQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA52|date=December 27, 1986|page=52|issn=0006-2510}}{{cite magazine |url=https://billboard.com/artist/whitney-houston/chart-history/tlp |title=Whitney Houston - Chart History: Billboard 200 |magazine=Billboard |accessdate=June 19, 2023}}

Whitney Houston launched four top ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100, with the first, "You Give Good Love" reaching number three on July 27, 1985.{{cite news|last=Grein|first=Paul|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-06-08-ca-9249-story.html|title=Houston Hits: Master Plan, Blind Luck|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 8, 1986}} The song attracted some notoriety after advice columnist Ann Landers included it in her list of rock songs deemed "trashy music" on her Ask Ann Landers column; Houston quickly addressed Landers's comments in an interview with The Chicago Tribune.{{cite news |title= Hope your children outgrow trashy music |first= Ann|last=Landers |author-link= Ann Landers |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YiFRAAAAIBAJ&pg=6796,627717&dq | newspaper = The Telegraph-Herald |publisher = Woodward Communications, Inc | date= July 7, 1985 | access-date=July 28, 2024}}{{cite news | author = Lynn Van Matre | url = https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/09/29/with-dionne-cissy-and-aretha-in-the-family-how-can-whitney-houston-fail/ | title = With Dionne, Cissy And Aretha In The Family, How Can Whitney Houston Fail? |work=Chicago Tribune | date = September 29, 1985 | access-date =April 1, 2018 }} The song was followed by Houston's rendition of "Saving All My Love for You", which became her first number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 26, two days before Houston opened at Carnegie Hall.{{cite web |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1985/08/04/singer-whitney-houston-hits-a-high-note-early-in-her-career/ |title=SINGER WHITNEY HOUSTON HITS A HIGH NOTE EARLY IN HER CAREER |work=Orlando Sentinel |date=August 4, 1985 |accessdate=June 20, 2023}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/29/arts/pop-whitney-houston-in-carnegie-hall-debut.html |title=POP: WHITNEY HOUSTON IN CARNEGIE HALL DEBUT |work=New York Times |date=October 29, 1985 |last=Holden|first=Stephen |accessdate=May 17, 2023}} The album's follow-up singles, "How Will I Know" and "Greatest Love of All", also topped the charts, with the former peaking on February 15, 1986 for two weeks and the latter peaking on May 17, 1986 for three weeks. In accomplishing this, Houston became the first female artist to land three number one singles off the same album on the Billboard Hot 100, also becoming the first female solo artist to produce three consecutive number one singles. In addition, the ballad "All at Once" became an international hit in Europe and Japan.{{cite magazine|title=Whitney Houston's Success Is Global|magazine=Billboard|date=June 8, 1985|page=54|issn=0006-2510}}

Whitney Houston did not just perform well on the domestic charts; it became a global success as well. The album reached the top ten in 19 other countries, including the UK, and topping in six other countries, including Canada and Australia. The album has since been certified Diamond in the United States for sales of 14 million copies,{{cite certification|region=United States|artist=Whitney Houston|type=album|accessdate=June 19, 2023}} with over 25 million units sold worldwide, becoming the best-selling solo debut album in music history and the best-selling debut album by a female artist.{{cite news |date=February 11, 2012 |title=Music Industry Pays Tribute to Whitney Houston |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/singer-whitney-houston-memorialized-at-pre-grammy-awards-gala-139178279/151922.html |access-date=June 15, 2024 |work=Voice of America}} The album is also listed in the Guinness World Records as the best-selling R&B studio album by a female artist in history.{{cite news|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3088195/ns/dateline_nbc/t/inside-whitneys-world/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130212083629/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3088195/ns/dateline_nbc/t/inside-whitneys-world|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 12, 2013|title=Inside Whitney's world|publisher=NBC News|date=September 28, 2013|access-date=June 18, 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://www.phillytrib.com/news/philly-reflects-on-houston-s-legacy/article_22dfde85-a3d9-5e50-a559-101ab627e6d3.html|title=Philly reflects on Houston's legacy|work=The Philadelphia Tribune|first1=Bobbi|last1=Booker|date=February 14, 2012|access-date=June 18, 2017}}{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec2000engl/page/126/mode/1up?view=theater&q=whitney+houston |title=Guinness world records 2000 |last=Kynaston|first=Nic |page=126 |date=2000 |publisher=Guinness World Records Limited |isbn=978-1-892051-00-4 |access-date=June 1, 2023}}

In a May 25, 1986 article on The New York Times, journalist Stephen Holden declared Houston "the new queen of pop".{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/25/arts/whitney-houston-pop-s-new-queen.html |title=WHITNEY HOUSTON - POP'S NEW QUEEN |work=The New York Times |date=May 25, 1986 |author=Stephen Holden |accessdate=April 7, 2025}} The album's success was attributed to performances on late-night talk shows, a format not often accessible to emerging black talent at the time and exposure on music video stations, including MTV, which at the time was receiving harsh criticism for not playing enough videos from artists of color while favoring predominantly white acts.{{cite episode|title=Whitney Houston |series=Headliners And Legends |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036702/|date=August 11, 2000|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091021140553/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036702 |archive-date=October 21, 2009 }} Houston stated the channel rejected the clip to "You Give Good Love" for "being a very R&B kind of song", only for them to play the clip for "Saving All My Love for You" due to the song "hit(ting) so hard and explod(ing) so heavy" that they "had no choice but to play it".{{cite video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzZgor4981M |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/IzZgor4981M| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Whitney Houston Reminisces About '80s Music on MTV (2001 interview) |year=2001 |publisher=MTV |access-date=January 13, 2020}}{{cbignore}} In December, the video to "How Will I Know" was submitted and accepted by MTV brass and sent the video to heavy rotation almost immediately after it debuted that month and later led to Houston's music regularly being played on the channel, the first occurrence for a black female artist.{{cite web |url=https://www.yahoo.com/now/whitney-houston-1985-mtv-debut-114702351.html |title=Whitney Houston's 1985 MTV Debut Broke Barriers for Black Artists |date=February 12, 2023 |accessdate=May 17, 2023}}{{cite web|last=Traister|first=Rebecca|title=Didn't She Almost Have It All|work=Salon|date=April 13, 2006|url=https://www.salon.com/2012/02/12/didnt_she_almost_have_it_all/|access-date=July 27, 2019}} The success of the "How Will I Know" video resulted in Houston winning the MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video in September. In July 1986, her first major world tour, The Greatest Love World Tour, was launched and Houston performed at four continents for 53 shows until that December.

Houston was ranked the top new pop artist of 1985 by Billboard; the following year, her debut was the best-selling album of the year. Houston was denied a nomination for the Best New Artist Grammy due to her recordings in the previous year, prompting an angry letter from Clive Davis.{{cite news| first= Richard | last= Harrington | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1986/01/10/dire-straits-tops-list-for-grammys/c4a94511-d200-4624-81eb-fcdce2e977f7/| title= Dire Straits Tops List for Grammy's; We are the World Wins 6 Nominations|date=January 10, 1986|newspaper=The Washington Post}} The album was nominated for five Grammys, including Album of the Year.{{cite magazine |title=Tina, Whitney Top Picks For Annual Grammy Awards |magazine=Jet |date=January 27, 1986 |page=57 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NrMDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA57}}{{cite magazine|title='We Are The World' Big Winner At 28th Grammys |magazine=Jet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CrQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA14 |date=March 17, 1986 |page=14 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021}} She won her first Grammy for "Saving All My Love for You" in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance category. Later, a performance of the song at the ceremony won Houston an Emmy for Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program.{{cite magazine|title='Cosby Show' Snubbed At Emmy Awards Ceremony; Receives Only One Honor |magazine=Jet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5LADAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA16 |date=October 13, 1986 |page=16 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021}} She won her first seven American Music Awards from the album, out of 13 nominations.{{cite magazine |title=Whitney, Aretha, Stevie Snare Honors At Recent American Music Awards |magazine=Jet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lLQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56 |date=February 17, 1986 |page=56 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021}}{{cite magazine| first1= Aldore | last1 = Collier | title = Whitney Houston: Why Success Won't Go to Her Head | magazine=Jet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wLMDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA58|date=February 16, 1987|page=58|issn=0021-5996}} Houston's debut album is listed as one of Rolling Stone{{'}}s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Definitive 200 list.{{cite magazine| url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/whitney-houston-whitney-houston-19691231 | title= 500 Greatest Albums of All Time |magazine=Rolling Stone| date=November 18, 2003 | access-date =March 17, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220143033/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/whitney-houston-whitney-houston-19691231 |archive-date=December 20, 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://www.definitive200.com/200_list.php |title=The Definitive 200|access-date=January 15, 2008 |publisher=The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame|year=2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080113130726/http://definitive200.com/200_list.php |archive-date = January 13, 2008}} Houston's grand entrance into the music industry was considered one of the 25 musical milestones of the last 25 years, according to USA Today in 2007.{{cite news| last=Gundersen | first=Edna | title=25 years of memorable musical moments |work=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/top25-musicmoments.htm?csp=34| access-date =January 1, 2008 | date=June 18, 2007}}

File:Whitney Houston - The Star-Ledger (1987).jpg]]

In June 1987, Houston's second album, Whitney, was released. Mostly produced by Narada Michael Walden, critics complained that the material was too similar to her previous album. Rolling Stone said, "the narrow channel through which this talent has been directed is frustrating".{{cite magazine | first = Vince | last = Aletti | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/whitney-19870813 | title = Review: Whitney | magazine = Rolling Stone | date = August 13, 1987 | access-date = March 16, 2011 | archive-date = June 28, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110628230956/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/whitney-19870813 | url-status = dead }} Regardless of mixed reviews, the album enjoyed commercial success. On June 27, Houston became the first woman in music history to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 with the album.{{cite web |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/102427-first-album-by-a-solo-female-to-debut-at-no-1-us |title=First solo female to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart |work=Guinness World Records |date=June 27, 1987 |accessdate=June 10, 2023}} Houston was also the first artist ever to enter number one in the US and UK simultaneously, while also reaching number one in every country it charted. The album stayed at number one on the Billboard 200 for its first eleven weeks and is one of five albums to spend their first ten weeks or more at number one on the chart.{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2024/06/29/taylor-swift-matches-one-of-whitney-houstons-most-impressive-feats/ |title=Taylor Swift Matches One of Whitney Houston's Impressive Feats |work=Forbes |first=Hugh |last=McIntyre |date=June 29, 2024 |accessdate=August 2, 2024}}

The album's first single, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", was a massive hit worldwide, peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the charts in 17 countries, including Australia, West Germany and the UK.{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/08/06/perfect-planning-makes-whitney-no-1-again/ |title=PERFECT PLANNING MAKES WHITNEY NO. 1 AGAIN |work=Chicago Tribune |date=August 6, 1987 |accessdate=February 11, 2024}} Three more singles from the album — "Didn't We Almost Have It All", "So Emotional" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" — reached number one on the Hot 100 within a six-month stretch. Following the latter's peak on April 23, 1988, Houston became the first artist to produce seven consecutive number one hits on the Hot 100, breaking a record of six, held by The Beatles and the Bee Gees.{{cite magazine|title=Whitney Breaks Record For Consecutive No. 1 Tunes |magazine=Jet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WLADAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54 |date=May 2, 1988 |page=54 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021}} Houston remains the only artist to ever accomplish this feat as of 2025.{{cite book|title=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JQ8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA104|date=May 13, 2000|page=104|issn=0006-2510}} Houston also broke an all-time record for most number ones recorded by a solo female artist at the time and broke her own record by producing four number one singles off the same album. When the fifth single, "Love Will Save the Day", peaked at number nine on the chart, Houston joined a small list of artists to have more than five top ten singles off an album.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/photos/albums-five-top-10-hot-100-hits-6738611/10-whitney-houston-whitney-1987-billboard-1240/ |title=Kendrick Lamar's 'GNX' & More: Albums With the Most Top 10 Hits |magazine=Billboard |date=December 19, 2024 |first=Trevor|last=Anderson |accessdate=December 29, 2024}} Whitney has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide,{{Cite news |date=June 3, 2016 |title=Whitney Houston's Second Studio Album Turned 29 Yesterday |url=https://www.whitneyhouston.com/it/news/whitney-houstons-second-studio-album-turned-29-yesterday/#:~:text=Yesterday%20was%20the%2029th%20anniversary,selling%20debut%20album%2C%20Whitney%20Houston. |access-date=March 31, 2025 |newspaper=WhitneyHouston.com}} with ten million sold in the United States alone, where it has been certified Diamond.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bet.com/article/a687d9/this-day-in-black-history-june-27-1987|title=This Day in Black History: June 27, 1987|website=BET.com|access-date=December 7, 2019|archive-date=December 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207063817/https://www.bet.com/news/national/2013/06/27/this-day-in-black-history-june-27-1987.html?cid=facebook|url-status=live}}

Whitney earned Houston a second Grammy nomination for Album of the Year, while "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" won her a second Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.{{cite magazine |title=Battle and Jackson Top Grammy Award Nominees |magazine=Jet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bbsDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56 |date=February 1, 1988 |page=56 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021}}{{cite magazine |title=Blacks Turn Grammys Into A Show Biz Extravaganza |magazine=Jet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jrsDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA52 |date=March 21, 1988 |page=52 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021}} Houston went on to win four American Music Awards, six Billboard awards and her first Soul Train Music Award for the album.{{cite magazine |title=Anita Baker, Whitney Houston Top Black Winners At Recent American Music Awards Show |magazine=Jet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fbsDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA60 |date=February 15, 1988 |page=60 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021}}{{cite magazine |title=Houston, D. J. Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince, Jackson Top American Music Awards |magazine=Jet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ib0DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA55 |date=February 20, 1989 |page=55 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021}}{{cite news | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WHwlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Z_UFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4413,1111334&dq=1988+soul+train+music+awards&hl=en | title = Showtime: Jackson is top winner at Soul Train Awards | work = The Washington Afro American| publisher = African-American News & Information Consortium | date = April 5, 1988 | access-date =June 28, 2010 | page = 6C}}

Houston launched her second world tour, the Moment of Truth World Tour, in July 1987. The North American leg of the tour grossed more than $20 million, becoming of the top ten tours in the continent, as well as the top female tour.MacDonald, Patrick. "U2, Bon Jovi were top concert acts of 1987". The Seattle Times. January 15, 1988. Page 5. Retrieved May 16, 2008.{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-23-ca-9654-story.html |title=U2's $35-Million Gross Is Highest for '87 Tour |work=Los Angeles Times |date=January 23, 1988 |author-link=Robert Hilburn|first=Robert|last=Hilburn |access-date=December 6, 2022}} An expansive tour, the singer toured 155 dates in four continents, including nine sold-out dates at London's Wembley Arena. During that period, Houston recorded one of the main theme songs for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, "One Moment in Time", which later became a top five US hit and hit number one in the UK, Germany and Europe and won Houston a Sports Emmy Award.{{cite magazine |title=Whitney, Aretha On Summer Olympics Album |magazine=Jet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LL0DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA59 |date=September 12, 1988 |page=59 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021}}{{cite web|url=http://www.number-ones.co.uk/1988-number-ones.html|title=1988 UK Number Ones|publisher=number-ones.co.uk|access-date=January 12, 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.de/charts.asp?cat=s&country=de&year=1988&date=19881024&x=38&y=11|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140707100451/http://www.officialcharts.de/charts.asp?cat=s&country=de&year=1988&date=19881024&x=38&y=11|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 7, 2014|title=October 24, 1988 Single Top 100|publisher=charts.de|date=October 24, 1988|access-date=January 12, 2010}}{{cite web |url=https://www.newsweek.com/anatomy-olympics-anthem-487188 |title=Whitney Houston's 'One Moment in Time': The Anatomy of an Olympic Anthem |date=August 5, 2016 |last=Tufayel|first=Ahmed |work=Newsweek |accessdate=June 19, 2023}}

Houston participated in the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute at London's Wembley Stadium in support of the then-imprisoned civil rights activist and the anti-apartheid movement. Houston had refused work in South Africa due to the country's then strict apartheid laws.{{cite magazine |title=Whitney Houston Uses Fame To Help Good Causes |magazine=Jet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mq4DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA59 |date=June 20, 1988 |page=59 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021}}{{cite news|first=Jim |last=Gilchrist|url=http://news.scotsman.com/comment/Diva--will-always-love.5579673.jp|title=Diva Will Always Love Limelight|work=The Scotsman |date=August 23, 2009|access-date=January 12, 2010|location=Edinburgh, UK}} The concert aired on June 11 of the year, was watched by half a billion viewers and raised $1 million in charities, raising awareness to apartheid.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/13/arts/pop-music-s-homage-to-mandela.html|title=Pop Music's Homage to Mandela |last=Watrous|first=Peter|date=June 13, 1988|work=The New York Times}} That August, Houston held a benefit concert at Madison Square Garden to raise money to fund HBCUs, raising a quarter of a million dollars.{{cite magazine |title=Whitney Houston's Concert Raises $250,000 For UNCF |magazine=Jet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lr0DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54 |date=September 19, 1988 |page=54 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021}} Houston's philanthropy continued in 1989 when she founded the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children, a nonprofit organization that has raised funds for the needs of children around the world. The organization cares for homelessness, children with cancer or AIDS and other issues of self-empowerment.{{cite web|url=https://whitneyhoustonfoundation.org/about/#:~:text=In%201989%2C%20Whitney%20formed%20her,playgrounds%20and%20provided%20college%20scholarships. |title=Abou |accessdate=May 18, 2023}}{{cite web|url=http://www.whfoundation.com/ |title=Whitney Houston Foundation for Children |access-date=April 22, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007082548/http://www.whfoundation.com/ |archive-date=October 7, 2014 }}

Houston's unprecedented success during this era caused Forbes magazine to take notice. In 1987, she ranked 8th place among the highest-paid entertainers in show business, earning $43 million, only trailing Bill Cosby and Eddie Murphy.{{cite magazine |title=Cosby's $84 Million Makes Him Richest Entertainer |magazine=Jet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1q8DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA52 |date=September 28, 1987 |pages=52–53 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021}} She ranked 17th place in 1988."Forbes Names Jackson as the Best-Paid Star 5 Women, 3 Boxers on List of 40 Celebrities". Los Angeles Times. September 19, 1988. Page 2.{{cite magazine |title=Michael Jackson Earns $97 Million To Become Highest Paid Entertainer |magazine=Jet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=za8DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12 |date=October 3, 1988 |page=12 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021}}

File:Whitney Houston Welcome Heroes 6 (cropped).JPEG

With the success of her first two albums, Houston became an international crossover superstar, appealing to all demographics. However, some black critics believed she was "selling out".{{cite episode |series = A History of Soul Music |network =VH1|airdate=October 18, 2007}} They felt her singing on record lacked the soul that was present during her live concerts.{{cite magazine|last=Duckett Cain|first=Joy|date=December 2003|title=The Soul of Whitney|magazine=Essence}} At the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards, when Houston's name was called out for a nomination, a few in the audience jeered.{{cite magazine|title=Ebony|magazine = Ebony|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UdQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA112|date=May 1991 |page=112|issn=0012-9011}} Houston defended herself against the criticism, stating, "If you're gonna have a long career, there's a certain way to do it and I did it that way. I'm not ashamed of it."

Houston took a more urban direction with her third studio album, I'm Your Baby Tonight, released in November 1990. The first album in which she served as executive producer and exerted creative control for the first time in her career, Houston recruited the production team of Antonio "L.A." Reid and Babyface, as well as Luther Vandross and Stevie Wonder for the album, while retaining previous producer Walden. Reviews were mixed to positive. Rolling Stone felt it was her "best and most integrated album",{{cite magazine | first = James | last = Hunter | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/im-your-baby-tonight-19910110 | title = Review: I'm Your Baby Tonight | magazine = Rolling Stone | date = January 10, 1991 | access-date = March 16, 2011 | archive-date = February 16, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120216213000/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/im-your-baby-tonight-19910110 | url-status = dead }} while Entertainment Weekly, at the time thought Houston's shift towards an urban direction was "superficial".{{cite web | author = Browne, David | url = https://ew.com/article/1990/11/23/im-your-baby-tonight/ | title = Music Review: I'm Your Baby Tonight | magazine = Entertainment Weekly | date = November 23, 1990 | access-date = March 16, 2011 | archive-date = February 16, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120216232023/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,318684,00.html | url-status = live }}

Commercially, the album was a success, peaking at number three on the Billboard 200, staying inside the top ten for 22 weeks, becoming the tenth best-selling album of 1991, while topping the Top R&B Albums chart, staying there for eight weeks. As a result, Houston earned four Billboard Music Awards, including the top-selling R&B album of 1991.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/whitney-houston/chart-history/ |title=Whitney Houston: Chart History |magazine=Billboard |access-date=June 16, 2022}} Houston returned to the top of the Hot 100 with the title track and "All the Man That I Need", helping Houston to set another chart record by being the first female soloist to have multiple number one pop songs on three albums at least.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/the-weeknd-die-for-you-michael-jackson-hot-100-history-ask-billboard-1235283505/ |title=The Weeknd Matches Michael Jackson for Hot 100 history |magazine=Billboard |last=Trust|first=Gary |date=March 10, 2023 |accessdate=June 20, 2023}}{{efn|Along with Houston, the other acts who have done this include the Supremes, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson and The Weeknd.}} The title track, in particular, gave Babyface and Reid their first number one pop single, while "All the Man That I Need" became Houston's third single to top the pop, R&B and AC charts. The ballad "Miracle" and the more hip-hop driven "My Name Is Not Susan" followed those singles inside the top 20, with "Miracle" reaching the top ten. The remix of "My Name Is Not Susan" included rapper Monie Love.{{cite web |url=https://www.bet.com/article/meoorp/monie-love-interview-queen-latifah-whitney-houston-new-project |title=Monie Love Talks About Her First New Solo Project in 30 Years |work=BET |date=April 6, 2023 |accessdate=June 19, 2023}}

I'm Your Baby Tonight would go on to sell ten million units worldwide, including going platinum four times in the US.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/musics-30-fiercest-feuds-beefs-taylor-kanye-slash-axl-w498640/mariah-carey-vs-whitney-houston-w498794|title=Music's 30 Fiercest Feuds and Beefs|magazine=Rolling Stone|first1=Jordan|last1=Runtagh|date=September 15, 2017|access-date=October 10, 2017|archive-date=October 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019161624/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/musics-30-fiercest-feuds-beefs-taylor-kanye-slash-axl-w498640/mariah-carey-vs-whitney-houston-w498794|url-status=dead}} In addition to winning the four Billboard Music Awards, Houston was nominated for several Grammys and American Music Awards for the album. A bonus track from the album's Japanese edition, "Higher Love", was remixed by Norwegian DJ and record producer Kygo and released posthumously in 2019 to commercial success. It topped the US Dance Club Songs chart and reached number two in the UK, becoming Houston's highest-charting single in the country since 1999.{{cite web |last=Copsey |first=Rob |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/higher-love-is-now-whitney-houstons-longest-running-single-ever-on-the-top-100-official-uk-singles-chart__28910/ |title=Higher Love is now Whitney Houston's longest-running single ever on the Top 100 Official UK Singles Chart |publisher=Official Charts Company |date=February 28, 2020 |access-date=May 20, 2021}}

During the Persian Gulf War, on January 27, 1991, Houston performed "The Star-Spangled Banner", the US national anthem, at Super Bowl XXV at Tampa Stadium.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/24/arts/pop-view-caution-now-entering-the-war-zone.html|title=Pop View; Caution: Now Entering The War Zone |last=Pareles|first=Jon|date=February 24, 1991|access-date=October 5, 2008 | work=The New York Times}} Houston's vocals were pre-recorded, prompting criticism.{{Cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-LoDAAAAMBAJ&q=whitney&pg=PA60 |magazine=Jet |date=March 18, 1991 |via=Google Books |page=60 |title=Whitney Houston Did Not Lip-Sync National Anthem}}{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QllYAAAAIBAJ&pg=6886,181496&dq=whitney+houston+lip+sync+national+anthem+super+bowl&hl=en|title=Spokane Chronicle - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UXYhAAAAIBAJ&pg=2914,1099122&dq=whitney+houston+star+spangled+banner+memorex&hl=en|title=The Daily Gazette - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}}{{cite news|first1=Luchina|last1=Fisher|first2=Sheila|last2=Marikar|title =Hudson's Super Bowl Lip-Sync No Surprise to Insiders| publisher =ABC News| date = February 3, 2009| access-date = January 22, 2013| url =https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/WinterConcert/story?id=6788924&page=1}} Dan Klores, a spokesman for Houston, said: "This is not a Milli Vanilli thing. She sang live, but the microphone was turned off. It was a technical decision, partially based on the noise factor. This is standard procedure at these events."{{cite news | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UXYhAAAAIBAJ&pg=2914,1099122&dq=whitney+houston+star+spangled+banner+memorex&hl=en | title = Was Whitney live, or was she Memorex? | publisher = The Daily Gazette Co. | agency = Associated Press | date= March 5, 1991 | access-date = March 31, 2011 | page = A6}} Nevertheless, a commercial single and video of the performance reached the Top 20 on the US Hot 100, giving Houston the biggest chart hit for a performance of the national anthem.{{efn|José Feliciano's version reached number 50 in November 1968.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/jose-feliciano/chart-history/hsi/|title=Jose Feliciano - Billboard Chart History|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=June 10, 2025}}}}{{cite magazine|title=Whitney Houston's Star Spangled Banner To Be Released On Cassette |magazine=Jet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E7sDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA31 |date=February 18, 1991 |page=31 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021}}{{cite book|first=Steven|last=Otfinoski|author-link=Steven Otfinoski|title=African Americans in the performing arts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gnXQSqTx2h0C&pg=PT116|access-date=February 12, 2012|date=April 1, 2010|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-7838-7|pages=116–}}

Houston donated her share of the proceeds to the American Red Cross Gulf Crisis Fund and was named to the Red Cross Board of Governors.{{cite magazine |title=Houston Raises $500,000 For Red Cross; Named To Its Board Of Governors |magazine=Jet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RrADAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA37 |date=June 17, 1991 |page=37 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021}}Blair, Tom. "The village verbiage collector". The San Diego Union. May 23, 1991. Page B1. Her rendition was critically acclaimed and is considered the benchmark for singers;{{cite news | url = http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/02/jennifer-hudson-delivers-super-bowl-stage/?page=1 | title = Jennifer Hudson delivers on Super Bowl stage |work=The Washington Times | publisher = News World Media Development | date = February 2, 2009 | access-date =March 27, 2011}} VH1 listed the performance as one of the greatest moments that rocked TV.{{cite web|url=http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_greatest/63773/episode_wildcard.jhtml?wildcard=/shows/dynamic/includes/wildcards/the_greatest/rocked_tvmoments/complete_list_20.jhtml&event_id=63773|title=100 Greatest Moments That Rocked TV (20–1)|publisher=VH1|access-date=December 27, 2021|archive-date=May 29, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529034954/http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_greatest/63773/episode_wildcard.jhtml?wildcard=%2Fshows%2Fdynamic%2Fincludes%2Fwildcards%2Fthe_greatest%2Frocked_tvmoments%2Fcomplete_list_20.jhtml&event_id=63773|url-status=dead}} Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the single was rereleased, with all profits going towards the firefighters and victims of the attacks. It reached number 6 in the Hot 100 and was certified platinum.{{cite web | url = https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=star%20spangled%20banner&artist=whitney%20houston&format=SINGLE&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2011&sort=Artist&perPage=25 | title = Gold & Platinum – Search Results for "The Star Spangled Banner" single and its video single | publisher = Recording Industry Association of America | date = October 3, 2001 | access-date = March 17, 2011 | url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130725045044/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=star%20spangled%20banner&artist=whitney%20houston&format=SINGLE&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2011&sort=Artist&perPage=25 | archive-date = July 25, 2013 | df = mdy-all }} The song's re-charting made Houston the first woman to chart the same song inside the top 20 of the Hot 100.{{cite web |url=https://top40weekly.com/top-20-songs-charted-twice-by-same-artist/ |title=Top 20 Songs Charted Twice by Same Artist |work=Top40Weekly.com |date=July 24, 2024}} Later in 1991, Houston put together her Welcome Home Heroes concert with HBO for the soldiers fighting in the Persian Gulf War and their families. The free concert took place at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia in front of 3,500 servicemen and women. HBO descrambled the concert so that it was free for everyone to watch.Smith, Patricia. [https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/59168720.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Apr+1%2C+1991&author=Patricia+Smith%2C+Globe+Staff&pub=Boston+Globe+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=NOPGCIT&desc=Mom%2C+apple+pie+and+Whitney+Houston+in+concert+for+troops "Mom, apple pie and Whitney Houston in concert for troops"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725032104/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/59168720.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Apr+1%2C+1991&author=Patricia+Smith%2C+Globe+Staff&pub=Boston+Globe+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=NOPGCIT&desc=Mom%2C+apple+pie+and+Whitney+Houston+in+concert+for+troops |date=July 25, 2013 }}. The Boston Globe April 1, 1991. The show gave HBO its highest ratings ever at the time.Hodges, Anne. "Hope opens his home to U.S. troops". Houston Chronicle April 6, 1991.

Houston then embarked on her third world tour, the I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour, in which Houston performed 97 shows, including a ten-date sold-out residency at Wembley Arena in London. The concert tour produced mixed to positive reviews. While The Sun Sentinel argued that Houston should've opted for smaller venues and theaters that were "far more suitable to her sophistication and talent",Wilker, Deborah. "Whitney Houston: Bigger – but better?" Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel. June 13, 1991. Page 3E. USA Today praised Houston for "shak[ing] the confinements of her recordings' calculated productions and gets downright gutsy and soulful".Jones, James T. "Whitney is so emotional, soulful in concert". USA Today. April 19, 1991. Page 01D.

With the success of her music, Houston received offers of film work, including work with Robert De Niro, Quincy Jones and Spike Lee, but she did not feel the time was right.{{cite magazine|magazine=Ebony |date=May 1991 |first1=Lynn |last1=Norment |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UdQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA110 |title=Whitney Houston Talks About The Men In Her Life – And The Rumors, Lies And Insults That Are The High Price Of Fame | volume = 46 | issue = 7 | issn = 0012-9011 | pages = 111–118}} Her first film role was in The Bodyguard, released in 1992. Houston played a star who is being stalked by a crazed fan and hires a bodyguard (played by Kevin Costner) to protect her. Houston's mainstream appeal allowed audiences to look past the interracial nature of her character's relationship with Costner's character.{{cite magazine|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|url=https://ew.com/article/1993/02/05/close-whitney-houston/|title=Up close with Whitney Houston|first1=Meredith|last1=Berkman|date=February 5, 1993|access-date=July 28, 2019|archive-date=August 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809012013/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,305461_4,00.html|url-status=live}} However, controversy arose as some felt Houston's face had been intentionally left out of the advertising to hide the film's interracial relationship. In a 1993 interview with Rolling Stone, Houston said that "people know who Whitney Houston is – I'm black. You can't hide that fact."

The film received mixed reviews. While Houston was accused of merely “playing herself” but came out “largely unscathed”,{{cite news | first = Rita | last = Kempley | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/thebodyguardrkempley_a0a2f7.htm | title = The Bodyguard |newspaper=The Washington Post | date = November 25, 1992| access-date =October 30, 2011}} and “lacked chemistry” with her co-star,{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | url = https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0CE6DE1E3DF936A15752C1A964958260 | first = Janet | last = Maslin | title = Review/Film: The Bodyguard; Tragic Flaw Meets Pampered Pop Star Over Multiple Risks | date = November 25, 1992 | access-date =October 29, 2011}} another review wrote that she “photographs wonderfully, and has a warm smile, and yet is able to suggest selfish and egotistical dimensions in the character.”{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-bodyguard-1992 |work=RogerEbert.com |date=November 25, 1992 |title=The Bodyguard (1992) |author=Roger Ebert |accessdate=April 17, 2025}} Houston was nominated for Outstanding Actress at the NAACP Image Awards, the MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance and the People's Choice Award nod for Favorite Actress in a Dramatic Motion Picture.{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/1993/film/news/people-s-choice-noms-out-103669/ |title=People's Choice noms out |work=Variety |date=February 3, 1993 |accessdate=June 3, 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://uproxx.com/hitfix/a-look-back-at-1993-and-the-second-annual-mtv-movie-awards/ |title=A look back at 1993 and the second annual MTV Movie Awards |work=Uproxx |date=April 14, 2013 |accessdate=June 3, 2023}} Upon its release, The Bodyguard grossed more than $121 million in the U.S. and $410 million worldwide, making it one of the top 100 highest-grossing films in history at its time of release.{{cite web |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic.htm?page=3&p=.htm| title=All Time Box Office Domestic Grosses|publisher=Box Office Mojo | access-date=January 12, 2010}} It remains in the top 50 of most successful R-rated films in box-office history.{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1967556097/weekend/ |title=The Bodyguard - Box Office Mojo |accessdate=December 6, 2022}}

The film's soundtrack also enjoyed success. As executive producer of the soundtrack, Houston recorded six tracks, two of which she produced.{{Cite news|url=https://www.ebony.com/entertainment/whitney-houston-bodyguard-soundtrack-reissue/|title=Whitney Houston Estate to Reissue 'The Bodyguard' Soundtrack for 25th Anniversary|first1=Bianca|last1=Garwood|date=October 13, 2017|website=EBONY}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/deep-10-whitney-houstons-bodyguard-%E2%80%94-original-soundtrack-album |title=Deep 10: Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard – Original Soundtrack Album |date=November 17, 2016 |publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |access-date=September 7, 2021 |first=Chuck |last=Crisafulli}} Rolling Stone described it as "nothing more than pleasant, tasteful and urbane".{{cite magazine|magazine=CD review digest|title=Jazz, popular, etc|year=1994|volume=7|issue=4|publisher=Peri Press|page=174}} The soundtrack opened at number two on the Billboard 200 and took the number-one spot the following week, accumulating 20 weeks atop the chart, the first album by a woman to do so. One of the fastest-selling albums ever,{{cite book|title=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JQ8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA110|date=May 13, 2000|page=110|issn=0006-2510}} it became the first album in music history to sell more than a million copies in a single week under the Nielsen Soundscan tracking system.{{cite news | first = Aleene | last = MacMinn | url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-12-31-ca-4117-story.html | title = Morning Report: Pop/Rock | newspaper = Los Angeles Times | date = December 31, 1992 | access-date =September 1, 2010}}"Whitney Houston gets a boost from Bodyguard". The Globe and Mail. January 1, 1993. Page C6. The Bodyguard became the first album in history by a female artist to be certified diamond by the RIAA after it passed the ten-million mark in early November 1993. It has since gone on to sell more than 18 million copies alone in the US, with total sales reaching 45 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling album by a female artist and the best-selling soundtrack album in history,{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/news/bodyguard-soundtrack-25-years-after-whitney-houstons-masterpiece|title='The Bodyguard' Soundtrack: 25 Years After Whitney Houston's Masterpiece|publisher=Grammy Awards|access-date=June 21, 2023|first=Billy|last=Johnson Jr|date=November 8, 2017}} earning Houston several Guinness World Records.The Bodyguard Soundtrack worldwide sales:

• {{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/american-music-awards-christina-aguilera-honor-whitney-houston-bodyguard-tribute-1052841|title=American Music Awards: Christina Aguilera to Honor Whitney Houston With 'Bodyguard' Tribute|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=October 30, 2017|access-date=January 3, 2019|first1=Nordyke|last1=Kimberly}}
• {{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2017/11/09/exclusive-whitney-houstons-bodyguard-turns-25-never-before-seen-performance/845384001/|title=Exclusive: Whitney Houston's 'Bodyguard' turns 25 with never-before-seen performance|work=USA Today|date=November 9, 2017|access-date=January 3, 2019|first1=Ryan|last1=Patrick}}
• {{cite news|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/deep-10-whitney-houstons-bodyguard-%E2%80%94-original-soundtrack-album|title=Deep 10: Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard – Original Soundtrack Album|publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences|date=May 15, 2017|access-date=January 3, 2019|first1=Crisafulli|last1=Chuck}}
• {{cite news|url=https://www.eonline.com/news/890234/christina-aguilera-will-honor-whitney-houston-and-the-bodyguard-s-25th-anniversary-at-the-2017-amas|title=Christina Aguilera Will Honor Whitney Houston and The Bodyguard's 25th Anniversary at the 2017 AMAs|work=E! News|date=October 30, 2017|access-date=January 3, 2019|first1=Johnson|last1=Zach}}
• {{cite magazine|url=https://www.ebony.com/entertainment/whitney-houston-bodyguard-soundtrack-reissue/|title=Whitney Houston Estate to Reissue 'The Bodyguard' Soundtrack for 25th Anniversary|magazine=Ebony|date=October 13, 2017|access-date=January 3, 2019|first1=Garwood|last1=Bianca}}

At the 1994 Grammy Awards, Houston won the Grammy for Album of the Year for the soundtrack and was the first black woman to win as producer as well as artist.{{Cite web |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pdominguez/whitney-houston-was-more-than-the-voice |title=This Is How The Biggest Movie Soundtrack Of All Time Got Made |website=BuzzFeed News |date=November 21, 2017 |access-date=September 7, 2021 |first=Alessa |last=Dominguez}} In addition to the Grammy, Houston also won a record-setting eight American Music Awards, eleven Billboard Music Awards, five NAACP Image Awards and earned the Soul Train Music Award for the Sammy Davis Jr. Entertainer of the Year honor.{{cite magazine |title=Whitney Houston Eight American Music Awards Make Her Top Female Winner |magazine=Jet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vcADAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56 |date=February 28, 1994 |page=56 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021}}{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard | first1 = J.R. | last1 = Reynolds | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=NQgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA34 | title = The Rhythm and the Blues: 8th Soul Train Awards Are Aglow With Stellar Performances, Star Appearances | volume = 106 | issue = 13 | page = 34 | date = March 26, 1994 | access-date =June 29, 2010 | issn = 0006-2510}}{{cite magazine|magazine=The Crisis | first1 = Denise | last1 = Crittendon | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=U1kEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA34 | title = Stars Shine At The NAACP Image Awards | volume = 101 | issue = 2 | page = 34 | issn = 0011-1422 | date = February–March 1994 }}{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard | first1 = J.R. | last1 = Reynolds | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FwgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15 | title = The Rhythm and the Blues: Tupac's Loss May Preserve Awards' Image; New Indies Form Out West And Down South | volume = 106 | issue = 3 | page = 15 | date = January 15, 1994 | access-date =June 29, 2010 | issn = 0006-2510}}{{cite news | newspaper = Los Angeles Times | first = Marisa | last = Leonardi | url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-07-ca-9458-story.html | title = Michael Jackson Shares Whitney Houston's Spotlight, Honors: Houston wins five NAACP Image Awards, but Jackson gets cheers in a show marked by controversy | date = January 7, 1994 | access-date =June 29, 2010}} Houston also earned international honors for the soundtrack, including a Juno Award, five World Music Awards, six Japan Gold Disc Awards and a Brit Award.{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard | first1 = Mark | last1 = Dezzani | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TAgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA41| title = World Music Awards Gaining Stature | volume = 106 | issue = 21 | page = 41 | date = May 21, 1994 | access-date =June 29, 2010 | issn = 0006-2510}}{{cite web | url = http://www.brits.co.uk/history/shows/1994 | title = The BRITs 1994 Winners & Nominees | publisher = British Phonographic Industry | date = February 14, 1994 | access-date = June 29, 2010 | archive-date = June 30, 2012 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120630155750/http://www.brits.co.uk/history/shows/1994 | url-status = dead }}

The soundtrack's lead single was "I Will Always Love You", written and originally recorded by Dolly Parton. Houston's version was highly acclaimed by critics, regarding it as her "signature song" or "iconic performance". Rolling Stone and USA Today called her rendition a tour-de-force.{{cite magazine|magazine=Rolling Stone | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-147019/whitney-houston-8-222509/ | title = 100 Greatest Singers of All Time (2008) | date = December 3, 2010 | access-date = March 17, 2011}}{{cite news|work=USA Today|url-access=subscription|first=James T. |last=Jones IV|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/access/56240516.html?dids=56240516:56240516&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+17%2C+1992&author=James+T.+Jones+IV&pub=USA+TODAY+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Houston+heroic+on+%60Bodyguard'+album&pqatl=google|title=Houston heroic on 'Bodyguard' album |date=November 17, 1992|access-date=September 25, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725061950/https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/access/56240516.html?dids=56240516%3A56240516&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS%3AFT&type=current&date=Nov+17%2C+1992&author=James+T.+Jones+IV&pub=USA+TODAY+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29&desc=Houston+heroic+on+%60Bodyguard%27+album&pqatl=google|archive-date=July 25, 2012}} The song went on to become the longest-running number one single in Billboard Hot 100 history at the time for a record setting 14 weeks. The song also became Houston's fourth record-setting "triple-crown" number one Billboard hit after it topped the R&B and AC charts.{{cite news | newspaper = Chicago Tribune | first = Jan | last = DeKnock | url = https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-01-15-9303162594-story.html | title = Whitney Houston Hits 4th 'Triple' | date = January 15, 1993 | access-date = March 17, 2011 | archive-date = September 24, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200924133210/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-01-15-9303162594-story.html | url-status = live }}{{efn|Houston shares the feat with singer Lionel Richie.}} It has gone on to sell more than ten million units in the United States and was certified diamond in January 2021, making Houston just one of four female artists to earn a diamond-certified single and album.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2022/01/12/whitney-houston-joins-taylor-swift-and-mariah-carey-in-an-extremely-rare-musical-feat/|title=Whitney Houston Joins Taylor Swift And Mariah Carey In An Extremely Rare Musical Feat|work=Forbes|date=January 12, 2022|access-date=February 4, 2022}}{{cite web |url= https://thatgrapejuice.net/2024/07/katy-perry-becomes-the-fourth-female-artist-to-have-dimond-single-and-diamond-album-in-the-united-states/ |title= Katy Perry Becomes The Fourth Female Artist To Have A Diamond Single and Diamond Album In The United States |work=The Grape Juice |date=July 2, 2024 |access-date=July 8, 2024}} It remains the best-selling US single by a female artist.{{cite book|title=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rg4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10|date=April 11, 1998|page=10|issn=0006-2510}}{{cite magazine | first = Gary | last = Trust | url = https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/267561/ask-billboard-battle-of-the-divas-round-3 | title = Battle of the Divas, Round 3 |magazine=Billboard | date = August 28, 2009 | access-date =September 25, 2010}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/whitney-houston-i-will-always-love-you-diamond-status-1235018992/|title=Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' Is Certified Diamond by RIAA|magazine=Billboard|date=January 13, 2022|access-date=February 4, 2022}}{{cite web|accessdate=June 20, 2023 |title=Best-selling single by a female artist (US) |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/102425-best-selling-single-by-a-female-artist-us |work=Guinness World Records}} The song topped the charts in 34 countries and went on to sell 24 million units worldwide, becoming the best-selling single ever by a female solo artist.{{cite news|title=FIVE FAST FACTS ABOUT WHITNEY HOUSTON|url=https://houstonsymphony.org/five-fast-facts-about-whitney-houston/ |first1= |last1= |publisher= Houston Symphony |date= May 26, 2013 |access-date= December 2, 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://calgaryphil.com/5-things-about-whitney-houston/#:~:text=Whitney's%20hit%20single%20I%20Will,actually%20written%20by%20Dolly%20Parton.|title=5 Things About Whitney Houston|date=February 23, 2023 |language=en-US|access-date=December 2, 2023}} Houston earned the Grammys for Record of the Year and Best Pop Female Vocal Performance.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rockonthenet.com/grammy/record.htm|title=Rock On The Net: Grammy Awards: Record of the Year|website=rockonthenet.com}}

The soundtrack's follow-up singles, "I'm Every Woman" and "I Have Nothing", both reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100. Houston set a new Billboard Hot 100 chart record on March 13, 1993 when the two singles joined "I Will Always Love You" in simultaneously charting inside the top 20 in the same week, the first for an artist in the Nielsen SoundScan era.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1993-03-13/ |title=Billboard Hot 100 (the week of March 13, 1993) |magazine=Billboard |date=March 13, 1993 |accessdate=June 19, 2023}}{{cite news | newspaper = Chicago Tribune | last = DeKnock | first = Jan | url = https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/03/19/houston-still-plugged-in-as-contender/ | title = Houston Still Plugged In As Contender | date = March 19, 1993 | access-date =October 29, 2011 | page = O}}{{cite book|title=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UBIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA85|date=December 8, 2001|page=85|issn=0006-2510}}{{cite book|title=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0w8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA134|access-date=February 13, 2012|date=March 13, 1993|pages=134–|issn=0006-2510}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/bodyguard-anniversary-soundtrack-6327713/ |title='The Bodyguard' Anniversary: Revisiting the Soundtrack |author=Leslie Richin |date=November 25, 2014 |magazine=Billboard |accessdate=March 13, 2025}} The fourth single, "Run to You", achieved modest success in the US and UK, while "Queen of the Night" reached the top 40 in several global charts and a remixed version topped the US dance chart. The success of The Bodyguard led to Houston becoming a cover story for Rolling Stone in its June 10, 1993 issue.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/whitney-houston-opens-up-about-her-marriage-fame-117344/ |title=Whitney Houston Opens Up About Her Marriage, Fame |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=June 10, 1993 |author=Anthony DeCurtis |accessdate=March 13, 2025}}

File:Whitney Houston performs at state dinner for Mandela in 1994 2.png honoring South African president Nelson Mandela in 1994]]

Houston then embarked on her most expansive global tour to date: The Bodyguard World Tour. She toured for nearly two years to mostly sold-out audiences across five continents. Houston eventually ranked as the third highest-earning female entertainer of 1993-94, according to Forbes, named as one of the 100 most powerful people in Hollywood by Premiere and placed in the top five of Entertainment Weekly{{'}}s annual "Entertainer of the Year" ranking.{{cite news | work = San Francisco Chronicle | title = Steven Spielberg Is Mr. Entertainer | date = December 24, 1994 | page = D11}}{{cite news | work = Telegram & Gazette | first = Jim | last = Keogh | title = Few women producers make the top 100 list | date = April 15, 1993| page = C2}}

In October 1994, Houston attended and performed at a state dinner in the White House honoring newly elected South African president Nelson Mandela.{{cite news | work = USA Today | last = Kelly | first = Katy | title = Greeting Mandela with elegance and esteem | date = October 5, 1994 | page = D02}}{{cite news | work = The Free Lance–Star | date = October 5, 1994 | access-date =June 12, 2011 | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FQMzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uQcGAAAAIBAJ&pg=6934,786142&dq | title = White House Lionizes Mandela | first = Nita | last = Lelyveld | page = A8}} At the end of her world tour, Houston performed three concerts in South Africa to honor President Mandela, playing to more than 200,000 people; this made her the first major musician to visit the newly unified and apartheid free nation following Mandela's winning election.{{cite news | work = Cincinnati Post | last = Paeth | first = Greg | title = HBO worth seeing | date = November 9, 1994 | page = 7B}} Portions of Whitney: The Concert for a New South Africa were broadcast live on HBO with funds of the concerts being donated to various charities in South Africa. The event was considered the nation's "biggest media event since the inauguration of Nelson Mandela".{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8_W-QMJlBHIC&pg=PA116 |title=Whitney In South Africa |magazine=Ebony |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=116–124 |date=February 1995 |issn=0012-9011 }} In May 1995, Houston hosted the 8th Annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.{{cite web|url=http://www.nickkcapress.com/2007KCA/funfacts.php|title=KCA Fun Facts - Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2007 Press Kit|publisher=Nickelodeon|access-date=February 28, 2021|archive-date=August 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804105419/http://www.nickkcapress.com/2007KCA/funfacts.php|url-status=dead}} A month later, in June 1995, Houston's Whitney Houston Foundation for Children was awarded a VH1 Honor for all of their charitable work.{{cite book|title=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA38|access-date=February 15, 2012|date=July 15, 1995|pages=38–|issn=0006-2510}}

In 1995, Houston starred in Waiting to Exhale as Savannah Jackson, a TV producer. Houston called the film "a breakthrough for the image of black women because it presents them both as professionals and as caring mothers". It reached number one in the US box office and entered the highest-grossing film lists of both 1995 and 1996, eventually grossing over $67 million in the US, while grossing $81 million altogether worldwide.{{cite web|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=waitingtoexhale.htm |title=Waiting to Exhale (1995) |website=Box Office Mojo |date=March 2, 1996 |access-date=June 13, 2010}} At the time of release, the film received mixed reviews from critics. According to Susan King from the Los Angeles Times, the film "showed the power of black actresses and led to other successful movies with ethnic casts."{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-waiting-exhale-20151222-story.html |title=The impact of 'Waiting to Exhale' |work=Los Angeles Times |author=Susan King |date=December 22, 2015 |accessdate=March 27, 2025}} The film's success led to similar films such as How Stella Got Her Groove Back, The Best Man and Diary of a Mad Black Woman.{{cite book|url=http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/africanambib2.html |title=African American Filmmakers, African American Films: A Bibliography of Materials in the UC Berkeley Library|location=Berkeley, CA|publisher= UC Berkeley Library |access-date=February 15, 2008}}{{cite magazine| last=Ascher-Walsh|first=Rebecca| url=https://ew.com/article/1998/08/14/back-groove/| title=Back in the Groove?| magazine=Entertainment Weekly| date=August 14, 1998| access-date=February 20, 2020| archive-date=December 8, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141208001109/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,284411,00.html| url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|last=LaPorte|first=Nicole|url=https://variety.com/2005/biz/news/diary-of-a-mad-niche-hit-1117918919/|title=Diary of a Mad Niche Hit|magazine=Variety|date=March 6, 2005|access-date=February 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308073005/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117918919.html?categoryid=1055&cs=1|archive-date=March 8, 2009|url-status=live}} The film was also notable for its portrayal of black women as strong middle class citizens rather than as stereotypes.{{cite magazine| first1= Jack E. | last1= White | title= Heavy Breathing |date=January 15, 1996|magazine=Time | url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983966,00.html| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080528223545/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983966,00.html| url-status= dead| archive-date= May 28, 2008| access-date=March 17, 2007 }} Houston received positive reviews for her role, with The New York Times reporting: "Ms. Houston has shed the defensive hauteur that made her portrayal of a pop star in 'The Bodyguard' seem so distant."{{cite news|first1=Stephen|last1=Holden|date=December 22, 1995|access-date=December 1, 2014|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9406E2DF1539F931A15751C1A963958260|title=Waiting to Exhale (1995) Film Review;4 Divas Have Lots Of Fun Telling Off Mr. Wrong|work=The New York Times}} Houston was nominated a second time for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress.{{cite magazine|magazine=The Crisis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TFkEAAAAMBAJ&q=outstanding&pg=PA18-IA2|title=The 27th NAACP Image Awards Official Ballot|volume=103|issue=2|date=February 3, 1996|access-date=November 19, 2014|pages=20–22|issn=0011-1422}}

Houston contributed three songs to the film's soundtrack and advised producer Babyface to make it an "album of women with vocal distinction".{{cite magazine| first1= Christopher John | last1= Farley | title= No More Prissy |date=December 4, 1995|magazine=Time | url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983795-2,00.html| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080528223545/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983795-2,00.html| url-status= dead| archive-date= May 28, 2008| access-date=March 17, 2007 }} As a result, several other contemporary female R&B singers such as Brandy, Mary J. Blige and Toni Braxton contributed to the soundtrack. Houston's single, "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)", debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, only the third single to do so.{{Cite web |url=https://www.bet.com/article/n7l04h/waiting-to-exhale-celebrates-15-years-today |title='Waiting To Exhale' Celebrates 15 Years Today |website=BET.com |first=Clay |last=Cane |date=December 21, 2010 |access-date=September 7, 2021 |archive-date=August 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815021200/https://www.bet.com/news/celebrities/movie-reviews/what-the-flick-blog-reviews/2010/12/waiting-exhale-15-years.html?cid=facebook |url-status=live }}{{efn|It also became the first song from a soundtrack to debut at number one and is only one of four soundtrack songs to do so, the others being Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" and Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", both released in 1998 and Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop the Feeling!" in 2016.}} Two other Houston singles from the soundtrack, "Count On Me", a duet with CeCe Winans, and "Why Does It Hurt So Bad", also reached the US top 40, with "Count On Me" reaching number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. The soundtrack reached number one on the Billboard 200 in January 1996 and was certified seven-times platinum in the US. The album received eleven Grammy nominations and the American Music Award for Favorite Soundtrack. The soundtrack received strong reviews; as Entertainment Weekly stated: "the album goes down easy, just as you'd expect from a package framed by Whitney Houston tracks ... the soundtrack waits to exhale, hovering in sensuous suspense"{{cite book|title=Entertainment Weekly|date=December 1, 1995|page=73}} and has since ranked it as one of the 100 Best Movie Soundtracks.{{cite magazine|first1=Chris|last1=Willman |title=100 Best Movie Soundtracks |date=October 12, 2001 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,254121,00.html |access-date=March 17, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209174030/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0%2C%2C254121%2C00.html |archive-date=December 9, 2014 |url-status=dead }}

Houston's next film, the Christmas comedy The Preacher's Wife (1996), was largely an update of The Bishop's Wife (1948) and starred Houston alongside Denzel Washington and Courtney B. Vance. Houston earned $10 million for the role, making her the highest-earning African-American actress in Hollywood at the time.{{cite news|last=Laurence|first=Charles |title=The Arts: The gospel according to Whitney| work=The Daily Telegraph|date= December 14, 1996}} The movie, with its all African-American cast, was a moderate success, earning about $50 million in the US.{{cite web|publisher=IMDb|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117372/business |title=Box office / Business for "The Preacher's Wife"|date=December 13, 1996 | access-date= February 15, 2008}} The film gave Houston the strongest reviews of her acting career. The San Francisco Chronicle said Houston "is rather angelic herself, displaying a divine talent for being virtuous and flirtatious at the same time" and she "exudes gentle yet spirited warmth, especially when praising the Lord in her gorgeous singing voice".{{cite news|last=Stack|first=Peter| url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1996/12/13/DD36582.DTL |title=Human Comedy's Divine in 'Preacher's Wife'|work =San Francisco Chronicle|date= December 13, 1996}} Houston won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for the film.{{cite magazine|magazine=Jet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mjkDAAAAMBAJ&q=whitney+houston&pg=PA61|title=Ebony's 50th Anniversary Show, Denzel Washington Among NAACP Image Award Winners |volume =95|issue=15|pages=60–61|date=March 3, 1997|access-date=November 19, 2014|issn=0021-5996}}

The accompanying soundtrack was Houston's first full-length foray into gospel music, which she produced with Mervyn Warren. Six of the more traditional gospel tracks were recorded with the Georgia Mass Choir at the Great Star Rising Baptist Church in Atlanta. Upon its release, the soundtrack entered number three on the Billboard 200 and topped the Top Gospel Albums chart, the first by a female artist.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/whitney-houston/chart-history/sll/ |title=Whitney Houston Chart History: Top Gospel Albums |magazine=Billboard |accessdate=July 16, 2023}} Three singles were released, including "I Believe in You and Me", which reached the US top-ten, and "Step by Step", which became a hit in Europe. The soundtrack sold six million units worldwide, becoming the best-selling gospel album of all time.{{cite web|url=http://news.moviefone.com/2012/02/13/whitney-houston-interview/|title=Whitney Houston 1996 Interview Sheds Light on Movie Career, Personal Demons|first1=Gary|last1=Susman|date=February 13, 2012|access-date=December 1, 2014|work=Moviefone|publisher=AOL|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129045846/http://news.moviefone.com/2012/02/13/whitney-houston-interview/|archive-date=November 29, 2014|url-status=dead}} Despite its success, Houston complained of not receiving a gospel nomination at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards in 1998 and responded by boycotting the ceremony.{{cite web |url=https://www.mtv.com/news/8z2jat/whitney-may-pass-on-grammys-over-gospel-snub |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619210316/https://www.mtv.com/news/8z2jat/whitney-may-pass-on-grammys-over-gospel-snub |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 19, 2023 |title=Whitney May Pass on Grammys Over Gospel Snub |work=MTV |date=February 18, 1998 |accessdate=June 19, 2023}}{{efn|Houston told Entertainment Tonight, "basically it was my gospel album, and it was excluded from the gospel category altogether. I'm not going this year... I'm sick of work being done and people not recognizing it."}} Houston's work was acknowledged by the Dove Awards and the NAACP Image Awards, where Houston received the award for Outstanding Gospel Artist.

In 1996, Houston formed her film production company, BrownHouse Productions. Debra Martin Chase became her partner. Their goal was "to show aspects of the lives of African-Americans that have not been brought to the screen before" while improving how African-Americans are portrayed in film and television.{{cite magazine |title=Whitney Scores As Producer and Star |magazine=Ebony |date= November 1997 |access-date=September 7, 2021 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYiyPoTrhDUC&pg=PA90}} Their first project was a made-for-television remake of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. In addition to co-producing, Houston starred in the film as the Fairy Godmother along with Brandy, Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg and Bernadette Peters. Houston was initially offered the role of Cinderella in 1993, but other projects intervened.{{cite news|last=Purdum|first=Todd S. | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/02/arts/television-the-slipper-still-fits-though-the-style-is-new.html |title=Television; The Slipper Still Fits, Though the Style Is New| work=The New York Times| date= November 2, 1997}} The film is notable for its multi-racial cast and non-stereotypical message.{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYiyPoTrhDUC&pg=PA86 |title=Whitney & Brandy in Cinderella |magazine=Ebony |date=November 1997 |access-date=September 7, 2021}} An estimated 60 million viewers tuned into the special giving ABC its highest TV ratings in 16 years.{{cite news|last1=Carter|first1=Bill|title=TV Notes; Happy Ending For 'Cinderella'| work=The New York Times| page=7| date=November 5, 1997| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/05/arts/tv-notes-happy-ending-for-cinderella.html}} The movie received seven Emmy nominations including Outstanding Variety, Musical or Comedy, while winning Outstanding Art Direction in a Variety, Musical or Comedy Special.

Houston and Chase also worked on a biopic on actress Dorothy Dandridge. Halle Berry, who also had rights to Dandridge's story, beat Houston and Chase to release her version several years later.{{cite news| url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1430186/19970409/houston_whitney.jhtml | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130129082640/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1430186/19970409/houston_whitney.jhtml | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 29, 2013 |title= Whitney Houston To Take On "Christie Love| publisher=MTV News|date= April 9, 1997}} In October, a third HBO concert special, Classic Whitney: Live from Washington, D.C. aired with proceeds of the special going to Marian Wright Edelman's Children's Defense Fund, eventually reaching $300,000.{{cite news|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WT&p_theme=wt&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB0F3AC7B4905E3&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Streetwise Houston tries new approach Singer's tour hits town Monday|date=July 3, 1999|work=The Washington Times|format=Article ID: R00018180056|archive-date=March 26, 2023|access-date=February 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326032905/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WT&p_theme=wt&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB0F3AC7B4905E3&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|url-status=dead}} In early 1998, Houston received the Quincy Jones Award for outstanding career achievements at the 12th Soul Train Music Awards.{{cite magazine |magazine=Billboard | first1 = Anita M. | last1 = Samuels | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6w4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10 | title = Badu Heads Soul Train; Singer Picks Up 4 Awards | volume = 110 | issue = 11 | page = 10 | date = March 14, 1998 | access-date =June 30, 2010 | issn = 0006-2510}}{{cite web | url = http://www.soultrain.com/stma/library.html | title = Soul Train Music Awards Library: 1998 The 12th Soul Train Music Awards | publisher = Don Cornelius Productions, Inc | date = February 27, 1998 | access-date =June 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725073904/http://www.soultrain.com/stma/library.html |archive-date=July 25, 2013}}

In 1998, Houston released My Love Is Your Love, her first studio album in eight years. Released during the so-called "Super Tuesday" week on November 17 of the year where multiple albums by other recording artists were also issued, the album debuted and peaked at number 13 on the Billboard 200.{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/article/1998/11/27/big-day-music/ |title=A big day in music |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=November 27, 1998 |author=Rob Brunner |accessdate=March 26, 2025}}{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/archive/6734042/music-super-tuesday/ |title=Music: Super Tuesday |magazine=Time |date=November 23, 1998 |author1=Christopher John Farley |author2=David E. Thigpen |accessdate=March 26, 2025}}{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/1998/music/news/super-cd-week-1117488917/ |title=Super CD week |work=Variety |date=November 29, 1998 |author=Phil Gallo |accessdate=March 26, 2025}}{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LgoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA126 | title = The Billboard 200 chart listing for the week of December 5, 1998 | page = 126 | volume = 110 | issue = 49 | issn = 0006-2510 | date = December 5, 1998 | access-date =October 29, 2011}} The album featured production from Rodney Jerkins, Wyclef Jean and Missy Elliott and resulted in Houston receiving some of her strongest reviews ever, with Rolling Stone writing that Houston was singing "with a bite in her voice"{{cite magazine|title=Vibe|magazine = Vibe Vixen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sigEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA60|date=April 1999 |page=60|issn=1070-4701}} while The Village Voice called it "Whitney's sharpest and most satisfying so far".{{cite web |first=Vince |last=Aletti |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/1998/12/08/look-whos-ticking/ |title=Look Who's Ticking |website=The Village Voice |date=December 8, 1998 |access-date=September 7, 2021}} Billboard magazine noted the album had a "funkier and edgier sound than past releases" and saw Houston "handling urban dance, hip hop, mid-tempo R&B, reggae, torch songs and ballads all with great dexterity".{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=IwoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1| title = Houston Finds a New Groove with Arista Set | first1 = Melinda | last1 = Newman | pages = 1, 86 | volume = 110 | issue = 44 | issn = 0006-2510 | date = October 31, 1998 | access-date =October 29, 2011}} The album produced five top 40 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, the most for a Houston album since 1987's Whitney.

The leading single was the Mariah Carey-featured duet, "When You Believe", off The Prince of Egypt, which peaked at number 15 in the US and reached number two on the Eurochart Hot 100, and later won an Academy Award for Best Original Song.{{cite web | url = http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/71st-winners.html | title = The 71st Academy Awards (1999) Nominees and Winners | publisher = Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences | date = March 21, 1999 | access-date =October 29, 2011}} The second single, "Heartbreak Hotel", peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, while the following two singles, "It's Not Right but It's Okay" and the title track, produced by Jean, each peaked at number four. The final single, "I Learned From the Best", also reached the US top 40. The album remained on the Billboard 200 for almost two years and sold four million units alone in the US, where it was certified four-times platinum by the RIAA. Besides "Believe", the latter four singles reached number one on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.

Houston's North American leg of her world tour to promote the album was successful but plagued by cancellations with Houston's publicist citing "throat problems and a 'bronchitis situation'".{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/430811.stm |title=US city makes $100,000 Whitney claim |work=BBC News |date=August 26, 1999 |access-date=March 3, 2018}} However, its European leg was ranked as the highest-grossing arena tour of the year in the continent.{{cite web|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/media-telecommunications/movies-sound-recording/6714253-1.html |title=Whitney Houston World Tour '99 Becomes Europe's Highest Grossing Arena Tour of the Year |publisher=AllBusiness.com |date=October 19, 1999 |access-date=October 29, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090725205420/http://www.allbusiness.com/media-telecommunications/movies-sound-recording/6714253-1.html |archive-date=July 25, 2009 }} The success of the tour led to My Love Is Your Love reaching number one on the European Top 100 Albums chart in August 1999, staying there for six weeks.{{cite magazine |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1999/MM-1999-08-21.pdf |title=Eurochart Hot 100 Singles / European Top 100 Albums |magazine=Music & Media |volume=16 |issue=34 |date=21 August 1999 |pages=11–12 |oclc=29800226 |via=World Radio History}} All of Houston's singles from the album were successful internationally, with the title track reaching number one on the Eurochart Hot 100 and selling more than three million units worldwide while the last release, "I Learned From the Best" topped the charts in Poland and Romania.{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fwgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA137 | title="My Love Is Your Love" single; triple platinum worldwide | page = 137 | volume = 111 | issue = 47 | date = November 20, 1999 | access-date =September 25, 2010 | issn = 0006-2510}} Eventually, global sales of the album reached 10 million units worldwide.{{Cite web |date=November 18, 2016 |title=Whitney Houston Released Two Albums This Week In 1992 & 1998 |url=https://www.whitneyhouston.com/news/whitney-houston-released-two-albums-week-1992-1998/ |website=whitneyhouston.com}}

The album's European success helped Houston win the MTV Europe Music Award for Best R&B, while the music video for "Heartbreak Hotel" led to Houston receiving her first MTV Video Music Award nomination in over a decade.{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/515689.stm | title = Entertainment: Dublin gears up for MTV show |work=BBC News | date = November 11, 1999 | access-date =July 3, 2010}}{{cite magazine | url = https://www.billboard.com/news/spears-tops-1999-mtv-europe-music-awards-949845.story#/news/spears-tops-1999-mtv-europe-music-awards-949845.story | title = Spears Tops 1999 MTV Europe Music Awards | magazine = Billboard | date = November 12, 1999 | access-date =July 2, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105153513/http://www.billboard.com/news/spears-tops-1999-mtv-europe-music-awards-949845.story#/web/20121105153513/http://www.billboard.com/news/spears-tops-1999-mtv-europe-music-awards-949845.story |archive-date=November 5, 2012}}{{cite web | first = Brian | last = Ives | url = http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1434401/19991112/spears_britney.jhtml | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20010417214300/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1434401/19991112/spears_britney.jhtml | url-status = dead | archive-date = April 17, 2001 | title = Bono Honored As Britney Spears Dominates MTV Europe Awards | publisher = MTV Network | date = November 12, 1999 | access-date= July 3, 2010}}{{cite web | url = http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/1999/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080828041546/http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/1999/ | url-status = dead | archive-date = August 28, 2008 | title = 1999 MTV Video Music Awards | publisher = MTV Network | date = September 9, 1999 | access-date =July 3, 2010}} Nominated for four Grammys at the 2000 ceremony, Houston nabbed her sixth and final competitive Grammy in the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance category for "It's Not Right but It's Okay".{{cite web |url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/whitney-houston/3899 |title=Whitney Houston - Grammy History |work=Grammy Awards |accessdate=June 19, 2023}} Near the end of the year, the Recording Industry Association of America hosted its Century Awards and named Houston the top-selling R&B female artist of the century with certified US sales of 51 million records at the time while the soundtrack to The Bodyguard received the award for top-selling soundtrack album of the century.{{cite web|url=http://www.riaa.net/newsitem.php?news_month_filter=11&news_year_filter=1999&resultpage=&id=3ABF3EC8-EF5B-58F9-E949-3B57F5E313DF |title=The American Recording Industry Announces its Artists of the Century |publisher=Recording Industry Association of America |date=November 10, 1999 |access-date=July 23, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724032619/http://www.riaa.net/newsitem.php?news_month_filter=11&news_year_filter=1999&resultpage=&id=3ABF3EC8-EF5B-58F9-E949-3B57F5E313DF |archive-date=July 24, 2011 }} In March 2000, Houston earned a special honor at the 14th Soul Train Music Awards as the female artist of the decade for her extraordinary artistic contributions during the 1990s.{{cite web | first = David | last = Basham | url = http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1434868/20000211/tlc.jhtml | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130104040605/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1434868/20000211/tlc.jhtml | url-status = dead | archive-date = January 4, 2013 | title = TLC Nominated For Three Soul Train Music Awards | publisher = MTV | date = February 11, 2000 | access-date =July 4, 2010}}{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard | first1 = Gail | last1 = Mitchell | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=nA4EAAAAMBAJ&q=soul%20train%20music%20awards%2014th&pg=PA20 | title = TLC Rides Soul Train | date = March 18, 2000 | access-date =July 4, 2010 | issn = 0006-2510 | volume = 112 | issue = 12 | page = 20}}

The next year, in May 2000, Houston's first compilation album, Whitney: The Greatest Hits, was released. The album reached number five in the US and number one in the UK and also reached the top ten in multiple countries.{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mQ8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA116 | title = The Billboard 200 chart listing for the week of June 3, 2000 | page = 116 | volume = 112 | issue = 23 | issn = 0006-2510 | date = June 3, 2000 | access-date =October 29, 2011}}{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard | title = Hits of the World | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mw8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA88-IA2 | pages = 72–73 | volume = 112 | issue = 25 | date = June 17, 2000 | access-date =October 29, 2011 | issn = 0006-2510}} A double-disc collection, the album's first disc, "Cool Down", featured all of Houston's hit ballads, while the second disc, "Throw Down", featured house and club remixes of the singer's uptempo hits, in response to the well-received dance remixes from My Love Is Your Love.{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PA8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26| title = Reviews & Previews: Spotlight | page = 26 | volume = 112 | issue = 21 | issn = 0006-2510 | date = May 20, 2000 | access-date =October 29, 2011}}{{cite web | first = Steve | last = Huey | url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/greatest-hits-import-version-r1226396/review | title = Whitney: The Greatest Hits review | work = AllMusic | access-date =October 29, 2011}} It also included four new tracks, three of them duets from the likes of Deborah Cox, Enrique Iglesias and George Michael. The singles with the latter two artists, "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" and "If I Told You That", both became hits in Europe. The set was later certified five times platinum in the US for sales of five million copies, while worldwide sales reached 10 million.{{cite magazine | url = https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/77413/florida-orchestra-sues-arista-over-anthem | title = Florida Orchestra Sues Arista Over Anthem | magazine = Billboard | date = December 17, 2001 | access-date =October 29, 2011}}

File:Whitney Houston 2000.jpg, Washington, D.C., on October 16, 2000]]

Houston's reputation as "America's Sweetheart", which she was nicknamed for the duration of her career, came under scrutiny at the beginning of the 2000s. Reports of erratic behavior, showing up hours late to interviews, photo shoots, rehearsals and canceling several concerts, had been following her since the late 1990s.{{cite magazine|title=Whitney Houston biography |magazine=Rolling Stone |year=2012 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/whitney-houston/biography |access-date=February 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091209024845/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/whitneyhouston/biography |archive-date=December 9, 2009}}{{cite news|first=Larry|last=McShane|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/digest/ent3.htm |title=Whitney Houston Gets Bad Press|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=April 6, 2000}}

Houston failed to show up to induct Clive Davis into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2000.{{cite magazine |first1=Andrew |last1=Dansby |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/whitneyhouston/articles/story/5924161/whitney_insider_tells_of_drug_use_failed_intervention |title=Whitney Insider Tells of Drug Use, Failed Intervention |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=June 7, 2000 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527083340/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/whitneyhouston/articles/story/5924161/whitney_insider_tells_of_drug_use_failed_intervention |archive-date=May 27, 2009}} Weeks later, Houston was scheduled to perform at the Academy Awards but was fired from the event by musical director and longtime friend Burt Bacharach. At the time, her publicist cited throat problems as the reason for the cancellation. In his book, The Big Show: High Times and Dirty Dealings Backstage at the Academy Awards, author Steve Pond revealed that "Houston's voice was shaky, she seemed distracted and jittery, and her attitude was casual, almost defiant"; though she was supposed to perform "Over the Rainbow", she sung a different song during rehearsals.Movie & TV News @ IMDb, [https://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2004-12-23#celeb5 "Houston's Oscar Confusion"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325203750/http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2004-12-23#celeb5 |date=March 25, 2017 }}, December 23, 2004. Houston was replaced at that Oscar telecast by singer Faith Hill. Houston later admitted she had been fired.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/transcript-whitney-houston-im-person-life/story?id=15574357|title=Transcript: Whitney Houston: 'I'm a Person Who Has Life'|date=February 13, 2012|access-date=December 12, 2024|publisher=ABC News|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214082903/https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/transcript-whitney-houston-im-person-life/story?id=15574357|archivedate=February 14, 2012|url-status=live}} Houston, however, did show up for a scheduled performance to celebrate Arista's 25th anniversary with Clive Davis, her performance received good reviews."Whitney Shines at Arista Anniversary", USA Today, April 12, 2000.

In May 2000, Houston's longtime executive assistant and friend, Robyn Crawford, resigned from Houston's management company.

Despite increasing negative press, Houston continued to find success. She produced the film The Princess Diaries (2001) alongside fellow BrownHouse partner Debra Martin Chase. Starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews, the film became an unexpected success in the box office, grossing more than $165 million worldwide. Houston and Chase became the first black people in box office history to produce a film that surpassed $100 million in the box office.{{cite web |url=https://people.com/movies/see-whitney-houston-with-a-young-anne-hathaway-on-the-set-of-the-princess-diaries/ |title=See Whitney Houston With a Young Anne Hathaway on the Set of 2001's The Princess Diaries |work=People |date=May 11, 2020 |first=Alexia |last=Fernández |access-date=September 9, 2024}} In August 2001, Houston signed one of the biggest record deals in music history, with Arista/BMG. She renewed her contract for $100 million to release six new albums, for which she would also earn royalties.{{cite magazine|last=Lafranco|first= Robert|author2=Binelli, Mark|author3=Goodman, Fred|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5938443/the_rolling_stone_money_report|title=The Rolling Stone Money Report|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=July 4, 2002|access-date=January 15, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204053142/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5938443/the_rolling_stone_money_report/|archive-date=February 4, 2007}}{{cite magazine|title=Whitney Houston Signs $100 Million Contract with Arista Records|page=18|magazine=Jet|date=August 20, 2001}}{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MQ0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1|magazine=Billboard|last=Mitchell|first=Gail|title=Arista Aims New Houston Album At 'Core Urban' Fans|date=December 14, 2002|access-date=December 12, 2024|page=1, 64|volume=114|issue=50}}

A performance at Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special in September 2001 led to increasing rumors of drug use and possible health issues due to Houston's extremely thin frame.{{cite news|last=Knolle|first=Sharon|title=Reports of Whitney Houston's Death Denied|date=September 13, 2001|work=ABC News|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/reports-whitney-houstons-death-denied/story?id=102477|access-date=July 27, 2019}} She canceled a second performance scheduled for the following night.{{cite news|first1=Lynette|last1=Holloway|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/11/business/in-switch-whitney-houston-has-to-sell-an-album.html|title=In Switch, Whitney Houston Has to Sell an Album|work=The New York Times|date=November 11, 2002|access-date=December 12, 2024|page=C0009}} Within weeks, Houston's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" was re-released after the September 11 attacks, with the proceeds donated to the New York Firefighters 9/11 Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Fraternal Order of Police. The single reached No. 6 on the US Hot 100, topping its previous position.{{cite news|first1=Shaheem|last1=Reid|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1448905/whitney-houstons-star-spangled-banner-to-wave-again/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727084327/http://www.mtv.com/news/1448905/whitney-houstons-star-spangled-banner-to-wave-again/|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 27, 2014|title=Whitney Houston's 'Star-Spangled Banner' To Wave Again|publisher=MTV Networks|date=September 17, 2001|access-date=July 27, 2019}}{{cite magazine | url = {{BillboardURLbyName|artist=Whitney Houston|chart=all}} | title = Whitney Houston Billboard chart history |magazine=Billboard | access-date =October 29, 2011}}

Houston released her fifth studio album, Just Whitney, in December 2002. The album debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum, though it received mixed reviews.{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/just-whitney/whitney-houston|title=Just Whitney" by Whitney Houston|publisher=Metacritic|access-date=July 27, 2019}}{{cite magazine|title=Vibe|magazine=Vibe Vixen|date=September 2003 |page=186|issn=1070-4701}} In August 2003, Houston's second television film as a producer, The Cheetah Girls, premiered on the Disney Channel. A soundtrack of the film, executive produced by Houston, became successful, reaching double platinum status in the US. Later that November, Houston released her first Christmas album, One Wish: The Holiday Album, which featured traditional holiday songs and was certified gold in the US.{{cite web|website=Live About|url=https://www.liveabout.com/best-rampb-christmas-songs-standards-2851629|first1=Mark Edward |last1=Nero|title=10 Great R&B Christmas Songs|date=May 24, 2019|access-date=July 27, 2019}}

In April 2004, Houston's second film as producer, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, was equally successful in the box office like its predecessor, earning $134 million in the box office. For most of the year, Houston toured internationally.{{cite news|last=Cashmere|first= Paul|url=http://www.mtv.tv/news/Whitney-back-with-Clive-Davis-13112/|title=Whitney Back With Clive Davis|date=September 17, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709025508/http://www.mtv.tv/news/Whitney-back-with-Clive-Davis-13112/|archive-date=July 9, 2012}} Houston's success behind the scenes continued in 2006 with the airing of The Cheetah Girls 2, which Houston served as executive producer. The film remains one of the highest-rated Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOM) in history with more than 8.1 million viewers tuning in for the premiere.{{Cite web |url=http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6408870.html |title=Disney Movie Skips to Another Record |first=R. Thomas |last=Umstead|date=January 22, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070209132433/http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6408870.html |archive-date=9 February 2007 |url-status=dead}}

File:Flickr Whitney Houston performing on GMA 2009 6.jpg" on Good Morning America, September 1, 2009]]

Houston released I Look to You in August 2009. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 305,000 copies sold, marking a strong return.{{cite news|url=https://www.voanews.com/archive/whitney-houston-album-due-out-sept-1-american-idol-auditions-kick|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927233727/https://www.voanews.com/archive/whitney-houston-album-due-out-sept-1-american-idol-auditions-kick|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 27, 2020|title=Whitney Houston Album Due Out Sept. 1; 'American Idol' Auditions Kick Off|work=VOA News|publisher=Voice of America|date=June 9, 2009|access-date=July 27, 2019}} The album's success was followed by her performance on various European television shows and her appearance as a guest mentor on The X Factor in the UK. Despite a wardrobe malfunction during her performance of "Million Dollar Bill", the single still achieved commercial success, later going platinum in the United Kingdom.{{cite news|last=Singh|first= Anita|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/x-factor/6387117/Whitney-Houstons-weird-performance-on-The-X-Factor-gives-her-top-five-hit.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/x-factor/6387117/Whitney-Houstons-weird-performance-on-The-X-Factor-gives-her-top-five-hit.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Whitney Houston's weird performance on The X-Factor gives her top five hit|work=The Telegraph |date=October 20, 2009|access-date=October 20, 2009}}{{cbignore}} The title track was also a hit and was later certified platinum in the United States. Following the album's release, Houston embarked on the Nothing but Love World Tour, her first world tour in more than 10 years. Despite some negative reviews and rescheduled concerts, Houston continued to perform.{{cite news|url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2010/02/this_just_in_whitney_houston_d.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111024234953/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2010/02/this_just_in_whitney_houston_d.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 24, 2011|title=This just in: Whitney Houston disappoints in Australia, Charlie Sheen enters rehab, Placido Domingo to undergo surgery|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=February 24, 2010|access-date=June 13, 2010}}

In January 2010, Houston was nominated for two NAACP Image Awards and won Best Music Video for "I Look to You".{{Cite web|url=https://www.eonline.com/photos/4576/whitney-houston-s-highs-lows/169705|title=High: A Lifetime of Achievements (2010) from Whitney Houston's Highs & Lows|publisher=E!|language=en-US}} On January 16, she received the Entertainers Award at the BET Honors, acknowledging her lifetime achievements spanning more than 25 years. In January 2011, Houston made a surprise appearance at the BET Celebration of Gospel where she joined friend, gospel singer Kim Burrell onstage, to perform a duet version of "I Look to You"; their performance was received well. It would be Houston's final television performance prior to her death.{{cite web |url=https://www.smoothradio.com/artists/whitney-houston/final-tv-performance-kim-burrell/ |title=When Whitney Houston brought crowd to their feet with surprise duet in final TV performance |work=Smooth Radio |author=Thomas Edward |date=9 August 2023 |accessdate=April 23, 2025}}

Later in 2010, Houston was cast in the remake of the 1976 film Sparkle, where she served as both a star and executive producer. The film marked her final acting role before her untimely death.{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/whitney-houston-talks-star-music-234137|work=The Hollywood Reporter|last=Kit|first=Borys|title=Whitney Houston in Talks to Star in Music-Themed Drama 'Sparkle' (Exclusive)|date=September 12, 2011|access-date=July 27, 2019}} The movie was released on August 17, 2012. The soundtrack featured "Celebrate", the last song Houston recorded, which was released in May 2012.{{cite web|last=Ballhorn|first=Kelly|title=WORLD PREMIERE: Whitney Houston & Jordin Sparks Duet 'Celebrate' From 'Sparkle' [AUDIO]|url=http://ryanseacrest.com/2012/05/21/world-premiere-whitney-houston-jordin-sparks-duet-celebrate-from-sparkle-audio/|publisher=ryanseacrest.com|access-date=May 21, 2012|date=May 21, 2012|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120521072837/http://ryanseacrest.com/2012/05/21/world-premiere-whitney-houston-jordin-sparks-duet-celebrate-from-sparkle-audio/|archive-date=May 21, 2012}}

Houston was a Christian, and she made it a point to sing gospel songs when on tour.{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/whitney-houstons-private-faith-focused-funeral/story?id=15599887|title=Whitney Houston's Private, Faith-Focused Funeral|website=ABC News|date=February 14, 2012}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/03/27/whitney-houston-gospel-album-faith/11539821002/|title=Whitney Houston's gospel album is a testament to her faith: 'She served her purpose here in life'|first=Patrick|last=Ryan|website=USA TODAY|date=March 27, 2023}} During her childhood, she regularly attended New Hope Baptist Church where she joined the children's choir and later performed solos on a regular basis there. Houston was also influenced by Pentecostalism after she began attending a Pentecostal church not too far from New Hope. Houston's mother Cissy wrote that while at New Hope, Houston "got saved" and she later told her that she "accepted the Savior into her life" at around 12 years old.{{cite book |last1=Houston |first1=Cissy |title=Remembering Whitney |date=2013 |page=75 |quote=But it was at New Hope that Nippy got saved. I wasn't with her at the time but she told me later that she'd cried and accepted the Savior into her life and heart. And she never let go of that faith, even through all the turmoil and hard times to come.}} Houston's recording of "Do You Hear What I Hear", from the Christmas compilation album, A Very Special Christmas (1987), has constantly appeared on the Billboard gospel charts since 2011. In 1997, Houston was given a special honor from the Dove Awards for helping to bring gospel music to the attention of the mainstream. Two of Houston's final recordings — "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" and "Celebrate", from the 2012 film, Sparkle — posthumously made the Billboard gospel charts. Her last public performance prior to her death was an impromptu duet of "Jesus Loves Me" with friend and former collaborator Kelly Price at the Tru nightclub in Hollywood.{{cite web |url=https://www.smoothradio.com/artists/whitney-houston/last-performance-final-days-death/ |title=Inside Whitney Houston's last ever performance and troubled final days |work=Smooth Radio |date=15 July 2022 |accessdate=March 18, 2025}}

File:Flickr Whitney Houston performing on GMA 2009 5.jpg in 2009]]

Houston first met Robyn Crawford when Crawford was 19 and Houston was 16; the two were summer camp counselors. According to Crawford, the two were romantically involved for a few years until Houston began seeking a recording contract.{{Cite web |url= https://people.com/music/robyn-crawford-breaks-silence-whitney-houston-love-affair-memoir/ |title= Whitney Houston's Best Friend Robyn Crawford Breaks Her Silence on Their Love Affair in New Memoir |website=People |date=November 6, 2019 |access-date=November 19, 2024 |first=Liz |last=McNeil}}{{Cite web |url= https://www.npr.org/2019/12/25/791296728/she-had-me-i-had-her-robyn-crawford-opens-up |title= 'She Had Me, I Had Her:' Robyn Crawford Opens Up |website=NPR|date=December 26, 2019|access-date=November 19, 2024 |first=Joshua |last=Johnson}} Crawford and Houston continued their professional relationship and platonic friendship until Crawford left Houston's employ in 2000.

In the 1980s, Houston was romantically linked to musician Jermaine Jackson,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/whitney-houston-jermaine-jackson-love-affair-report-article-1.1032864|title=Whitney Houston and Jermaine Jackson had year-long love affair early in their careers: report|last1=Connor|first1=Tracy|date=March 5, 2012|work=Daily News|location=New York}} American football star Randall Cunningham, and actor Eddie Murphy.

Houston met R&B singer Bobby Brown at the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards. After a three-year courtship, the two were married on July 18, 1992.{{cite magazine |title=Whitney Houston Sets The Record Straight About Rumors Of Her Troubled Marriage To Bobby Brown |magazine=Jet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IzsDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA60 |date=April 26, 1999 |page=60 |issn=0021-5996 |access-date=September 7, 2021}} The two singers occasionally collaborated on songs, including the hit record, "Something in Common".{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/12/10/brown.charged/index.html|title=Bobby Brown charged with battery|date=December 10, 2003|access-date=December 19, 2017|publisher=CNN}} The following year, Houston gave birth to their daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown (March 4, 1993 – July 26, 2015),{{cite magazine|last1=Speidel|first1=Maria|date=March 22, 1993|title=Passages|url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20110013,00.html|magazine=People|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202164534/http://www.people.com/people/article/0%2C%2C20110013%2C00.html|archive-date=February 2, 2014|access-date=July 10, 2013|url-status=dead}} the couple's only child.

During their marriage, Brown had several run-ins with the law for drunken driving, drug possession and battery, including some jail time.{{Cite news |date=January 16, 2003 |title=Warrant issued for Bobby Brown |url=https://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/01/15/bobby.brown.warrant/ |publisher=CNN}}{{Cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Chris |date=February 12, 2012 |title=Inside Whitney Houston's Violent Marriage to Bobby Brown |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-whitney-houstons-violent-marriage-to-bobby-brown |newspaper=Daily Beast}} In December 2003, Brown was charged with battery following an altercation during which he threatened to beat Houston and then assaulted her. Police reported that Houston had visible injuries to her face.

Starting in April of the following year, the reality show Being Bobby Brown was taped and later premiered on Bravo, in June 2005. The show drew criticism for what critics perceived to be unflattering moments from the couple,Barry Garron, [https://www.today.com/popculture/being-bobby-brown-disgusting-wbna8409211 "'Being Bobby Brown' Is Disgusting"], MSNBC, June 29, 2005. but still achieved high ratings. However, the show was not renewed for a second season after Houston declined further participation.Steve Rogers, [https://www.realitytvworld.com/news/report-bravo-being-bobby-brown-coming-back-for-second-season-3794.php "Report: Bravo's 'Being Bobby Brown' coming back for second season"], RealityTV World, October 31, 2005.[https://blog.sfgate.com/dailydish/2007/01/10/brown-reality-show-cancelled/ "Brown Reality Show Cancelled"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180924145216/https://blog.sfgate.com/dailydish/2007/01/10/brown-reality-show-cancelled/ |date=September 24, 2018 }}, SFGate, The Daily Dish, January 10, 2007. In September 2006, a year after Being Bobby Brown aired, Houston filed for legal separation from Brown, later filing for divorce the following month, citing irreconcilable differences.{{cite news |url=https://www.today.com/popculture/whitney-houston-bobby-brown-separate-1C9431376 |title=Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown separate |work=Today |date=September 13, 2006 |accessdate=May 17, 2023}}{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/whitney-houston-files-divorce-brown-139777/ |title=Whitney Houston files for divorce from Brown - The Hollywood Reporter |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=October 18, 2006 |accessdate=May 17, 2023}} The divorce was granted on April 24, 2007.{{cite news |url=https://people.com/celebrity/whitney-houston-wins-custody-in-divorce-from-bobby-brown/ |title=Whitney Houston Wins Custody in Divorce from Bobby Brown |work=People |date=April 4, 2007 |accessdate=May 17, 2023}}

On April 19, 1991, at the start of her I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour, Houston and her brother Michael got involved in an altercation against three men at a hotel in Lexington, Kentucky after the men reportedly sought her for an autograph while they were trying to watch a heavyweight boxing championship match.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-25-ca-648-story.html |title=POP/ROCK - April 25, 1991 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=April 25, 1991 |author=Beth Kleid |accessdate=March 29, 2025}} After seeing the men attack her brother, Houston reportedly jumped on one of the men, Ransom Brotherton, and punched him off her brother before Houston and her entourage fled from the hotel. Brotherton reported the incident, which led to him having to go to the hospital to receive "12 stitches over his left eye". Houston was charged with fourth degree assault for attacking Brotherton and "threatening to kill him", while her brother was charged with assaulting another man involved in the melee, Kevin Owens.

Charges were dropped against the Houstons in May due to "contradictory evidence" and due to the prosecution struggling to "prove them guilty".{{cite web |url=https://osupublicationarchives.osu.edu/?a=d&d=LTN19910509-01.2.26&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |work=The Lantern |title=Pop star sings to freedom; Houston's case dismissed |date=May 9, 1991 |accessdate=March 29, 2025}}{{cite news |url=https://www.deseret.com/1991/5/9/18919574/whitney-houston-won-t-face-charges/ |title=WHITNEY HOUSTON WON'T FACE CHARGES |work=Deseret News |date=May 9, 1991 |accessdate=March 29, 2025}} It was later revealed that the altercation began after the three men yelled racial slurs at Houston.{{cite web |url=https://blackamericaweb.com/2017/09/05/book-details-whitney-houstons-racial-fist-fight-with-three-kentucky-males/ |title=Book Details Whitney Houston's Racial Fist Fight with Three Kentucky Males |work=BlackAmericaWeb |date=September 5, 2017 |accessdate=March 29, 2025}}

On January 11, 2000, while Houston was traveling with her husband Bobby Brown, airport security guards discovered half an ounce of marijuana in her handbag at Keahole-Kona International Airport in Hawaii. She departed before authorities could arrive.{{Cite news|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/620501/whitney-houston-reportedly-escapes-drug-arrest-in-hawaii/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226035210/http://www.mtv.com/news/620501/whitney-houston-reportedly-escapes-drug-arrest-in-hawaii/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 26, 2014|title=Whitney Houston reportedly Escapes Drug Arrest in Hawaii|last1=Vanhorn|first1=Teri|date=January 17, 2000|publisher=MTV News}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whitney-houston-faces-charges/|title=Whitney Houston Faces Charges|date=September 29, 2000|publisher=CBS News|language=en-US}} Houston was initially charged with a misdemeanor drug charge that carried a 30-day sentence and a $1,000 fine.{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=115175&page=1 |title=Whitney Houston Charged with Pot Possession |date=September 29, 2000 |work=ABC News |accessdate=April 9, 2025}} The charges, however, were dropped in March 2001 after prosecutors received a substance abuse assessment from a counselor in New Jersey that stated the singer didn't need treatment for substance abuse.{{cite web |publisher=TCM Breaking News |url=http://archives.tcm.ie/breakingnews/2001/09/11/story23275.asp |title=Fears for Whitney Houston Grow |date=September 11, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090924054858/http://archives.tcm.ie/breakingnews/2001/09/11/story23275.asp |archive-date=September 24, 2009}}{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=108622&page=1 |title=Whitney Houston Drug Charges Dropped |work=ABC News |date=March 8, 2001 |accessdate=April 9, 2025}}

In 2002, Houston became embroiled in a legal dispute with John Houston Enterprise, a company started by her father. The company, run by Kevin Skinner, sued her for $100 million, claiming unpaid compensation. Houston's father died in February 2003, and the lawsuit was dismissed in April 2004, with no compensation awarded.{{cite news|first1=Jennifer|last1=Vineyard|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1458015/whitney-houston-sued-for-100-million-by-dads-company/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617002825/http://www.mtv.com/news/1458015/whitney-houston-sued-for-100-million-by-dads-company/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 17, 2015|title=Whitney Houston Sued For $100 Million By Dad's Company|access-date=July 27, 2019|publisher=MTV|date=October 8, 2002}}{{cite news |last=Friedman|first= Roger |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/whitney-and-bobby-no-shows-at-dads-funeral |title=Whitney and Bobby No-Shows at Dad's Funeral |publisher=Fox News |date=February 10, 2003 |access-date=July 27, 2019}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3628169.stm|title=Judge throws out Houston lawsuit|access-date=January 15, 2008|work=BBC News|date=April 15, 2004}}

Following graduation from Mount Saint Dominic Academy in 1981, Houston moved to a two-bedroom apartment at Woodbridge Township with Robyn Crawford.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/28/arts/whitney-houston-in-concert.html|title=WHITNEY HOUSTON IN CONCERT|work=New York Times|date=October 28, 1985|author=Stephen Holden|accessdate=May 23, 2025}} By early 1986, Houston had relocated to a bigger apartment in Fort Lee, just minutes away from Manhattan, before purchasing a mansion in Mendham Township with help from her father in late 1987. The 13,607-square-foot house had been built in the year prior to Houston purchasing the property.{{cite web|url=https://www.essence.com/news/fan-buys-whitney-houstons-new-jersey-home/|title=Fan Buys Whitney Houston's New Jersey Home|work=Essence|date=October 27, 2020|accessdate=May 23, 2025}} The house was the primary location for Houston and Bobby Brown's 1992 wedding. Six years later, in 1993, Houston purchased a second home in the city, located at 1 Crossway.{{cite web|url=https://njmonthly.com/articles/news/whitney-houstons-former-nj-home-sells-for-nearly-1-6m/|title=Whitney Houston's Former NJ Home Sells for Nearly $1.6M|work=New Jersey Monthly|date=June 4, 2022|accessdate=May 23, 2025}} The home served as the singer's personal recording studio where she recorded some of her material at, prominently the recording of My Love Is Your Love. During the latter years of her marriage to Bobby Brown, Houston lived in Alpharetta, Georgia, a suburb outside of Atlanta, splitting time between there and Mendham. In 2003, the couple purchased a mansion in Alpharetta, where much of the taping of the reality series, Being Bobby Brown, was filmed.{{cite web|url=https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/whitney-houstons-former-home-outside-atlanta-hits-the-market-for-1-9-million-01668031613|title=Whitney Houston's Former Home Outside Atlanta Hits the Market for $1.9 Million|work=Mansion Global|date=November 4, 2022|accessdate=May 23, 2025}} Houston's last house prior to her death was a townhouse, also located in Alpharetta.{{cite web|url=https://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-home-where-bobbi-kristina-brown-last-lived-is-on-market/QFJHVSFC4RHDFNZNX2J7YD7NIM/|title=Former home of Whitney Houston's deceased child for sale|work=Atlanta-Journal Constitution|date=October 8, 2020|accessdate=May 23, 2025}} Houston also owned a condo at Williams Island just outside Miami Beach. Following her separation from Bobby Brown, Houston rented a palatial house at Laguna Hills, California in April 2006 and lived there until 2008.{{cite web|url=https://www.ocregister.com/2006/09/15/whitney-houston-makes-laguna-hills-home/|title=Whitney Houston makes Laguna Hills home|work=Orange County Register|date=September 15, 2006|accessdate=May 23, 2025}}

During her marriage, Houston suffered several miscarriages, including one during the filming of The Bodyguard,{{cite web |last1=Bologna |first1=Caroline |date=October 19, 2017 |title=50 Celebrities Who Opened Up About Their Miscarriages |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/50-celebrities-who-opened-up-about-their-miscarriages_us_59de72a2e4b0fdad73b1b117 |access-date=February 3, 2018 |work=HuffPost}} another in July 1994,{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/article/249945be2439cac559c52391c2f3d867 |title=Whitney Houston Suffers Miscarriage |work=The Associated Press |date=July 13, 1994 |accessdate=May 17, 2023}} and another in December 1996.{{cite web |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/whitney-miscarries-time-article-1.749097 |title=Whitney Miscarries Third Time |work=Daily News |location=New York |last1=Lewittes |first1=Michael |date=December 21, 1996 |access-date=March 3, 2018 |archive-date=March 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304172355/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/whitney-miscarries-time-article-1.749097 |url-status=dead }}

Rolling Stone published a story in June 2000 stating that Cissy Houston and others had held a July 1999 intervention in which they unsuccessfully attempted to persuade Whitney to obtain drug treatment.

In her 2019 memoirs, A Song for You: My Life with Whitney Houston, Houston's longtime executive assistant and friend, Robyn Crawford, said she departed from Houston's management company after Houston declined to seek help for her drug dependency; however, Houston claimed in an interview that the two friends parted ways over Houston's husband, Bobby Brown.{{Cite news |last1=Caramanica |first1=Jon |date=November 7, 2019 |title=Whitney Houston's Confidante Robyn Crawford Breaks Her Silence |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/07/books/review/whitney-houston-robyn-crawford-book.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191108003117/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/07/books/review/whitney-houston-robyn-crawford-book.html |archive-date=November 8, 2019 |newspaper=The New York Times}}{{Cite web |url=https://people.com/music/whitney-houston-tried-cocaine-14-years-old-robyn-crawford-memoir/ |title=Whitney Houston First Tried Cocaine at 14 Years Old Says Best Friend Robyn Crawford in New Memoir |website=People |date=November 7, 2019 |access-date=September 7, 2021 |first=Liz |last=McNeil}}

In September 2001, Houston's extremely thin appearance led to rumors about her health. Her publicist stated, "Whitney has been under stress due to family matters and when she is under stress she doesn't eat." In 2009, Houston acknowledged that drug use had been the reason for her weight loss in 2001.{{cite web|last=Winfrey|first= Oprah|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW_ytgwzkFQ|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200401113329/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW_ytgwzkFQ&gl=US&hl=en|archive-date=April 1, 2020|url-status=live|title=Remembering Whitney: The Oprah Winfrey Interview|publisher=Oprah Winfrey Network|access-date=December 25, 2017|format=video|date=September 2009}}

In 2002, Houston gave an interview with Diane Sawyer to promote her upcoming album. During the interview, she addressed rumors of drug use, famously saying, "crack is wack". She admitted to using various substances but denied having an eating disorder.

In September 2009, Houston was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey. In the interview, she admitted to using drugs with Brown during their marriage and described her struggles with addiction.{{Cite web|url=https://www.today.com/popculture/whitney-tells-oprah-about-cocaine-pot-use-1c9403092|title=Whitney tells Oprah about cocaine, pot use|date=September 14, 2009|website=TODAY.com}} She told Winfrey that before The Bodyguard her drug use was light, that she used drugs more heavily after the film's success and the birth of her daughter and that by 1996 "[doing drugs] was an everyday thing ... I wasn't happy by that point in time. I was losing myself."{{cite news|first1=Nekesa Mumbi |last1=Moody|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/whitney-houston-pop-superstar-dies-at-48/article2335334/ |title=Whitney Houston, pop superstar, dies in Beverly Hills hotel|work=The Globe and Mail|date=February 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215072814/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/whitney-houston-pop-superstar-dies-at-48/article2335334/|archive-date=February 15, 2012|url-status=dead}} Houston told Oprah that she had attended a 30-day rehabilitation program.{{cite web|last=Winfrey|first=Oprah|title=Remembering Whitney: The Oprah Winfrey Interview|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyApXLqzCCw|publisher=Oprah Winfrey Network|accessdate=December 25, 2017|format=video|date=September 2009|quote="I did my stint. You do your 30 days. I went to one where I could take my child with me. Everywhere I just had to have her with me. I wanted her to understand. I didn't lie to her. I couldn't."}} Houston also acknowledged to Oprah that her drug use had continued after rehabilitation, and that at one point, her mother obtained a court order and the assistance of law enforcement to press her into receiving further drug treatment.{{cite web|last=Winfrey|first=Oprah|title=Remembering Whitney: The Oprah Winfrey Interview|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyApXLqzCCw|publisher=Oprah Winfrey Network|accessdate=April 21, 2010|page=40:02 minutes|format=video|date=September 2009|quote="I see the love and the passion that my mother had for me and she walks in with these sheriffs and she says 'I have a court junction [sic] here. Either you do it my way or we're just not going to do this at all. We're going to go on TV and you're going to retire and say you're going to give this up. Because this is not worth it. It's not worth it. And if you move, Bobby [Brown], [these officers are] going to take you down. Don't you make one move. Let's go. Let's do this. I'm not losing you to the world. I'm not losing you to Satan. I want my daughter back. I'm not doing this. I want my daughter back. I want you back. I want to see that glow in your eyes, that light in your eyes. I want to see the child I raised. You weren't raised like this. And I'm not having it.'"}} Houston's mother recalled the incident in her 2013 book, Remembering Whitney: My Story of Love, Loss, and the Night the Music Stopped, in which she came to visit her daughter's Alpharetta residence in 2005 discussing seeing the walls were "spray-painted" with "big glaring eyes and strange faces. Evil eyes, staring out like a threat", as well as noticing most of her daughter's head cut out of a big framed photo of the singer; Houston herself explained it in her Oprah interview.{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/whitney-mom-recounts-singer-drug-article-1.1248861|author=Ginger Adams Otis|title=Cissy Houston details daughter Whitney's decline in new book|newspaper = Daily News|date=January 26, 2013|accessdate=December 25, 2017}}{{cite book |last1=Houston |first1=Cissy |title=Remembering Whitney |date=2013 |page=232 |quote=Somebody had spray-painted the walls and door with big glaring eyes and strange faces. Evil eyes, staring out like a threat ... In another room there was a big framed photo of [Whitney] — but someone had cut [her] head out. It was beyond disturbing, seeing my daughter's face cut out like that.}} When Winfrey asked Houston if she was drug-free, Houston responded, "'Yes, ma’am. I mean, you know, don’t think I don’t have desires for it.'"{{cite web|url=https://parade.com/41668/parade/whitney-houston-staying-sober-one-day-at-a-time/|title=Whitney Houston Staying Sober 'One Day at a Time'|last=Parade|date=September 16, 2009|website=Parade}}

In May 2011, Houston enrolled in rehabilitation again due to drug and alcohol problems, which she stated was part of her "longstanding recovery process".{{cite news|url=https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2011/05/whitney-houston-rehab-alcohol-drugs.html|title=Whitney Houston in outpatient rehab for alcohol, drugs|last=D'Zurilla|first=Christie|work=Los Angeles Times|date=May 9, 2011|access-date=May 11, 2011}} A month later, it was reported that Houston had been diagnosed with emphysema.{{cite news|url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/blogs/thefamous/report-whitney-houston-emphysema-131107581.html|title=Report: Whitney Houston Has Emphysema|date=June 2, 2011|work=Yahoo|accessdate=June 2, 2025}}

{{Further|Death of Whitney Houston}}

File:Whitney Houston Flowers 2.JPG

On February 11, 2012, Houston was found unconscious in Suite 434 at the Beverly Hilton, submerged in the bathtub.{{cite news|title=Whitney Houston was found underwater in bathtub, police say|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/02/whitney-houston-found-underwater-bathtub-unconscious.html|access-date=February 13, 2012|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=February 13, 2012|first1=Richard|last1=Winton|first2=Andrew|last2=Blankstein}}{{cite book|year=2012|title=Whitney: Tribute to a Music Legend|location=Boca Raton, Florida |publisher=American Media}} (one-time newsstand collector's publication) Pg. 37: "434: The room number at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles in which she was found dead on Feb 11, 2012." Houston reportedly appeared "disheveled" and "erratic" in the days before her death.{{cite web |last1=Fleeman |first1=Mike |title=Whitney Houston's Final Days Marked by Erratic Behavior |url=https://people.com/celebrity/whitney-houston-dies-her-final-days-marked-by-erratic-behavior/ |website=People |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228100244/https://people.com/celebrity/whitney-houston-dies-her-final-days-marked-by-erratic-behavior/ |archive-date=December 28, 2016 |date=February 12, 2012 |url-status=live}} Beverly Hills paramedics arrived about 3:30 pm, found Houston unresponsive, and performed CPR. Houston was pronounced dead at 3:55 pm PST.{{cite news|first1=Andrew|last1=Blankstein|first2=Randy|last2=Lewis|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/02/whitney-houston-death-cpr.html |title=Whitney Houston's death: Medics performed CPR for about 20 minutes |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=February 12, 2012}}{{cite news|first=Sheila|last=Marikar|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/whitney-houston-iconic-pop-star-dies-48/story?id=15565260|work=ABC News|date=February 12, 2012|access-date=February 22, 2012|title=Whitney Houston, Iconic Pop Star, Dies at 48}} The cause of death was not immediately known;{{cite news | date = February 11, 2012 | title = Whitney Houston, Pop Superstar, Dies at 48 | first1 = Jon | last1= Pareles | first2 = Adam | last2= Nagourney | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/arts/music/whitney-houston-dies.html?pagewanted=print | work = The New York Times |access-date=February 12, 2012}} local police said there were "no obvious signs of criminal intent".{{cite web |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/12/showbiz/whitney-houston-death/ |title=Music exec: Whitney Houston looked 'healthy and beautiful' days earlier |last1=Yan |first1=Holly |last2=Quan |first2=Denise |date=February 12, 2012 |access-date=February 12, 2012 |publisher=CNN}} On March 22, 2012, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office reported that Houston's death was caused by drowning and the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use".{{cite web |last1=Wynter |first1=Kareen |last2=Martinez |first2=Michael |date=March 22, 2012 |title=Coroner: Drowning, heart disease, cocaine use killed Houston |url=http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/22/coroner-drowning-heart-disease-cocaine-use-killed-houston/ |access-date=March 22, 2012 |publisher=CNN |archive-date=March 24, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324164039/http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/22/coroner-drowning-heart-disease-cocaine-use-killed-houston/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |date=March 22, 2012 |title=Whitney Houston drowned after cocaine use, says coroner |publisher=BBC}} The manner of death was listed as "accident".{{cite news |last=Blankstein |first=Andrew |date=April 4, 2012 |title=Whitney Houston: Final coroner's report |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=http://documents.latimes.com/whitney-houston-coroners-report-final/ |access-date=April 6, 2012}}

Houston's death coincided with the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, which took place the day following her death and included a tribute to Houston; it was later credited for the Grammys' second-highest ratings in history.{{cite news|last1=Kaufman|first1=Gil|title=Grammy Ratings Up Thanks To Adele, Whitney Houston Tribute|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1679178/2012-grammy-ratings-jennifer-hudson-tribute-whitney-houston.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215231704/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1679178/2012-grammy-ratings-jennifer-hudson-tribute-whitney-houston.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 15, 2012|access-date=September 6, 2012|publisher=MTV|date=February 13, 2012}} The February 11, 2012, Clive Davis pre-Grammy party that Houston had been expected to attend, which featured many of the biggest names in music and film, went on as scheduled – although it was quickly turned into a tribute to Houston.{{cite news|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2012/02/clive-davis-whitney-houston-dead.html|title=Clive Davis: Whitney Houston would have wanted the music to go on|work=Los Angeles Times |date=February 12, 2012|access-date=February 12, 2012}} Numerous other public figures also expressed their grief, including Mariah Carey, Quincy Jones, Darlene Love, Aretha Franklin and Oprah Winfrey.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/mariah-carey-diddy-others-react-to-whitney-houstons-death-20120212|title=Mariah Carey, Diddy, Others React to Whitney Houston's Death|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=February 12, 2012|access-date=February 12, 2012|archive-date=February 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214182018/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/mariah-carey-diddy-others-react-to-whitney-houstons-death-20120212|url-status=dead}}{{cite magazine | url = http://music-mix.ew.com/2012/02/11/celebs-react-to-whitney-houston-death-please-tell-me-its-not-true/|title=Celebs react to Whitney Houston death: 'Please tell me it's not true'|first=Lynette|last=Rice|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=February 11, 2012|access-date=February 17, 2012}} Houston's death was covered internationally in the media, along with her memorial service, which was held for Houston at her home church, New Hope Baptist Church, in Newark, New Jersey, on February 18, 2012.{{cite web |last=Newcomb |first=Alyssa |title=Whitney Houston Funeral: Singer Laid to Rest |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/whitney-houston-funeral-singer-laid-rest/story?id=15745349|date= February 19, 2012 |work=ABC News |access-date=February 19, 2012}}

Houston's music surged in popularity following her death. According to representatives from Houston's record label, Houston sold 8 million records worldwide in the first 10 months of the year she died.{{Cite web| title=Why Whitney Houston Didn't Make Forbes' List Of Top Earning Dead Celebs |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2012/10/24/why-whitney-houston-didnt-make-forbes-list-of-top-earning-dead-celebs/?sh=142200fe7b35 |access-date=June 24, 2021 |website=Forbes |date=October 24, 2012 |first=Zack |last= O'Malley Greensburg}} The single "I Will Always Love You" returned to the Billboard Hot 100 after almost 20 years, peaking at number three and becoming a posthumous top-10 single for Houston, the first one since 2001. Houston set a Guinness World Record for a female artist by placing 10 albums inside the Billboard 200 simultaneously.{{cite web |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/750305-most-simultaneous-albums-on-the-us-billboard-200-female |title=Most simultaneous albums on the US Billboard 200 (female) |work=Guinness World Record |date=March 4, 2023 |accessdate=July 16, 2023}} In October 2023, Houston made the list of the top 10 highest-earning posthumous celebrities on Forbes, earning $30 million, later winning a posthumous Guinness World Records entry as the highest-earning posthumous female celebrity, her 31st record.{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2023/10/30/highest-paid-dead-celebrities-2023-michael-jackson-elvis-presley-whitney-houston/ |title=The Highest-Paid Dead Celebrities of 2023 |work=Forbes |date=October 31, 2023 |accessdate=November 19, 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/467954-highest-earning-dead-celebrity-female-current |title=Highest-earning dead celebrity (female, current) |work=Guinness World Records |accessdate=November 19, 2023}}

File:Flickr Whitney Houston performing on GMA 2009 4.jpg".]]

Houston had a four-octave vocal range.{{cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/anatomy-olympics-anthem-487188|title=Whitney Houston's 'One Moment In Time': The Anatomy of an Olympic Anthem|work=Newsweek|last1=Ahmed|first1=Tufayel|date=August 5, 2016|access-date=December 28, 2018}} She was referred to as "the Voice" because of her vocal talent.{{cite news |last=Robinson |first=Peter |date=16 October 2019 |title=Whitney Houston: the life, death and rebirth of a pop princess |work=The Times |publisher= |url=https://www.thetimes.com/sunday-times-rich-list/profile/article/whitney-houston-the-life-death-and-rebirth-of-a-pop-princess-h9bgxf5sw39 |access-date=September 7, 2021}}

Jon Pareles of The New York Times stated Houston "always had a great big voice, a technical marvel from its velvety depths to its ballistic middle register to its ringing and airy heights".{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/19/arts/pop-reviews-part-divas-part-goddesses-2-women-glamour-music-whitney-houston.html |title=POP REVIEWS: Part Divas, Part Goddesses: 2 Women of Glamour and Music; Whitney Houston At Radio City |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 19, 1994 |access-date=June 4, 2012|last1=Pareles |first1=Jon }} In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Houston second on their list of the greatest singers of all time, stating, "The standard-bearer for R&B vocals, Whitney Houston possessed a soprano that was as powerful as it was tender. Take her cover of Dolly Parton's 'I Will Always Love You', which became one of the defining singles of the 1990s; it opens with her gently brooding, her unaccompanied voice sounding like it's turning over the idea of leaving her lover behind with the lightest touch. By the end, it's transformed into a showcase for her limber, muscular upper register; she sings the title phrase with equal parts bone-deep feeling and technical perfection, turning the conflicted emotions at the song's heart into a jumping-off point for her life's next step."{{cite magazine|magazine=Rolling Stone | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-singers-all-time-1234642307/whitney-houston-11-1234643211/ | title = The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time | date = January 1, 2023 | access-date = January 2, 2023}}

Matthew Perpetua of Rolling Stone also acknowledged Houston's vocal prowess, enumerating 10 performances, including "How Will I Know" at the 1986 MTV VMAs and "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the 1991 Super Bowl. "Whitney Houston was blessed with an astonishing vocal range and extraordinary technical skill, but what truly made her a great singer was her ability to connect with a song and drive home its drama and emotion with incredible precision", he stated. "She was a brilliant performer and her live shows often eclipsed her studio recordings."{{cite magazine | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/photos/ten-incredible-whitney-houston-performances-20120213 | title = Photos: Ten Incredible Whitney Houston Performances | magazine = Rolling Stone | first = Matthew | last = Perpetua | publisher = Jann S. Wenne | date = February 13, 2012 | access-date = February 18, 2012 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120215202234/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/photos/ten-incredible-whitney-houston-performances-20120213 | archive-date = February 15, 2012 }}

Elysa Gardner of the Los Angeles Times in her review for The Preacher's Wife Soundtrack highly praised Houston's vocal ability, commenting, "She is first and foremost a pop diva – at that, the best one we have. No other female pop star – not Mariah Carey, not Celine Dion, not Barbra Streisand – quite rivals Houston in her exquisite vocal fluidity and purity of tone and her ability to infuse a lyric with mesmerizing melodrama."{{cite web|last=Gardner|first=Elysa|date=November 24, 1996|title=Oh, Whitney – for Heaven's Sake|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-11-24-ca-2290-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=March 6, 2011}} Singer and entertainer Michael Jackson named Houston as one of his musical inspirations, calling her a "wonderful singer, real stylist. You hear one line, and you know who it is."{{cite web|access-date=July 20, 2021|date=March 2002|title=Interview: Michael Jackson Vibe Magazine 2002|url=https://www.fanpop.com/clubs/invincible-era/articles/71701/title/interview-michael-jackson-vibe-magazine-2002|website=Vibe}}

R&B singer Faith Evans stated: "Whitney was not just a singer with a beautiful voice. She was a true musician. Her voice was an instrument and she knew how to use it. With the same complexity as someone who has mastered the violin or the piano, Whitney mastered the use of her voice. From every run to every crescendo—she was in tune with what she could do with her voice and it's not something simple for a singer—even a very talented one—to achieve. Whitney is 'the Voice' because she worked for it. This is someone who was singing backup for her mom when she was 14 years old at nightclubs across the country. This is someone who sang backup for Chaka Khan when she was only 17. She had years and years of honing her craft on stage and in the studio before she ever got signed to a record label. Coming from a family of singers and surrounded by music; she pretty much had a formal education in music, just like someone who might attend a performing arts high school or major in voice in college."{{Cite web|date=January 7, 2015|title=Why Whitney Houston Deserves To Be Called 'The Voice'|url=https://www.vibe.com/features/editorial/why-whitney-houston-deserves-be-called-voice-249128/|access-date=July 29, 2021|website=Vibe}}

Jon Caramanica of The New York Times commented, "Her voice was clean and strong, with barely any grit, well suited to the songs of love and aspiration. [ ... ] Hers was a voice of triumph and achievement and it made for any number of stunning, time-stopping vocal performances."{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/arts/music/whitney-houstons-voice-of-triumph-and-pain.html | title = A Voice of Triumph, the Queen of Pain | first = Jon | last = Caramanica | date = February 12, 2012 | access-date = February 18, 2012}} Mariah Carey stated, "She [Whitney] has a really rich, strong mid-belt that very few people have".{{cite magazine|magazine=Vibe|language=en|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jisEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA95|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809134810/https://books.google.com/books?id=jisEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA95|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 9, 2021|title=Higher and Higher|volume=6|issue=9|page=95|date=November 1998|access-date=November 7, 2014|issn=1070-4701}} In her review of I Look to You, music critic Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "[Houston's voice] stands like monuments upon the landscape of 20th century pop, defining the architecture of their times, sheltering the dreams of millions and inspiring the climbing careers of countless imitators". Powers added, "When she was at her best, nothing could match her huge, clean, cool mezzo-soprano".Powers, Ann. [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/08/album-review-whitney-houstons-i-look-to-you.html "Album Review: Whitney Houston's 'I Look To You'".] Los Angeles Times. August 25, 2009

Lauren Everitt from BBC News commented on the melisma used in Houston's recording. "An early 'I' in Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' takes nearly six seconds to sing. In those seconds the former gospel singer-turned-pop star packs a series of different notes into the single syllable", stated Everitt. "The technique is repeated throughout the song, most pronouncedly on every 'I' and 'you'. The vocal technique is called melisma and it has inspired a host of imitators. Other artists may have used it before Houston, but it was her rendition of Dolly Parton's love song that pushed the technique into the mainstream in the 90s. [ ... ] But perhaps what Houston nailed best was moderation." Everitt said that "[i]n a climate of reality shows ripe with 'oversinging,' it's easy to appreciate Houston's ability to save melisma for just the right moment."{{cite web | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17039208 | title = Whitney Houston and the art of melisma | first = Lauren | last = Everitt | publisher = BBC | date = February 15, 2012 | access-date = February 20, 2012}}

Houston's vocal stylings have had a significant impact on the music industry. Stephen Holden from The New York Times, in his review of Houston's Radio City Music Hall concert on July 20, 1993, praised her attitude as a singer, writing, "Whitney Houston is one of the few contemporary pop stars of whom it might be said: the voice suffices. While almost every performer whose albums sell in the millions calls upon an entertainer's bag of tricks, from telling jokes to dancing to circus pyrotechnics, Ms. Houston would rather just stand there and sing." With regard to her singing style, he added: "Her [Houston's] stylistic trademarks – shivery melismas that ripple up in the middle of a song, twirling embellishments at the ends of phrases that suggest an almost breathless exhilaration – infuse her interpretations with flashes of musical and emotional lightning."{{cite news | author = Holden, Stephen | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/22/arts/review-pop-for-whitney-houston-showy-doesn-t-count-the-show-is-the-voice.html | title = Review/Pop; For Whitney Houston, Showy Doesn't Count: The Show Is the Voice |work=The New York Times | date = July 22, 1993 | access-date =March 13, 2011 | author-link = Stephen Holden}}

Houston struggled with vocal problems in her later years. Gary Catona, a voice coach who began working with Houston in 2005, stated: "'When I first started working with her in 2005, she had lost 99.9 percent of her voice ... She could barely speak, let alone sing. Her lifestyle choices had made her almost completely hoarse'".{{cite news|url=https://nypost.com/2012/08/12/whitneys-bitter-pill/|title=Whitney's bitter pill|last1=Perry|first1=Caroline|date=August 12, 2012|website=New York Post|access-date=March 3, 2018}} After Houston's death, Catona asserted that Houston's voice reached "'about 75 to 80 percent'" of its former capacity after he had worked with her.{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/houston-insider-reveals-whitneys-anguished-fight-win-back/story?id=15689692|title=Whitney Houston Insider Reveals Singer's Anguished Fight to Win Back Her Voice|last1=Connelly|first1=Chris|date=February 17, 2012|website=ABC News|access-date=December 19, 2017}} However, during the world tour that followed the release of I Look to You, "YouTube videos surfaced, showing [Houston's] voice cracking, seemingly unable to hold the notes she was known for".

Houston's vocal performances incorporated a wide variety of genres, including R&B, pop, rock,{{Cite web|title=Whitney Houston|url=https://rockhall.com/whitney-houston-inductee-insights|access-date=August 9, 2021|website=Rock & Roll Hall of Fame|archive-date=November 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115064445/https://rockhall.com/whitney-houston-inductee-insights|url-status=deviated}} soul, gospel, funk,{{cite magazine|date=May 31, 2009|title=500 Greatest Albums: Whitney Houston – Whitney Houston|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/whitney-houston-whitney-houston-20120524|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022191812/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/whitney-houston-whitney-houston-20120524|archive-date=October 22, 2012|access-date=March 17, 2011|magazine=Rolling Stone}} dance, Latin pop,{{cite news|last=Farber|first=Jim|date=May 16, 2000|title=Whitney Goes Half-Wild: Latest album set is 1 part bad ballads and 1 part boogie bliss|newspaper=Daily News|location=New York|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/nydn-features/whitney-half-wild-latest-album-set-1-part-bad-ballads-1-part-boogie-bliss-article-1.872163|access-date=December 19, 2011|archive-date=November 12, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112042705/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/nydn-features/whitney-half-wild-latest-album-set-1-part-bad-ballads-1-part-boogie-bliss-article-1.872163|url-status=dead}} disco,{{Cite web |title=Dance with somebody: The ultimate Whitney Houston playlist |url=https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/dance_with_somebody_the_ultimate_whitney_houston_playlist/s1__35216375 |access-date=August 9, 2021 |website=Yard Barker |date=June 22, 2021 |first=Jeff |last=Mezydlo}} house,{{cite magazine|last=Clark|first=Randy|date=January 23, 1993|title=Music Reviews: Singles|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/90s/1993/CB-1993-01-23.pdf|magazine=Cashbox|page=5|access-date=November 1, 2020}} hip hop soul,"Chartslot". Daily Record. July 16, 1999. Retrieved December 1, 2020. new jack swing,{{cite web|last=Agbai|first=Bailey|date=November 13, 2020|title=The evolution of R&B: from the 90s to now|url=https://theboar.org/2020/11/the-evolution-of-rb/|access-date=December 18, 2020|work=The Boar}} opera,{{Cite web |date=July 14, 2017 |title=You're Guaranteed to Get "So Emotional" Watching Whitney Houston Sing With Luciano Pavarotti |url=https://www.wfmt.com/2017/07/14/youre-guaranteed-get-emotional-watching-whitney-houston-sing-luciano-pavarotti/ |access-date=September 5, 2021 |website=wfmt |first=Galilee |last=Abdullah}} reggae,{{Cite web |last=Cocker |first=Dan |title=BBC - Music - Review of Whitney Houston - My Love Is Your Love |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/62xm/ |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=www.bbc.co.uk |language=en-GB}} and Christmas.{{Cite web |date=2021-12-04 |title=The Top 10 Best Christmas Songs Recorded By Whitney Houston - A Definitive List Of Her Holiday Recordings |url=https://www.soundpasta.com/2021/12/top-10-christmas-songs-by-whitney-houston/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822212605/https://www.soundpasta.com/2021/12/top-10-christmas-songs-by-whitney-houston/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 22, 2023 |access-date=2023-08-22 |language=en-US }} The lyrical themes of her songs are mainly love, religion, and feminism.{{Cite magazine|date=June 11, 2020|title=Whitney Houston's 25 Best Songs: Staff Picks|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/9478487/whitney-houston-best-songs/|access-date=August 9, 2021|magazine=Billboard}} The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame stated: "Her sound expanded through collaborations with a wide array of artists, including Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross, Babyface, Missy Elliott, Bobby Brown, and Mariah Carey." AllMusic commented that, "Houston was able to handle big adult contemporary ballads, effervescent, stylish dance-pop and slick urban contemporary soul with equal dexterity".{{cite web | first = Steve |last=Huey | url = https://www.allmusic.com/artist/whitney-houston-p4519/biography | title = Whitney Houston Biography | work = AllMusic | access-date =October 16, 2010}} During the early stages of Houston's career, some Black critics and audiences accused her voice and music of not sounding "Black enough".{{Cite news |last=Greene |first=David |author-link=David Greene (journalist) |date=August 18, 2017 |title=< A Radiant, Isolated Star: A New Documentary Tells Whitney Houston's Story |url=https://www.npr.org/transcripts/544200124 |access-date=April 9, 2025 |work=NPR}} Steve Rose of The Guardian attributed this perception to her "syrupy ballads and perky dance-pop," along with music videos that featured a mix of both Black and white dancers.{{Cite news |last=Rose |first=Steve |date=July 7, 2018 |title='Not black enough': the identity crisis that haunted Whitney Houston |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jul/07/not-black-enough-the-identity-crisis-that-haunted-whitney-houston |access-date=April 9, 2025 |work=The Guardian}} At the time, Houston had established herself as a mainstream pop star, with a musical style that differed from the soul and R&B genres often associated with Black artists.{{Cite magazine |last=Lang |first=Cady |date=December 23, 2022 |title=Fact-Checking the New Whitney Houston Biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody |url=https://time.com/6241582/i-wanna-dance-with-somebody-movie-whitney-houston-real-story/ |access-date=April 9, 2025 |magazine=Time}}

{{Further|Cultural impact of Whitney Houston}}File:Whitney Houston Welcome Heroes 9.JPEG" during her HBO-televised concert "Welcome Home Heroes"]]

Houston has been regarded as one of the greatest vocalists of all time and a cultural icon.{{Cite web |date=February 15, 2012 |title=Whitney Houston's death hits her native New Jersey hard |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/14/us/new-jersey-whitney-houston/index.html |access-date=July 6, 2021 |publisher=CNN |first=Greg |last=Botelho}}{{Cite news |last=Mervis |first=Scott |date=February 14, 2012 |title=Remembering Whitney Houston's concerts in Pittsburgh |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/music/2012/02/14/Remembering-Whitney-Houston-s-concerts-in-Pittsburgh/stories/201202141368 |access-date=April 9, 2025 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |quote=she was heralded as one of the finest singers who ever lived by some people who know talent}}{{Cite web |date=February 21, 2012 |title=Whitney: Cultural icon of our era |url=https://www.herald.co.zw/whitney-cultural-icon-of-our-era/ |access-date=July 6, 2021 |website=The Herald |first=Charles |last=Simon-Aaron}} She is also recognized as one of the most influential R&B artists in history.{{Cite magazine|date=September 3, 2021|title=The 35 Greatest R&B Artists Of All Time|url=https://www.billboard.com/photos/6737387/best-r-and-b-singers-of-all-time/|magazine=Billboard|access-date=December 11, 2015}}{{cite magazine|url = http://photos.essence.com/galleries/50_most_influential_black_musicians#811963 | title = 50 Most Influential RnB Stars | magazine= Essence | date = June 21, 2011 | access-date = July 1, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110628203900/http://photos.essence.com/galleries/50_most_influential_black_musicians#811963 | archive-date = June 28, 2011 }} During the 1980s, MTV was coming into its own and received criticism for not playing enough videos by black artists. With Michael Jackson breaking down the color barrier for black men, Houston did the same for black women. She became the first black woman to receive heavy rotation on the network following the success of the "How Will I Know" video.{{Cite web |date=2023-02-22 |title=Whitney Houston's 1985 MTV Debut Broke Barriers for Black Artists — Here's the Story of 'How Will I Know' |url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/whitney-houston-1985-mtv-debut-114702351.html|first1=Maura |last1=Johnston|first2=Jeff |last2=Gage |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=Yahoo Life |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=How Whitney Houston changed MTV - Macleans.ca |url=https://macleans.ca/culture/how-whitney-houston-changed-mtv/amp/ |access-date=2023-08-23 |website=macleans.ca|date=February 12, 2012 }} Stephen Holden of The New York Times said that Houston "revitalized the tradition of strong gospel-oriented pop-soul singing".Holden, Stephen. [https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/16/arts/review-pop-diana-ross-flirts-with-a-willing-audience.html "Review/Pop; Diana Ross Flirts With a Willing Audience"]. The New York Times. June 16, 1989. Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times referred to Houston as a "national treasure".

The Independent{{'}}s music critic Andy Gill also wrote about Houston's influence on modern R&B and singing competitions, comparing it to Michael Jackson's, stating that "Jackson was a hugely talented icon, certainly, but he will be as well remembered (probably more so) for his presentational skills, his dazzling dance moves, as for his musical innovations. Whitney, on the other hand, just sang and the ripples from her voice continue to dominate the pop landscape." Gill said that there "are few, if any, Jackson imitators on today's TV talent shows, but every other contestant is a Whitney wannabe, desperately attempting to emulate that wondrous combination of vocal effects – the flowing melisma, the soaring mezzo-soprano confidence, the tremulous fluttering that carried the ends of lines into realms of higher yearning".{{cite news|last=Gill|first=Any|date=February 17, 2012|title=Whitney Houston, the greatest voice of her generation|work=The Independent|publisher=Independent Print|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/whitney-houston-greatest-voice-her-generation-6988653.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726184700/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/whitney-houston-greatest-voice-her-generation-6988653.html|archive-date=July 26, 2021|access-date=February 20, 2012}}

According to Linda Lister in Divafication: The Deification of Modern Female Pop Stars, she has been called the "Queen of Pop" for her influence during the 1990s, commercially rivaling Mariah Carey and Celine Dion."If Ella Fitzgerald is the queen of jazz, Billie Holiday first lady of the blues and Aretha Franklin the queen of soul, then who is the queen of pop? In the 1990s, it would seem to be a three-way tie between Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Celine Dion. Certainly all three have their devotees and detractors, but their presence has been inescapable." in {{cite news |last1=Lister |first1=Linda |year=2001 |title=Divafication: The Deification of Modern Female Pop Stars |newspaper=Popular Music and Society |page=1 |volume=25 |issue=3/4 |issn=0300-7766}} Rolling Stone stated that Houston "redefined the image of a female soul icon and inspired singers ranging from Mariah Carey to Rihanna".{{cite magazine|last=Macnie|first=Jim|year=2001|title=Whitney Houston Biography|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/whitney-houston/biography|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=October 16, 2010}} In 2013, ABC named Houston the greatest woman in music.{{Cite web |last=Carter |first=Matt |date=2014-01-01 |title=ABC names Whitney Houston 'Greatest Woman in Music' during 'New Year's Rockin' Eve' |url=https://cartermatt.com/102437/abc-names-whitney-houston-greatest-woman-in-music-during-new-years-rockin-eve/ |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=CarterMatt |language=en-US}} She was ranked among the greatest women in music by VH1.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2284705.stm|title=Madonna voted greatest female artist|work=BBC News|access-date=April 8, 2021|date=September 27, 2002|archive-date=May 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504195134/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2284705.stm|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.vh1.com/news/1238/the-100-greatest-women-in-music/|title=VH1's 100 Greatest Women in Music|first=Mark|last=Graham|publisher=VH1|date=February 13, 2012|access-date=February 24, 2025|archive-date=April 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418005547/http://www.vh1.com/news/1238/the-100-greatest-women-in-music/|url-status=dead}} Houston's entrance into the music industry is considered one of the 25 musical milestones of the last 25 years, according to USA Today in 2007. It stated that she paved the way for Mariah Carey's chart-topping vocal gymnastics. Many major publications including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Fox News, NBC News and The Independent dubbed Houston the “greatest singer of her generation”.{{Cite web |title=Whitney Houston |url=https://rockhall.com/inductees/whitney-houston/ |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=Rock & Roll Hall of Fame |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Questions remain a decade after Whitney Houston's untimely death: 'No one will ever know' {{!}} Fox News |url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/questions-remain-decade-whitney-houston-untimely-death-no-one-ever-know.amp |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=www.foxnews.com}}{{Cite news |title=Whitney Houston biopic shows why it was absurd to think she didn't make 'Black music.' |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/whitney-houston-biopic-review-black-music-women-artists-lizzo-doja-cat-rcna62775 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241008231945/https://www.nbcnews.com/think/amp/rcna62775 |archive-date=October 8, 2024 |access-date=2025-01-18 |language=en |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |title=Whitney Houston, the greatest voice of her generation |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/whitney-houston-the-greatest-voice-of-her-generation-6988653.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709232606/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/whitney-houston-the-greatest-voice-of-her-generation-6988653.html |archive-date=July 9, 2024 |access-date=2025-01-18 |work=The Independent |language=en-GB |url-status=live }} Despite his opposition to music, Osama Bin Laden was reportedly fond of Whitney Houston. According to poet and activist Kola Boof, bin Laden wanted to make her one of his wives.{{Cite web |last=Kenneally |first=Tim |date=February 14, 2012 |title=Whitney Houston and Osama Bin Laden: The Little-Known Connection |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUS360594553620120214 |access-date=November 16, 2022 |website=Reuters.com}} In February 2025, Donald Trump announced plans to build a statue of Houston among a slew of others for the proposed National Garden of American Heroes, that would be implemented in 2026.{{cite web|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-building-national-garden-american-heroes/|title=Executive Order on Building the National Garden of American Heroes|website=Trump White House Archives|date=January 18, 2021|accessdate=May 29, 2025}}{{cite news|url=https://english.elpais.com/usa/2025-05-29/34-million-for-sculptures-of-whitney-houston-or-kobe-bryant-this-is-what-trumps-patriotic-garden-will-look-like.html|title=$34 million for sculptures of Whitney Houston or Kobe Bryant: This is what Trump's patriotic garden will look like|work=El País|author=Maria Porcel|date=May 29, 2025|accessdate=May 29, 2025}}

File:Whitney Houston wax figure.jpg wax figure of Houston]]

{{Further|List of awards and nominations received by Whitney Houston|List of Whitney Houston records and achievements}}

Houston won numerous accolades throughout her career, including two Emmy Awards, eight Grammy Awards (including two Grammy Hall of Fame honors), 14 World Music Awards, 16 Billboard Music Awards (36 Billboard awards in all) and 22 American Music Awards. Houston currently holds the record for most American Music Awards in a single night with eight, a record for a woman and tied in general with fellow musician Michael Jackson.{{cite web | first = Brittany|last=Talarico | url = http://www.okmagazine.com/2009/11/whitney-houston-to-take-the-stage-at-the-amas/ | title = Whitney Houston to Take the Stage at the AMAs |work=OK! | date = November 11, 2009 | access-date =March 17, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816051736/http://www.okmagazine.com/2009/11/whitney-houston-to-take-the-stage-at-the-amas/ |archive-date=August 16, 2011}} Houston was the first artist to win more than 11 Billboard awards in one night at its fourth annual ceremony in 1993, which set a Guinness World Record at the time.{{cite news | first = Chris |last=Willman | url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-10-ca-373-story.html | title = Pop Music Review: Houston Tops Off Record Night With Show's Highlight | work = Los Angeles Times | date = December 10, 1993 | access-date =March 17, 2011}} Houston continues to hold the record for the most WMAs won in a single year, winning five trophies at the sixth World Music Awards in 1994.{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard | first1 = Mark|last1= Dezzani | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TAgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA41| title = World Music Awards Gaining Stature | volume = 106 | issue = 21 | date = May 21, 1994 | access-date =February 9, 2010 | issn = 0006-2510}} Houston is also the black female artist with the most Guinness World Records in history with 31.

A premier black female entertainer, Houston was inducted into the BET Walk of Fame and the Soul Train Hall of Fame. In 2001, Houston became the first artist to receive the BET Lifetime Achievement Award.{{cite magazine|last=Susman|first=Gary|date=June 22, 2001|title=Black Power, Plus Phantom Menace DVD will compete with pirated edit, another movie ad scandal and more|url=https://ew.com/article/2001/06/22/whitney-houston-accepts-bets-lifetime-achievement-award/|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=January 12, 2010|archive-date=March 23, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100323053029/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,131512,00.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/102447-first-recipient-of-the-bet-lifetime-achievement-award#:~:text=In%202001%2C%20Whitney%20Houston%20(USA,contributions%20to%20the%20music%20industry%22. |title=First recipient of the BET Lifetime Achievement Award |work=Guinness World Records |accessdate=June 19, 2023}} In 2010, she was honored at The BET Honors with the Entertainers Award. In 2008, Billboard magazine released a list of the Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists to celebrate the US singles chart's 50th anniversary, ranking Houston at number nine.{{cite magazine | url = https://www.billboard.com/bbcom/specials/hot100/charts/top100-artists-20.shtml | title = The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists | magazine = Billboard | year = 2008 | access-date =March 17, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116133045/http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/specials/hot100/charts/top100-artists-20.shtml |archive-date=January 16, 2013}}{{cite news| first= Stephen | last= Holden | title= Cabaret: Whitney Houston |date=February 16, 1985|work=The New York Times | url= https://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/16/arts/cabaret-whitney-houston.html |access-date=January 13, 2009 | author-link = Stephen Holden }} In November 2010, Billboard released its "Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years" list and ranked Houston at number three who not only went on to earn eight number-one singles on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but also landed five number ones on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.{{cite magazine | url = https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/950681/the-top-50-rb-hip-hop-artists-of-the-past-25-years | title = Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years | magazine = Billboard | date = November 18, 2010 | access-date =March 17, 2011}}

Houston is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, with more than 220 million records sold worldwide.{{Cite web |date=August 9, 2023|first=Hannah|last=Coates |title=11 of Whitney Houston's Most Dazzling Beauty Looks |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/whitney-houston-best-beauty-looks |access-date=August 9, 2023 |work=Vogue}}{{Cite web |date=May 25, 2022 |title=Whitney Houston story, song by song |url=https://www.marieclaire.it/attualita/gossip/a40101810/storia-di-whitney-houston/ |access-date=June 28, 2023 |work=Marie Claire}} She was ranked the best-selling female R&B artist of the 20th century by the RIAA in 1999.{{cite web|date=November 10, 1999|title=The American Recording Industry Announces its Artists of the Century|url=http://www.riaa.net/newsitem.php?news_month_filter=11&news_year_filter=1999&resultpage=&id=3ABF3EC8-EF5B-58F9-E949-3B57F5E313DF|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724032619/http://www.riaa.net/newsitem.php?news_month_filter=11&news_year_filter=1999&resultpage=&id=3ABF3EC8-EF5B-58F9-E949-3B57F5E313DF|archive-date=July 24, 2011|access-date=July 23, 2010|website=|publisher=Recording Industry Association of America}} Houston sold more physical singles than any other female solo artist in history.{{cite web|last=Flatow|first=Joel|date=February 13, 2012|title=Whitney Soars in Our Hearts|url=https://www.riaa.com/blog.php?content_selector=riaa-news-blog&blog_selector=Whitney-Soars-&blog_type=&news_month_filter=2&news_year_filter=2012|access-date=February 24, 2012|publisher=Record Industry Association of America|archive-date=June 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616140258/http://www.riaa.com/blog.php?content_selector=riaa-news-blog&blog_selector=Whitney-Soars-&blog_type=&news_month_filter=2&news_year_filter=2012|url-status=dead}} As of 2025, she is ranked as one of the best-selling artists in the United States by the RIAA with 61 million certified albums.{{Cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/|title=Gold & Platinum|publisher=Record Industry Association of America|language=en-US|access-date=October 16, 2019}} Houston released seven studio albums and two soundtrack albums, all of which have been certified diamond, multi-platinum or platinum.{{Cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/search/whitney+houston/|title=Search – Whitney Houston|publisher=Record Industry Association of America|access-date=December 7, 2019}}

Houston became the first female artist to go diamond with an album after her soundtrack to The Bodyguard went ten-times platinum in November 1993. In January 1994, her debut album Whitney Houston was the first studio album by a woman to be certified ten-times platinum, making her the first solo artist to receive two diamond-certified albums. When her sophomore album, Whitney (1987), was certified diamond in October 2020, Houston became the first black recording artist in history to have three diamond-certified albums. Those three albums are also among the best-selling albums of all time. Houston is the only black female artist with six albums to sell more than ten million units worldwide, the third most in general by a female artist. The Bodyguard remains the best-selling soundtrack and best-selling female album of all time, with global units of over 45 million, while "I Will Always Love You" remains the best-selling single by a female artist at 24 million units worldwide. In addition, her soundtrack for The Preacher's Wife is the best-selling gospel release ever.{{cite news |url=https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/03/24/2634072/0/en/Whitney-Houston-s-Gospel-Legacy-Lives-On-with-New-Album-and-Documentary-I-Go-to-the-Rock-The-Gospel-Music-of-Whitney-Houston.html |title=Whitney Houston's Gospel Legacy Lives On with New Album and Documentary, 'I Go to the Rock: The Gospel Music of Whitney Houston' |work=GlobeNewswire.com |date=March 24, 2023 |accessdate=February 28, 2025}}

She held an honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Grambling State University, Louisiana.{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8tMDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA138|title=Daddy's Girl|magazine=Ebony|date=June 1990 |pages=138–|issn=0012-9011|access-date=February 13, 2012}} Houston was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2013.{{cite news|title=2013 Inductees|publisher=New Jersey Hall of Fame|url=http://njhalloffame.org/inductees/|access-date=January 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417212545/http://njhalloffame.org/inductees/|archive-date=April 17, 2014}} She was inducted into the official Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in its second class in 2014.{{cite web |url=http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/08/rb_hall_of_fame_sets_big_weeke.html |title=R&B Music Hall of Fame sets big weekend to induct sophomore class featuring Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Marvin Gaye, Norm N. Nite and more |date=August 19, 2014 |work=The Plain Dealer |access-date=September 4, 2014 |first=Chuck |last=Yarborough}} In 2020, Houston was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after her first nomination.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rockhall.com/2020-nominees|title=Class of 2020 Nominees|website=Rock & Roll Hall of Fame|language=en|access-date=October 16, 2019}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/15/arts/music/rock-roll-hall-of-fame.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115132008/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/15/arts/music/rock-roll-hall-of-fame.html |archive-date=January 15, 2020 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |title=Whitney Houston and Nine Inch Nails Make the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame |date=January 15, 2020 |work=The New York Times |last=Coscarelli|first=Joe |access-date=January 15, 2020}} In October 2020, the music video for "I Will Always Love You" surpassed 1 billion views on YouTube, making Houston the first solo 20th-century artist to have a video reach that milestone.{{Cite web |date=October 27, 2020 |title=Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' Hits 1 Billion Views On YouTube |url=https://etcanada.com/news/706729/whitney-houstons-i-will-always-love-you-hits-1-billion-views-on-youtube/ |access-date=September 4, 2021 |website=ET Canada |last=Curran |first=Sarah |archive-date=September 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210904142349/https://etcanada.com/news/706729/whitney-houstons-i-will-always-love-you-hits-1-billion-views-on-youtube/ |url-status=dead }} In May 2023, Houston was one of the first of 13 artists to be given the Brits Billion Award by the BPI for reaching 1 billion career streams in the United Kingdom.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/brit-billion-award-streaming-mariah-carey-lewis-capaldi-whitney-houston-1235321745/ |title=BRIT Billion Award, Marking 1 Billion Career UK Streams is Unveiled |last=Grein|first= Paul |magazine=Billboard |date=May 4, 2023 |accessdate=May 4, 2023}} Houston is one of only a handful of artists from the 20th century to have multiple songs streamed a billion times on Spotify with her 1987 hit, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", and her posthumous 2019 hit, "Higher Love", reaching the feat in 2023 and 2024.{{Cite tweet |user=popbase |number=1678554888966422528 |date=July 11, 2023 |accessdate=July 12, 2023 |title=Whitney Houston's classic hit 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' has surpassed 1 BILLION streams on Spotify. It is the first song by an female artist who debuted in the 80s to achieve this.}}{{cite news |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/features/whitney-houston-i-wanna-dance-with-somebody-greatest-pop-song-all-time-1235445511/ |title=The Story of Whitney Houston's 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody', the Billboard Staff's No. 1 Pop Song |magazine=Billboard|first=Kyle|last=Denis |date=October 19, 2023 |accessdate=December 10, 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://edm.com/news/kygo-whitney-houston-higher-love-spotify-billion-stream-club |title=Kygo and Whitney Houston's Higher Love Joins Spotify's Billion-Stream Club |work=EDM.com |author=Jason Heffler |date=November 6, 2024 |accessdate=February 28, 2025}} In June 2025, it was announced that Houston would be inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame at St. Louis, Missouri in September.{{cite news|url=https://cbs4indy.com/business/press-releases/ein-presswire/819379292/the-gospel-music-of-hall-announces-its-2025-inductees-with-more-than-100-record-breaking-inductions|title=The Gospel Music of Hall Announces its 2025 Inductees with More than 100 Record-Breaking Inductions|website=CBS4Indy|date=June 5, 2025|accessdate=June 7, 2025}}

File:Whitney E Houston Academy for the Performing Arts in New Jersey.jpg

• In 1997, the Franklin School in East Orange, New Jersey, which Houston attended as a child, was renamed to the Whitney E. Houston Academy of Creative & Performing Arts.{{cite news |date=June 13, 1997 |title=Whitney Houston Attends Elementary School Naming Ceremony |url=https://www.mtv.com/news/zh3myi/whitney-houston-attends-elementary-school-naming-ceremony |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603235829/https://www.mtv.com/news/zh3myi/whitney-houston-attends-elementary-school-naming-ceremony |archive-date=June 3, 2023 |accessdate=December 18, 2023 |work=MTV News}}
• Four posthumous albums have been released, including two compilation albums and two live albums. A posthumous concert tour, An Evening with Whitney: The Whitney Houston Hologram Tour, featuring a projected image of Houston, ran from 2020 to 2023.{{cite web |url=https://www.smoothradio.com/artists/whitney-houston/hologram-tour-evening-with-tickets-dates/ |title=An Evening with Whitney hologram tour is coming to the UK |author= |date=September 18, 2019 |website=Smooth Radio |publisher=Global |access-date=November 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20191127051931/https://www.smoothradio.com/artists/whitney-houston/hologram-tour-evening-with-tickets-dates/ |archive-date=November 27, 2019 |url-status=live}}
• Madame Tussauds unveiled four wax figures of Houston in 2013, inspired by her looks from the music video of I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me), film The Bodyguard, album cover of I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston and The Star-Spangled Banner performance at the 1991 Super Bowl.{{cite web |url=https://www.eonline.com/news/386136/whitney-houston-s-wax-figures-unveiled-see-the-pic |title=Whitney Houston's Wax Figures Unveiled—See the Pic |website=E! Online |date=February 7, 2013 |accessdate=January 15, 2025}}
• In 2015, Lifetime premiered the biographical film Whitney. Houston was portrayed by model Yaya DaCosta.
• A television documentary film entitled Whitney: Can I Be Me aired on Showtime on August 25, 2017.{{cite magazine |title=6 Things We Learned From the Heartbreaking Whitney Houston Movie |url=https://ew.com/tv/2017/08/25/whitney-can-i-be-me-documentary-6-takeaways/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |first=Dan |last=Heching |date=August 25, 2017 |access-date=September 7, 2021}} The film was directed by Nick Broomfield.{{cite web|last1=Farber|first1=Jim|date=April 26, 2017|title=Nick Broomfield on his damning Whitney Houston film: 'She had very little control over her life'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/apr/25/nick-broomfield-on-his-damning-whitney-film-she-had-very-little-control-over-her-life|work=The Guardian}}
• Whitney, a documentary film based on Houston's life and death, premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and was released internationally in theaters on July 6, 2018.{{cite web |date=April 5, 2018 |title=Whitney Houston film trailer: Biopic reveals all in HEARTBREAKING new home videos |url=https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/941774/Whitney-Houston-film-trailer-release-date-Biopic-home-videos-died-drugs |access-date=September 7, 2021 |first=Stefan |last=Kyriazis |website=Daily Express}}
• In 2019, Houston and Kygo's version of "Higher Love" was released as a single.{{cite web|last=White|first=Jack|date=June 27, 2019|title=Whitney Houston's first posthumous release in seven years announced as Kygo collaboration Higher Love|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/whitney-houstons-first-posthumous-release-in-seven-years-announced-as-kygo-collaboration-higher-love__26740/|access-date=June 27, 2019|publisher=Official Charts Company}} It reached number two on the UK Singles Chart and reached the top 10 in several countries."[http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Kygo+x+Whitney+Houston&titel=Higher+Love&cat=s Swisscharts.com – Kygo x Whitney Houston – Higher Love]". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved August 13, 2021."[https://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Kygo+x+Whitney+Houston&titel=Higher+Love&cat=s Swedishcharts.com – Kygo x Whitney Houston – Higher Love]". Singles Top 100. Retrieved August 13, 2021."[https://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Kygo+x+Whitney+Houston&titel=Higher+Love&cat=s Norwegiancharts.com – Kygo x Whitney Houston – Higher Love]". VG-lista. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
• Lifetime released the documentary Whitney Houston & Bobbi Kristina: Didn't We Almost Have It All in 2021.
• A mural of Houston, made of hand cut glass by artist Maude Lemaire, was installed at 45 Williams Street, Newark, New Jersey, in 2021.{{cite web |url=https://www.whitneyhouston.com/news/grammy-museum-experience-prudential-center-and-prudential-financial-inc-announce-plans-for-whitney-houston-mural-in-newarks-central-ward/ |title=GRAMMY Museum Experience, Prudential Center AND Prudential Financial, Inc. Announce Plans For Whitney Houston Mural In Newark's Central Ward |website=Whitney Houston |date=October 19, 2020 |accessdate=January 15, 2025}}
• On the tenth anniversary of her death, ESPN ran a 30-minute documentary of Houston's acclaimed performance of The Star Spangled Banner at Super Bowl XXV in 1991 titled Whitney's Anthem.{{cite web |url=https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2022/02/whitneys-anthem-new-espn-e60-traces-backstory-of-singers-epic-super-bowl-national-anthem-performance/ |title=Whitney's Anthem: New ESPN E60 Traces Backstory of Singer's Epic Super Bowl National Anthem Performance |work=ESPN |date=February 7, 2022 |accessdate=November 7, 2023}}
• Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, a biographical film, opened on December 23, 2022, with Houston being portrayed by Naomi Ackie. It grossed around $60 million.{{Cite Box Office Mojo

|id=12193804 |title= Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022) |access-date=February 24, 2023}}{{Cite The Numbers |id=Whitney-Houston-I-Wanna-Dance-With-Somebody |title= Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody – Financial Information |access-date=February 24, 2023}}

• In December 2023, the New Jersey Hall of Fame unveiled the Whitney Houston Service Area, formerly known as the Vauxhal Service Area at the Garden State Parkway.{{cite news |url=https://www.njarts.net/whitney-houston-exhibit-unveiled-at-garden-state-parkway-service-area/ |title=Whitney Houston exhibit unveiled at Garden State Parkway service area |work=NJArts.net |first=Jay |last=Lustig |date=December 18, 2023 |accessdate=December 18, 2023}} The New Jersey Hall of Fame explained that the renaming was part of their "ongoing program to honor its inductees by renaming Garden State Parkway service areas after them, and building displays about them".
• In May 2025, it was announced by Houston's estate that The Voice of Whitney: A Symphonic Celebration, which integrates Houston's vocal recordings with the backing of an orchestra, will embark on a full length North American tour starting in September 2025.{{cite news|url=https://people.com/whitney-houston-estate-announces-the-voice-of-whitney-a-symphonic-celebration-fall-north-american-tour-exclusive-11736663|title= Whitney Houston's Estate Announces ‘The Voice of Whitney: A Symphonic Celebration’ Fall North American Tour (Exclusive)|work=People|date=May 19, 2025|accessdate=May 19, 2025}}

Houston was a long-time supporter of charities around the world. In 1989, she established the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children. It offered medical assistance to sick and homeless children, fought to prevent child abuse, taught children to read, created inner-city parks and playgrounds and granted college scholarships, including one to the Juilliard School.{{Cite web|date=February 5, 2019|title=Greenlight Announces Representation of Whitney Houston|url=https://apnews.com/press-release/pr-businesswire/fd2fc731417642b2929a369f493f13f4|access-date=August 3, 2021|work=Associated Press News}} At a 1988 Madison Square Garden concert, Houston earned more than $250,000 for the United Negro College Fund (UNCF).{{Cite web|date=August 9, 2012|title=A Look at Whitney's Great Charity Work, She was a True Humanitarian!|url=https://www.blackcelebritygiving.com/rip-whitney-houston-a-look-at-whitneys-great-charity-work-she-was-a-true-humanitarian/|access-date=August 3, 2021|website=BCG}} Later in October of that same year, Houston performed on the Channel Seven Perth Telethon in Perth to raise funds for several children's hospitals there.{{cite web|url=https://www.telethon7.com/about/history|title=The History of Telethon|website=Telethon7|accessdate=June 14, 2025}} The following November, Houston announced plans to invest in a $100 million housing project set up by Vogue Skyview Estates, a real estate development firm, to create low and middle-income housing in her hometown of Newark, New Jersey.{{cite news|url=https://www.deseret.com/1988/11/20/18785044/whitney-houston-helps-new-jersey-housing-project/|title=WHITNEY HOUSTON HELPS NEW JERSEY HOUSING PROJECT|work=Deseret News|date=November 20, 1988|accessdate=June 14, 2025}} The Feingold Center for Children in Boston had its Hearing & Language Disorder Clinic renamed after the singer after she contributed to the hospital.{{cite web|url=https://www.whitneyhouston.com/charity-work/|title=Charity Work|work=WhitneyHouston.com|accessdate=May 25, 2025}} In June 1995, it was reported that Houston donated $125,000 to Harlem's Hale House Center to help mothers who were at risk of abusing their children.{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ID0DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA34&dq=whitney+houston+hale+house+jet+magazine&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjt_vT9mL-NAxXsM9AFHdGMMFgQ6AF6BAgJEAM#v=onepage&q=whitney%20houston%20hale%20house%20jet%20magazine&f=false|title=Whitney Houston Donates $125,000 To Hale House To Help Moms Who Run Risk Of Abusing Their Kids|magazine=Jet|date=June 5, 1995|accessdate=May 25, 2025}} Later, the Hale House Center built a Learning & Recreation Center due to Houston's donations. Houston also donated money to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Newark's University Hospital renamed its Pediatric Special Care Unit the Whitney Houston Intensive Care Unit after Houston's contributions to the hospital.{{cite web|url=https://njms.rutgers.edu/departments/pediatrics/criticalcare.php|title=The Division of Pediatric Critical Care|work=Rutgers New Jersey Medical School|accessdate=May 25, 2025}}

Houston donated all of the earnings from her 1991 Super Bowl XXV performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" sales to Gulf War servicemen and their families.{{cite news|date=May 23, 1991|title=Whitney Houston Gives $500,000|page=9A|work=The Mount Airy News|publisher=Heartland Publications, LLC|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PXA_AAAAIBAJ&pg=2333,5005859&dq=whitney+houston+star+spangled+banner+american+red+cross+governors&hl=en|access-date=January 18, 2016}} The record label followed suit and she was voted to the American Red Cross Board of Directors as a result.{{cite magazine|date=June 17, 1991|title=Houston Raises $500,000 for Red Cross; Named Its to Its Board of Governors|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RrADAAAAMBAJ&q=whitney&pg=PA37|magazine=Jet|volume=80|issue=9|page=37|access-date=January 18, 2016}} Following the terrorist attacks in 2001, Houston re-released "The Star-Spangled Banner" to support the New York Firefighters 9/11 Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Fraternal Order of Police. She waived her royalty rights to the song, which reached number one on charts in October 2001 and generated more than $1 million.{{cite news|last=Reid|first=Shaheem|date=September 17, 2001|title=Whitney Houston's 'Star-Spangled Banner' To Wave Again|publisher=MTV|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1448905/whitneys-starspangled-banner-waves-again.jhtml|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130129120624/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1448905/whitneys-starspangled-banner-waves-again.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 29, 2013|access-date=March 18, 2011}} Houston declined to perform in apartheid-era South Africa in the 1980s.{{Cite web |date=July 7, 2018 |title='Not black enough': the identity crisis that haunted Whitney Houston |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jul/07/not-black-enough-the-identity-crisis-that-haunted-whitney-houston |access-date=August 3, 2021 |work=The Guardian |first=Steve |last=Rose}} Her participation at the 1988 Freedomfest performance in London (for a then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela) grabbed the attention of other musicians and the media.{{Cite web|date=April 14, 2020|title=From 'Kingston Town' to the Nelson Mandela Tribute in 1988: interview with UB40|url=https://the-shortlisted.co.uk/interview-with-ub40-robin-campbell/|access-date=July 22, 2021|website=The Shortlisted|language=en-GB}} During her historic South African tour in 1994, Houston donated all of its concert proceeds to numerous children's charities, including two children's museums, the President's Trust Fund (for Nelson Mandela) and the Kasigo Trust among several orphanages.

In addition, Houston became an activist for the fight against HIV and AIDS during the first decade of the AIDS epidemic. In 1986, the LGBT magazine publication The Advocate reported that one of Houston's concerts at the Boston Common in Boston raised $30,000 for the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts and the Gay and Lesbian Counseling Service. The Whitney Houston Foundation for Children, in particular, focused on helping children who suffered from HIV/AIDS, among other issues. In 1990, Whitney took part in Arista Records' 15th anniversary gala, which was an AIDS benefit, where she sang "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", "Greatest Love of All" and, with cousin Dionne Warwick, "That's What Friends Are For". A year later, Whitney participated in the Reach Out & Touch Someone AIDS vigil at London in September 1991 while she was finishing her historic ten-date residency at London's Wembley Arena; there, she stressed the importance of AIDS research and addressing HIV stigma.{{cite web |url=https://granvarones.com/songs-that-soundtracked-the-aids-epidemic-whitneys-i-wanna-dance-with-somebody-who-loves-me/ |title=Songs That Soundtracked the AIDS Epidemic: Whitney's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" |date=March 23, 2021 |accessdate=January 23, 2024}}The Incredible Night Whitney Befriended Me And I Saw She Was Doomed by Peter Tatchell, Mail on Sunday, February 19, 2012

In June 1999, Whitney gave a surprise performance at the 13th Annual New York City Lesbian & Gay Pride Dance at one of the city's West Side piers.{{cite news |url=https://www.mtv.com/news/1430174/whitney-houston-surprises-crowd-at-gay-lesbian-pride-event/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140509095711/http://www.mtv.com/news/1430174/whitney-houston-surprises-crowd-at-gay-lesbian-pride-event/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 9, 2014 |title=Whitney Houston Surprises Crowd at Lesbian-Gay Pride Event |publisher=MTV |date=June 28, 1999 |access-date=May 26, 2022}} According to Instinct magazine, Houston's unannounced performance at the Piers "ushered in a new era that would eventually make high-profile artists performing at LGBTQ events virtually commonplace".{{cite web |url=https://instinctmagazine.com/whitney-houstons-1999-epic-nyc-pride-appearance-is-released/ |title=Whitney Houston's 1999 Epic NYC Pride Appearance Is Released |date=July 16, 2022 |accessdate=November 18, 2022}} Before hitting the stage, Houston was asked by MTV veejay John Norris why she decided to attend the event. Houston replied, "We're all God's children, honey".

{{Main|Whitney Houston albums discography|Whitney Houston singles discography|Whitney Houston videography|List of songs recorded by Whitney Houston}}

• Whitney Houston (1985)
• Whitney (1987)
• I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990)
• My Love Is Your Love (1998)
• Just Whitney (2002)
• One Wish: The Holiday Album (2003)
• I Look to You (2009)

{{Main|Whitney Houston filmography}}

Films starred

• The Bodyguard (1992)
• Waiting to Exhale (1995)
• The Preacher's Wife (1996)
• Cinderella (1997)
• Sparkle (2012)

Films produced

• Cinderella (1997)
• The Princess Diaries (2001)
• The Cheetah Girls (2003)
• The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004)
• The Cheetah Girls 2 (2006)
• Sparkle (2012)

Documentaries and others

• Nora's Hair Salon (2004)
• Whitney: Can I Be Me (2017)
• Whitney (2018)
• The Concert for a New South Africa (Durban) (2024)

{{Main|List of Whitney Houston live performances}}

{{div col}}

• US Summer Tour (1985)
• The Greatest Love World Tour (1986)
• Moment of Truth World Tour (1987–1988)
• Feels So Right Tour (1990)
• I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour (1991)
• The Bodyguard World Tour (1993–1994)
• Pacific Rim Tour (1997)
• The European Tour (1998)
• My Love Is Your Love World Tour (1999)
• Nothing but Love World Tour (2009–2010)
• An Evening with Whitney: The Whitney Houston Hologram Tour (2020–2023)

{{div col end}}

• Soul Divas Tour (2004)

{{Portal|Biography|Pop music}}

{{div col}}

• List of best-selling albums
• List of best-selling singles
• List of artists who reached number one in the United States
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance chart
• Artists with the most number-ones on the U.S. Dance Club Songs chart
• List of awards and nominations received by Whitney Houston
• List of best-selling music artists
• List of best-selling gospel music artists
• List of largest music deals
• List of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees

{{div col end}}

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last1=Ammons |first1=Kevin |last2=Bacon |first2=Nancy |year=1998 |title=Good Girl, Bad Girl: An Insider's Biography of Whitney Houston |location=Secaucus, NJ |publisher=Carol Publ. Group |isbn=978-0-8065-8012-8 |ref=none}}
• {{Cite book |last=Bowman |first=Jeffery |year=1995 |title=Diva: The Totally Unauthorized Biography of Whitney Houston |location=New York |publisher=Harper |isbn=978-0-06-100853-5 |ref=none}}
• {{Cite book |last=Halstead |first=Craig |year=2010 |title=Whitney Houston: For the Record |location=Sandy, Bedfordshire, UK |publisher=Authors OnLine |isbn=978-0-7552-1278-1 |oclc=751138536 |ref=none}}
• {{Cite book |last=Houston |first=Whitney |date=March 1999 |title=My Love Is Your Love: Piano, Vocal, Chords |location=Los Angeles |publisher=Alfred Publishing Co. |isbn=978-0-7692-7734-9 |ref=none}}
• {{Cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Gerrick |year=2022 |title=Didn't We Almost Have it All: In Defense of Whitney Houston |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0bcdEAAAQBAJ |location=New York |publisher=Abrams |isbn=9781419749698 |oclc=1289268049 |ref=none}}
• {{Cite book |last=Parish |first=James Robert |date=September 2003 |title=Whitney Houston: The Unauthorized Biography |location=London |publisher=Aurum Press |isbn=978-1-85410-921-7 |ref=none}}
• {{Cite book |last=Parish |first=James Robert |date=April 2010 |title=Whitney Houston: Return of the Diva |location=Chicago |publisher=John Blake |isbn=978-1-84454-919-1 |ref=none}}

{{sister project links|d=Q34389|c=Category:Whitney Houston|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|wikt=no|s=no|species=no}}

• {{AllMusic|artist/whitney-houston-mn0000820434}}
• {{discogs artist}}
• {{IMDb name|0001365}}
• {{tcmdb name|id=89490%7C0|name=Whitney Houston}}
• {{NYTtopic|people/h/whitney-houston}}

{{Whitney Houston|state=expanded}}

{{Whitney Houston singles}}

{{Navboxes

|title = Awards for Whitney Houston

|list =

{{American Music Award for Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist}}

{{American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist}}

{{American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Song}}

{{American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist}}

{{American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Song}}

{{American Music Award of Merit}}

{{Billboard Millennium Award}}

{{EmmyAward VarietyPerformance 1976–2000}}

{{Grammy Award for Album of the Year 1990s}}

{{Grammy Award for Record of the Year 1990s}}

{{MTV Europe Music Award for Best R&B}}

{{MTV Europe Music Award for Global Icon}}

{{MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Moment}}

{{MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video}}

{{NAACP Image Award for Entertainer of the Year}}

{{NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture}}

{{NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Album}}

{{NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Duo or Group}}

{{NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Female Artist}}

{{NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Gospel Artist}}

{{NAACP Image Award for Outstanding New Artist}}

{{NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Music Video}}

{{NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Song}}

{{2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}

}}

{{Navboxes

|title = Articles related to Whitney Houston

|list =

{{UK best-selling singles (by year)}}

{{Billboard Year-End number one albums}}

{{Billboard Year-End number one singles}}

{{Billboard Year-End Top Artists}}

}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houston, Whitney}}

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