“It's just she's Whitney Houston, and so, it's going to be magnified. “Everybody has marital problems,” said Winans. Her friends say conflicts within her relationship with Brown also began to wear on her.Īfter Houston gave birth to a baby girl Bobbi Kristina Brown in 1993, her relationship with her husband was deteriorating. “And then sometimes, she started missing some of the concerts.” “There were times that she got tired and just said, ‘You know what? I'm just gonna walk away from all of it,’” said Winans.
MORE: 'I hope she felt love': Whitney Houston remembered 5 years after her death You can’t turn back,'" Houston told ABC News' Diane Sawyer in 2002.
You’re going to do this movie and you’re going to do it well. Bobby, I’m going to quit today.' And he said, 'No way are you gonna do that. I’d wake up in the morning and I’d go, 'I can’t do this. Houston said in interviews that she felt a lot of pressure around the release of the movie and that it was Brown who helped her get through its production. The film was a massive success and featured an interracial couple on screen, pushing the boundaries at the time. In 1992, Houston starred in the romantic thriller “The Bodyguard,” in which she played an actress and singer who falls in love with her bodyguard (Kevin Costner), who had been hired to protect her from a stalker. “When she met Bobby, she felt at home,” said Khan. She found comfort in a man she’d met at those Soul Train Awards and began dating: the singer Bobby Brown.
“She had to learn how to live with hearing, ‘You sold out,’” said Winans. After she won the 1988 Soul Train Award, critics said that she pandered to white audiences and wasn’t remaining true to her Black identity. The two starred together in the live-action 1997 movie “Cinderella.”ĭespite her immensely growing popularity, Houston still received criticism. “She kicked down doors for every Black female artist, every Black artist and artists in general,” said singer and friend Brandy Norwood. Singers BeBe Winans, Whitney Houston and CeCe Winans attend an event on March 8, 1990, in New York. It was during these travels that she eventually found her big break. Īs she grew older, her talent and persistence with singing led to opportunities in cities around the country to perform at local clubs and talent shows for emerging talent. “She did not want to be a big star and I used to tease her and tell her God did not give her this gift to keep to yourself,” said Darlene Love, a singer and Houston’s godmother. Those close to her said that although she enjoyed singing as a hobby, she never intended to become a famous performer. Through the early 1980s, Houston focused on her modeling career. Khan, who had been a musical inspiration to Whitney Houston, went on to become her mentor and a lifelong friend. She then told her to bring her daughter to the studio. “I had been working with Cissy for quite a while as a background singer and one day we were in the studio, and she said, ‘You know, I have a daughter who can sing,’” said Khan. Singer Whitney Houston and her mother Cissy Houston attend the World Music Awards Ceremony on May 4, 1994, in Monaco.
It was a family thing and the singing, the praise, the joyful noise we made unto God was amazing," Houston said.
“My mother and father raised us with the fear of God, but I loved church. ET on ABCĬissy Houston taught her daughter how to sing and Whitney Houston began to perform in their church gospel choir. Watch "Superstar: Whitney Houston" on Wednesday, Aug. and gospel singer Emily “Cissy” Houston, who was a member of the group “The Sweet Inspirations,” which became known for singing backup to acts like Elvis Presley. Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1963 to ex-Army serviceman John Russell Houston Jr. And I found out she wasn’t a princess she was a New Jersey girl,” famed gospel and R&B singer Benjamin “BeBe” Winans told ABC News. “In the beginning, when it came to Whitney Houston being introduced to the world, she was introduced as a princess. Singer Whitney Houston performs at the 2011 Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, Feb.