Drugs, men and a mysterious death: the tragic story of Whitney Houston

This year marks eight years since the death of Whitney Houston. For many, she will forever remain one of the symbols of her generation. We decided to remember the brightest ups and downs of the legend.

Creative childhood

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Whitney Houston was born on August 9, 1963. Her mother was Sissy Houston, vocalist in a quartet called Drinkards, and her aunt was the popular singer Dionne Warwick. Therefore, Whitney's childhood was directly related to music.

Whitney grew up in a harmonious environment, since everything was fine in her family until the moment when Whitney's parents decided to divorce: father and mother constantly cheated on each other. This was a big blow for the girl, who sincerely believed that her family could be considered exemplary. Music became a salvation for the future star from family troubles.

Musical fame

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Already in the 70s, Whitney could be seen for the first time on the stages of New York, she took a place in the backing vocal groups of larger artists. In 1981, she was spotted by manager Clive Davis, who saw her performing at a nightclub and then invited her to sign her first contract. Already in 1983, she was able to conclude an agreement with one of the record companies - it became Arista Records. Whitney's first album, released in 1985 and simply called Whitney Houston, was immediately able to bring her dizzying popularity - it sold 13 million copies.

The second album was called Whitney. Together with this creation, Whitney managed to climb to the first position of the popular and influential Billboard magazine, and this was a very remarkable victory: earlier, no woman could take the first line in this charts. The third album, which was named I'm Your Baby Tonight, also gave no reason to descend from the peak of popularity: it sold 8 million records.

Movie roles

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Whitney felt that she could not only sing, but also act in films. In 1992, a film was released with her in the title role: "The Bodyguard". Actor Kevin Costner became a filming partner. For this picture, she also wrote the soundtrack I Will Always Love You, which became the best-selling song in the history of the music industry. This song earned Whitney and a Grammy. This is her acting career, but it was "The Bodyguard" that became the hallmark of Whitney the actress.

A star named Whitney

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After the release of this film, Whitney became a superstar.

In 1998, the singer's fourth album, My Love Is Your Love, was released, which was received with a bang by both the public and critics.

In the spring of 2000, a collection of the greatest hits - Whitney: The Greatest Hits - was released. This includes Whitney's best compositions, as well as duets with singers Enrique Iglesias and George Michael. After the release of the fifth album in 2002, Whitney's active creative activity ceases. Despite a long lull, she returned to action in 2009 with her seventh collection of songs, which received platinum status and sold out 305 thousand copies in the first week of sales.

Whitney has also been involved in charitable activities since 1989, when the Whitney Houston Children's Fund was founded.

Bad habits

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From the beginning of her career, Whitney was considered a role model: she always came to meetings on time, was not noticed in scandals and relationships with dubious men. By the early 2000s, the status of the "good girl" had undergone a change, and mainly because of her husband Bobby, who did not have the most beneficial influence on the star.

In 2000, the first rumors of Whitney's addiction appeared. Whitney and her husband were even charged with possession of marijuana, from which the performer managed to pay off.

After that, many of the star's performances curtailed precisely because of drug intoxication: Whitney either canceled her shows altogether a few minutes before the start, or behaved in a strange way on stage - she sang in a trembling voice, looked careless, performed the wrong compositions. The performer's appearance also underwent a change: she was painfully thin, which caused a wave of rumors about her health condition.

The singer went to rehabilitation twice, but even after that, journalists insisted that the celebrity did not give up her addiction.

Whitney's men

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The first novels appeared with the first fame: first, Whitney met with the football player Randall Cunningen, and then with the actor Eddie Murphy.

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In 1989, she met the singer Bobby Brown, who, after 3 years of close relationship, became Whitney's husband. In 1993, Whitney gave birth to his daughter, whom they decided to call Christina. Bobby had a difficult character and constant problems with the law: fights, drunk driving, sexual harassment of women. Bobby became Whitney's real trouble: according to rumors, he could not live without drugs, and his harmful passion was passed on to his wife. In 2003, Bobby was arrested for hitting his wife during an argument.

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In 2006, Whitney filed for divorce. After a long series of legal proceedings, the singer managed to draw up documents that transferred her daughter to her full custody.

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In recent years, the performer has had a relationship with the young actor Ray Jem, the former lover of the socialite Kim Kardashian. The relationship between Whitney and Ray was also not calm: the couple first converged, then parted.

Unexpected death

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On February 11, 2012, her life ended unexpectedly at the age of 48: she was found dead in a Beverly Hilton hotel room. The ambulance arrived and was unable to save the star.

On February 19, 2012, Whitney Houston was buried next to the grave of her father John Russell Houston in the Westfield cemetery, a few kilometers from Newark, the singer's hometown.

A month and a half after the death of Whitney, the results of a police investigation were made public: the cause of death was drowning, atherosclerotic heart disease and the use of cocaine.