Whitney Houston: 1963-2012

I'm still in shock over the news that Whitney Houston died last night at 48. Although she'd had her share - more than her share - of mishaps in her battles with all sorts of substance abuse (mostly drugs), she appeared to be on the mend and poised to come back bigger and better than before. She has just wrapped production of a new movie, and she was in Beverly Hills to perform at a tribute to her mentor, record company executive and legend Clive Davis. Now the Grammy Awards ceremony is paying tribute to her tonight.

Although Whitney Houston was a very conventional singer who mostly showed only traces on her records of what she achieved singing gospel songs in church (and I noted over two years ago that Davis, as her mentor, had some responsibility for this by watering down her sound), it's worth noting that even a bland Whitney Houston is preferable to a Britney Spears at her most inventive and creative. You can pick almost any Whitney Houston single and listen to it with the pleasure of appreciating her vocal talent.

Whitney Houston first achieved success with her debut album in 1985, which roughly corresponded to the increasingly annoying trend of female pop singers who cared more about gimmickry and the style than genuine talent. Houston made it big without offensive videos, blue hair, vulgar dancing, or any of that stuff. She just had her voice. Her success led to that rise of other female singers who relied more on vocal talent than tawdry showmanship; it's no accident that performers like Anita Baker, Oleta Adams, and Mariah Carey followed in Whitney's wake.

I don't know where everything went wrong for her, though. After the 1992 movie The Bodyguard and the 1995 movie Waiting To Exhale, she should have been on top of the world, but she sank to the bottom of a drug-infested, soul-sucking living pattern. I was always rooting for her to get back on her feet, but she always seemed to stumble again once she did. Not even her undeniable talent could save her. It's a terrible shame.

Ironically, the news of Houston's death comes even as the British pop/soul singer Adele - now fully recovered from her vocal cord surgery and likely to tour soon - is up for six Grammy awards tonight after conquering her own personal demons.

A new beginning comes from another beginning's end. R.I.P. :-(