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powerofelvis · 1 year

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Sweet Inspiration

Pairing: Elvis Presley x black!reader

Word Count: 8.2K

Summary: You’re apart of The Sweet Inspirations during Elvis’ Vegas shows. Elvis takes interest in your singing ability but also something else.

Warning(s): SMUT, handjob (f.receiving), oral (f.receiving), unprotected sex, mutual pining, fluff, a tiny bit of angst, a slight mention of the colonel, a literal love story sorta

A/N: My baby is finally here! This is part one of my Sweet Inspiration inspired saga. I adore The Sweet Inspirations and their music, so I figured I would write some fics based off of their beautiful songs. This fic is based off of their song, Sweet Inspiration. If you haven’t listened to it, you should. I have more coming so keep an eye out!

masterlist.

Bright lights had never attracted you until you and your sisters arrived in Las Vegas. You and your sisters were always singing in church or singing background vocals for local talents, but you would never have thought that the biggest name in the country would be interested in a group of black women born out of Newark, New Jersey. Elvis Presley had personally asked for you and your sisters to sing background vocals for him as he embarked on his six-week residency at The International, a new hotel that was built recently. Your sisters were excited that they were finally able to visit Las Vegas, but you were cautious about the new journey under the guidance of the proclaimed King of Rock and Roll. The day that you arrived in Vegas, a black Cadillac limo was waiting for you as you exited the plane—something that had ‘Elvis Presley’ written all over it. Your sisters rushed over to the long, black car with stars in their eyes, while you were usually the one who was nervously picking at your fingers.

Your sisters would always try to get you to warm up to different things when it came to being in a singing group, but you were always the younger sister who would hide in the shadows while your older sisters were always in the spotlight. When you arrived at the hotel, you were amazed at how beautiful it looked. The lights sucked you in, almost as if you were meant to be a part of it. You immediately felt as if you were at home, the feeling warming you up in a swift fashion. As your sisters were getting settled in what would become your home for the next two months, you decided that you wanted to have a look around the hotel. The hotel was as beautiful inside as it was on the outside, and the decor was suitable for the Vegas theme. You were so into sightseeing that you didn’t notice that you were in direct line of sight of the man of the town.

His cerulean hues hid behind his lavender sunglasses; the Vegas sun gleamed off of his Californian tan that fit with his red and black outfit. Today was the day that he would meet with his background singers and get to know their styles before the rehearsals began. His eyes landed on a woman who appeared to be examining the artifacts that sat in the lobby, her bronze complexion shining under the hotel’s shimmering lights. She was simply beautiful, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to approach. Elvis stopped Jerry, who was deep in conversation with Red about something he could care less about, his index finger lifting up slightly to point in the direction of the woman who was studying the painting on the wall. “Jerry, isn’t she one of the Sweet Inspirations?” Jerry’s eyes followed Elvis’ finger, taking in the beauty that had caught his friend’s eye not long ago before nodding his head. “Yeah, she is. She’s the younger one, I believe. Y/N.”

Elvis had Jerry research The Drinkard Sisters, which is how you and your sisters ended up being his background singers. At that time, you and your sisters had released a few albums, gaining attention from different prominent named performers like Aretha Franklin. Although he was interested in the group as a whole, there was one voice that he couldn’t disregard. That voice sounded better than an Angel, better than any singing voice he had ever heard. He didn’t know which sister had the voice that he could hear in his dreams, but he knew that he would find out soon enough. You, on the other hand, were completely oblivious to the stares from Elvis Presley and his mafia. The artwork that littered the hotel’s lobby was too alluring to pass up. You weren’t usually interested in art, but you could appreciate it when it fit nicely with the decor. Your sisters wanted to be stars, yet you were only interested in becoming an interior decorator like your mother. “Y/N! We’ve been looking all over for you. Now you know that we must get ready to meet with Mister Presley, the orchestra, and the Imperials soon. You haven’t even put your things into your room. C’mon!” Your older sister, Cissy, pulled you along with her to head back up to the hallway where your rooms were.

Once you were unpacked, Cissy and Dee Dee had to lead you down to the ballroom, where the orchestra and the Imperials were already present. You sat next to Cissy, introducing yourself to those who sat around you. The conversations were all mashed together as if everyone was trying to get their words in before the man of the hour arrived. Suddenly, the doors opened, and the conversations that you could once hear ceased as a group of men entered the room; their body language screamed that they were bodyguards. Following behind those men was Elvis Presley himself, his aura commanding the room like Cissy had warned you earlier. He was handsomely dressed, his eyes hidden behind lavender shades and his body wrapped in red satin as if he was royalty. Who were you kidding—this man was a literal walking God. Like a God, he commanded attention, and that’s exactly what he got.

The room was so silent that you could hear a pin drop, as if everyone was holding their breath, waiting for what would happen next. Your eyes watched as he walked towards the middle of the room, pulling his shades down from his eyes before looking around the room—a grin across his lips. Your heart jumped into your chest at the sight of his cheeky smile, his canines shining in the light as he started around the room with his hellos. He finally made his way towards you and your sister, his blue eyes taking you in as your eyes also took him in. He was so handsome in person you had to stop yourself from staring at him on multiple occasions. “Hello there, lil’ mama.” His southern accent made your heart flip in your chest. You weren’t into southern men, but you could see that changing as you could listen to his voice on repeat over and over again. Your sister Cissy nudged you with her knee as she could tell that you would probably freeze up on the spot—introverted be damned.

“Hello there, Mister Presley.”

“Mister Presley, huh? I see we are starting out on a professional level, lil’?” Elvis teased, his canines once again displaying for you. You knew he was playing a deadly game—throwing that million-dollar smile all over the place, his little dimple poking out for you to see. Your heart was about to jump out of your chest like a caged bird that was begging to be free, but you didn’t want him to know that he was having this effect on you. With that knowledge, you nodded your head, keeping your words at a minimum so that he could move on to the other performers who were in the room. He took the hint, introducing himself to your sisters before going through the Imperials lastly. Cissy looked over at you, tugging at the arm of your dress, smirking as she gave you a knowing look. “It looks like Mister Presley has taken a liking to you, Songbird.” She giggles as she moves her eyes away from you to look at Elvis as he moves around the room flawlessly—the chains on his outfit jingling as he starts to explain what his goal was for his shows.

Your eyes followed him as he disclosed in admirable detail about his plans for how he wanted his shows to go. It was attractive to you—too attractive. You suddenly became excited about the shows and how often you would see Elvis during these next few weeks. Once his speech was over, Elvis sat in front of you and your sisters, his eyes never leaving your direction as he wanted to gain insight into your different styles. He was definitely not the self-absorbed man that others had warned him to be, yet he was very warm, invested, and humble to your every wants and need. You watched as he spoke; his hands moved in a careful way as if he wanted you to feel his emotions through his movements. Soon enough, you found yourself wanting to be close to him, wanting to sing with him. Elvis sat back in his chair as his blue eyes returned in your direction. “Sing for me, ladies. I’ve always wanted to hear your voices in person.”

Cissy usually got the group started, but somehow, she wanted you to start it off. You glared at her, seeing her wickedly smiling before clearing your throat. “When you call me, baby, baby,” Your eyes closed as you always did when you were singing—not wanting the butterflies that you got from singing in front of Elvis Presley to ruin your octave. As expected, your sisters would sing their part after you, causing you to snap your fingers to keep everyone on key. “The way you call me darlin', darlin', darlin',” You made a grave mistake opening your eyes at that moment because your eyes landed on Elvis’ blues that were staring intensely at you as if he had found his life’s purpose. “And if I'm out in the rain, baby,” As each word passes your lips, Elvis’ eyes continue to darken, his hand squeezing his thigh as he watches you sing to your heart's content. You stopped at that point, looking over at Cissy, who was returning your gaze—utterly unaware of the moment that you were having with Elvis.

“That’s one helluva voice you have, darlin’. How about you stay behind and talk with me after this meeting is over?” You could have fallen out of your chair at that moment but settled with a slight nod as Elvis stood up from his chair, moving away from you but not before sending a sly smile in your direction. Dee Dee placed her hand on your shoulder, pulling you around to face her before a smirk crossed her lips. “And what was going on here, little bird?” She always called you ‘Bird’ when she wanted to tease you, so you automatically knew that she saw what was transpiring between you and Elvis. You shook your head before turning your head away from Dee Dee and the rest of your sisters, the ghost of a smile planted on your lips. You were sitting in your chair for the remainder of the meeting, thinking about whether you would leave with your sisters or stay to see what Elvis wanted to talk to you about.

The meeting was over before you knew it; your brain and your heart were battling one another. Your brain was telling you that it was a bad idea to stay, you knew nothing about him, and the fact that he wanted to meet with you alone was enough to give you an uneasy feeling. However, your heart was intrigued by him. You wanted to gain more insight into his brain and learn about the art of music from him while also getting to know him all simultaneously. You chose to listen to your heart, staying seated as everyone cleared the room. Cissy and Dee Dee both gave you knowing looks while also silently asking you to take care of yourself. Although they both knew that it was such a great opportunity for one of their own to speak with Elvis Presley, you were also their little sister, so naturally, they were concerned for your well-being before anything else. You gave them a nod, letting them know that you would be fine, before standing up from your chair and going off to look for Elvis. You saw him sitting at the piano at the edge of the ballroom, his fingers moving exquisitely over the keys. “I asked Jerry to give me a little background on you and your sisters, so he sent me a few of your songs. There was one little lady whose voice caught my attention, especially in that Sweet Inspiration number that y’all sang earlier. I would have never guessed that it was the younger sister who could carry a note like that,”

You walked over to him, arms crossed, as you listened to him speak about the music you made with your sisters. In the back of your mind, you were screaming to turn away and leave him, begging your sisters to pack their things and leave Vegas on the next flight. However, your heart forced your legs to stay in place as you nodded your head to his words. “I’m normally the one who would lead if my sister Cissy doesn’t, especially in Sweet Inspiration because she was suffering from tonsillitis.” Elvis turned to look at you; no words were spoken as his eyes locked on yours. You could have sunken into the floor at his gaze, feeling like he was looking over you like a judge waiting to sentence you away. “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, lil’ mama. But I-I believe you have the potential to be greater than Sweet Inspirations. Now, I know what you’re thinkin’, but hear me out first.” You were taken aback by his words, especially since you had only met this man an hour ago. Who did this man think he was telling you that you were better than your sisters?

You decided to give him a chance to explain before you spoke your mind about his horrible decision to speak about things he clearly didn’t know anything about. “I ain’t sayin’ that you are better than your sisters. I’m not trying to say that at all. I believe your voice is worth way more than only singing in a group for the rest of ‘ya life, honey.” Your eyebrow raised as you silently pressed for him to go further. “I’m not askin’ you to leave the Sweet Inspirations because I know that it’s a family unit—you and your sisters, but I want to at least have some rehearsals one-on-one, get your voice together, and maybe we can get you some exposure on the solo stage.” Your eyes widened as you listened to what he was saying. He must’ve lost his mind. “Me? S-solo? Are you takin’ something, Mister Presley? There’s no way you honestly believe that I have the voice to be a soloist?” You were truly shocked at what you were hearing. Your sister Cissy had said the same words that Elvis was saying at this moment, but you had brushed her off—saying that she had no idea what she was talking about and that you were happy being with your sisters. “I’m telling you, Songbird. You deserve better than to be singing with us for the rest of your life. I don’t plan on doing it forever, you know? You should start thinking of your future,”

Hearing your sister’s words in your head, you were now convinced that she must’ve meant well. Your eyes landed on Elvis as he was laughing under his breath at your words. “Nah honey, I’m not takin’ anything. I honestly believe that you should at least think about my proposition. ‘Ya don’t have to answer me right now, but think about it?” He pats next to him on the piano as he returns to play a tune you noticed: ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’ You sat next to him, smoothing out your dress before humming along with the notes. The music had begun to get into your soul, your lips singing the lyrics along with him. The vibrato of your voice had enchanted Elvis more than you could have ever imagined. As you harmonized with the notes that were being played on the piano, Elvis was thinking of ways that he could convince you to step outside of your comfort zone and embrace your calling.

***

You finally finished with your meeting with Elvis, so you decided to go pay your sister, Cissy, a visit. You arrived at her hotel room, knocking on C the door. She appeared in front of you shortly after; the look of curiosity was written all over her features. “Bird, is something bothering you?” You shook your head at her, but she could tell that something was eating away at you. “Come in, bird.” Cissy stepped aside, allowing you to pass the threshold of her room before she closed the door behind you. You sat down on the couch in her room, taking a deep breath before speaking. “Elvis said the same thing you said the year before—about my thinking about my future.”

“Is that right? What did he say to you?” Cissy walked over to you, sitting down beside you on the couch. “He said that I have the talent to sing solo, that I shouldn’t settle for singing with the Inspirations forever. I know you said it yourself that I should think about my future, Cissy. I’ve thought about it too. I thought maybe you were talkin’ out of your neck, but to hear it from none other than Elvis Presley? I don’t know what to do.” “How did he bring this up to you?” You stood up from the couch, pacing around the room like you always did when you were nervous. “He said that he had Jerry look into us, which is how he heard about our music. He heard our song, Sweet Inspiration, and said that he loved my voice. He said he wants to have one-on-one rehearsals with me to train my voice better and help me find solo music opportunities. What should I do, Cissy?”

“Bird, I believe that you should follow your heart.” That sentence alone puts everything into perspective for you. You didn’t have to think any further about stepping away from your sisters and flying on your own. You wanted this for yourself; you wanted to grasp this opportunity before it was gone. Cissy knew that you were cautious about stepping out on your own because you always wanted your family to be happy. It was usually because of this thought that you were always the last to gain anything. You didn’t care if you got the short end of the bargain; as long as your family was happy, you were delighted. You thought that maybe making solo music would make your sisters unhappy, but when they heard the proposition that Elvis had given you, they were nothing but supportive. “Songbird, we know how beautiful your voice is. The Sweet Inspirations will come and go, but we will always be sisters.” Dee Dee spoke with admiration in her voice.

The next morning, you decided that you would find Elvis before the day of rehearsals began. You found him sitting in the middle of the stage in the showroom, talking to a man who sounded foreign. It seemed as if Elvis sensed that you were there because his eyes fell on your presence, waving you over to him. He whispered something to that mysterious man, who nodded his head before wobbling out of your line of sight. “You didn’t have to stop your conversation for me, Mister Presley.” “That was my manager, Colonel Parker. He had to go off and do something anyway. What can I do for ‘ya, chocolate mama?” You shook your head at the ridiculous nickname before walking up to him on the stage. “I thought about your proposition.” The stage was covered in chairs where the orchestra would be sitting and microphones which you knew would be for your group and the Imperials. “What’s the news, lil mama? Are we doing something or not?”

“Count me in,”

***

It was finally time for rehearsals with Elvis, and you were excited. You sat in your seat in between Cissy and Sylvia, drumming your fingers against your lap as everyone waited for Elvis to come in. You were in awe of him; his charisma owned the room as he walked in, everyone stopping what they were doing to watch him. Elvis could feel that you were watching him, a smile evident on his sun-kissed skin.

“It’s good to see you all here today. Let’s start off with ‘That’s All Right,’”

You did know a few of his songs, as your parents did have some of his records, so you felt comfortable singing along. Elvis moved around the room, commanding the musicians to play their certain parts. You were amazed that he had such an ear for music; every horn and beat made your body dance. Sylvia nudged you as she clapped along, wiggling her brows as she noticed that you hadn’t taken your eyes off of him since he entered the room much earlier.You rolled your eyes as you bounced in your seat to the music, your hands clapping together in sync. Once Elvis was satisfied with how the music sounded, he turned towards you and the others, singing the first few lines of the song. Your eyes lifted from the floor to Elvis, noticing that he wasn’t watching everyone, but he was watching you. A keen smile on his face and his magnetic blues were bright as he pointed to you and your sisters for your cue.

“That’s All Right! That’s All Right! That’s All Right! Anyway, you do.”

At that point, you were completely lost in the music. Your body swayed with the beat, hands still clapping in sync as you sang along with your sisters and the Imperials. Elvis sang his praises as you harmonized with the music, completely stepping away from the background vocals. Like a child who found a newfound toy, you were happy. You no longer wanted to be an interior designer, but you wanted to pursue music—all thanks to your sister, Cissy, and the man you are now working for, Elvis Presley.

Once everyone went through a couple of his songs for his first show, everyone dispersed to enjoy their free time before the show happened later that night. You were supposed to meet with Elvis after the first dinner show to go over some songs that he wanted you to practice singing, so you decided to spend the rest of the day with your older sister, Cissy. Cissy was very intrigued with how your conversation with Elvis went, pestering you with questions about how he took your decision. “I told you, Cissy, I’m gonna take him up on his offer. Who knows how this will go, but I need to step out of my comfort zone, as you said, right?” Cissy sighed as she took her little sister by the hand, rubbing her knuckles with her index finger. “I know what I said, bird! I’m just worried that it won’t end well for you. I want you to find your own way, not depend on someone who has already found theirs.” You nodded your head at her, pulling her into a hug as you would always do when you had heart to hearts.

“I promise, Cissy, I will find my own way. I won’t depend on Elvis for the rest of my life.” You chuckled at her facial expression, that she always held when she was worried. If there was one person who worried more than your mother, it was your older sister. She worried when you started school, she worried when you got out of high school, when you started dating, and even when you weren’t dating. You used to think she was overbearing, but you’ve realized that she genuinely cared for your well-being. “Stop worrying, Cissy. I can take care of myself,” You pulled away from her, standing on your feet. “Now, you know we have to get ready for tonight. It takes Dee Dee years to fix her afro!” You exclaimed as you rolled your eyes at the thought of your middle sister standing in the way, picking her afro for almost an hour every time. Cissy nodded her head at your words, still holding the look of worry on her features but she knew that she couldn’t change your mind.

The dinner show went off without a hitch, the atmosphere of singing up on stage simply vibrated you. You also didn’t miss the way that Elvis was watching you—his eyes were not as vibrant as they were when rehearsals happened earlier. You could feel his energy from your spot on the stage, and it electrified you. You could tell that he was also eating up the attention; his bravado of jokes and compliments never ceased as he spoke to the audience. Elvis Presley was simply a God when he was on the stage, something that you truly admired about him. As the show ended, your bundle of nerves began to show. In your mind, you were for sure that stepping out of your comfort zone to pursue a solo career was what you wanted. However, it didn’t stop the nagging thoughts from appearing from the back of your mind. What if you’re not good enough? Elvis must want something else to spend his precious time coaching someone who doesn’t even have the vocal range. Shut up. Shut up.

You were in your own world until Jerry tapped you on your shoulder, bringing you out of your thoughts and back into reality. “Elvis is ready for you in his suite.” His suite? Oh, he must have lost his mind for sure. However, you didn’t say anything as you followed him into the elevator that only led to his penthouse. Here you are, not knowing this man for more than a few days, and you are already going to his room alone. Your mama would have slapped you silly if she knew about this.

The elevator dinged, signaling that you were finally on his floor. Once the doors open, you step off the floor, following Jerry to Elvis’ front door. He knocked loudly before whipping his head towards you to signal you to enter once you heard that southern drawl that pulled you in on your first meeting. You sighed, opening the door to his penthouse suite, immediately noticing Elvis sitting at his piano in a totally different attire from the white jumpsuit that he wore at his first show. “Hey, baby! I’ve been waiting on ‘ya, come in. We ain’t gotta lot of time!” As you sat down next to him, your nervousness peaked into high gear. The smell of tobacco roaming into your nose with a mix of spice was enough to make your knees knock together nearly. Elvis didn’t waste any time, playing the beginning tune to ‘If I Can Dream.’ Your voice began singing along as well as you could until it was time for the midnight show to roll around.

***

The midnight show went without a hitch, as your spirit was high on the music. Your sisters could tell that you were feeling the flow of the beat, following your lead as you sang to the best of your ability. After the show, you would meet with Elvis again, singing until you would get tired. He had the best remedies for keeping your voice from becoming hoarse and for keeping your vocal cords from becoming worn. You could also tell that Elvis was noticing how serious you were becoming at rehearsals, trying on multiple occasions to sing the songs that he would give you to the best of your ability.

It was now two weeks since you arrived in Vegas with your sisters, but now you were spending more time with Elvis than your sisters. Your sister, Cissy, pulled you to the side before the midnight show, much to your chagrin. “You’ve been hanging with Elvis too much, songbird. You know about his reputation, right? You know I worry-” You put your hand up to quiet her down before taking a deep breath. “There is nothing going on between Elvis and me, Cissy. He’s mostly my vocal coach, and I’m his student.” You sighed as she continued to try to speak, your arms crossed as you listened. It was always a never ending battle between you and Cissy. She was always worried and you would always bend the knee to her.

“Cissy, I told you earlier that I would not do anything that you and the others would worry about, didn’t I? I’m finally able to see the dream coming true for me. Just let me be my own person!” You placed your hands on her shoulders before pressing a kiss to her forehead. You walked away from her, getting into place before the show began. You were a grown-up, there was no reason for your sisters to worry so much about you. As usual, the show went without issues and you were feeling the music, your voice being the leading voice in the background.

However, this show was highly different once it ended. Instead of your usual meetings with Jerry before heading up to see Elvis, Elvis was the one waiting for you. “I need to talk to you privately, darlin’. I have something that’s been on my chest for a while.” Your brow raised as you could feel your sisters watching the two of you like you are their favorite soap opera. You took him by the arm, leading him away from them until you found a spot behind the stage where there were no wandering eyes. “What’s the matter, E?”

Elvis wouldn’t look at you, almost as if he was a little boy who was in trouble for digging his hand in the cookie jar. Your hand moved under his chin, tilting his head up slightly so that his beautiful eyes were looking into yours. “E, what’s up?” You needed to know what was seriously bothering him. Elvis didn’t say a word as his hands rested on your hips, pulling you into his embrace before his head moved down to capture your lips into a passionate kiss. You gasped, giving him the opportunity to move his tongue into your mouth. You were shocked beyond measure, but also awfully turned on at the fact that Elvis Presley was kissing you. This was the dream of every woman in the world, yet you weren’t anything special.

You pulled away from him, desperately trying to catch your breath as you stepped away from him. “Is that what you wanted to say?” You couldn’t meet his eyes as he shook his head. “Mama, I-I-I know that was a lot for ya, but rehearsing with ya for these past two weeks have opened up my eyes. I wanna be serious here. I know you heard about the reputation that I’m supposed to have, but it’s nothing but lies, mama. I want ya to know the real Elvis, not what you hear in the magazines.” Part of you didn’t care about what he was explaining, but a huge part of you knew that everything that he was saying was the truth.

“Elvis, I’m not mad at you. But I think I need time to at least think about what you’re saying. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” You backed away from him before turning away as you walked back to your sisters. You couldn’t face Elvis, especially not after you had a conversation with your sister about taking care of yourself. You went back to your room, not wanting to look at your sisters either—ignoring their calls for you to join them for dinner or the casino. You couldn’t face anyone so you sat in your room as you withered in your own self-pity.

***

After the surprising kiss that you had experienced after the midnight show, you found yourself unable to face Elvis. You were supposed to be rehearsing the next night before his midnight show so you were filled entirely with nerves at the idea of being so close to Elvis again. However, as you slid on your yellow Mondrian dress over your slip, your nerves turned into the feelings that you were gaining during your stay here in Las Vegas with him. You were no longer only there to appease your sisters, to step out of your comfort zone of being actual musicians, but you were there to be in Elvis’ company—sing melodies while he physically touches you.

“Elvis is waiting for you, Y/N,” Jerry spoke as you opened the door of your room, revealing the blonde-colored man.

You took a deep breath, fiddling with your dress before checking your tousled hair before you headed towards the man of the hour. The elevator ride was pretty easy; a little light conversation with Jerry about your experience being in Vegas and here at the International. He would tell you that if you needed anything, he was your guy to come to, as he had all of the right connections to get you settled in. You nodded at his words, a little smile spreading on your lips to mask your nervousness as you thanked him for his offer.

The toggle light in the elevator flashed the penthouse floor, acknowledging that you were once again about to come face-to-face with Elvis. The butterflies in your stomach coming forward in full force as you took in a few shaken breaths, Jerry placed his hand on your shoulder before speaking slowly that only you could hear. “You are good for E.P., Y/N. Don’t let him slip away from you.” The words didn’t connect right away as you nodded under confusion at his declaration. As the doors of the elevator opened before you, you wasted no time heading towards his door as you knew he hated it when you were late.

You knocked in a morse code, the one that lets him know that it was you, taking one more shaky breath before the door opened before you. “There you are, Songbird. Come on in; I’ve got some songs I want you to sing for me,” The atmosphere was completely different than the first time that you were there; you didn’t miss the little things, such as the outfit of choice for him. He was wearing only his robe, but you could tell that he didn’t have anything on up underneath. “Songbird, I wish I could tell you how much I’m sorry about last night, but honestly, darlin’, I’m not. You see, I’ve been craving ‘ya ever since I laid eyes on you in the lobby. Seeing that you have a wonderful singing voice, I wanna try something out with ‘ya, baby.”

Now here you are sitting behind the piano with Elvis, his fingers deep inside of you.

Your fingers were digging into the wood of the piano, trying your hardest to continue singing on key. “C’mon, Songbird, how many fingers will it take for you to sing from your diaphragm?” Your breathing was labored as you clenched around his fingers, his lips near the shell of your ear as you desperately sang along to the lyrics of songs that he gave you. Elvis knew what kind of game he was playing, and he knew he had you exactly where he wanted you. So, as he watched you attempt to sing in a higher octave, his ring-clad fingers pushed inside of your pussy, brushing against your walls. You were writhing beside him, and he knew that he didn’t have time to have you beneath him, but you soon would be—it was only a matter of time before he had you in his bed.

You gasped as your orgasm crashed over you, your voice hitting the perfect octave that he wanted. “Good girl, now when we go to the midnight show, I want ‘ya to hit those notes for me. I wanna hear you and only you, understand me, darlin’?” You nodded your head as you could feel your juices sliding down your legs as he pulled his fingers out of your vagina with a sploshing noise. His tongue passed his lips as he placed his glistening fingers in his mouth, licking and sucking his fingers clean.

When the midnight show came around, you stood next to your sisters as the music began to play, your body bouncing along to the beat. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Elvis walk past you in all of his glory, his eyes landing on you as he gave you a little smirk. His lips mouthed, ‘hit those notes, sugar’ before he walked further on the stage. You instantly felt your arousal pool underneath your skirt, but he had made sure that he had taken your panties earlier after your little rehearsal. Your juices were dripping down your legs as you watched him thrust around the stage, singing his heart out. Elvis would sometimes move over to where you were standing throughout the show, his hips still thrusting in specific directions, the atmosphere becoming filled with sexual tension to the point that you could have almost orgasmed untouched by his presence alone.

He was so close to you, yet you couldn’t reach out and touch him like you wanted. Your sisters noticed how you were moving out of sync with them, Cissy nudging you on multiple occasions to tell you to get yourself together. “Snap out of it, bird. Elvis is watching you,” Oh, you knew he was watching you, but he wasn’t watching for the reasons that Cissy thought. His bedroom eyes were calling out to you, begging for you to come closer. You wanted him, and you were gonna get him tonight if you were lucky. The show neared its end with him walking through the crowd, kissing random women as he always did before he ended with “Can’t Help Falling In Love.” You were expected to sing the higher notes during that song as Elvis rehearsed this particular song on multiple occasions with you.

You hit the high notes perfectly, catching Elvis holding his hand over his chest as he heard you over everyone else—like he wanted.

Once the curtains fell, you were immediately surrounded by your sisters, who looked at you with confusion at your earlier movements. “Songbird, have you lost your mind? You know how perfect Elvis wanted his show to go, and here you go messing shit up and being out of sync with the rest of us!” Dee Dee threw her hands up as she always did when she fussed you out. You were apologizing profusely, but you could only think about running your fingers through Elvis’ hair as your lips desperately kissed at his. As your sisters continued their tirade of your behavior earlier, you felt a tap on your shoulder followed by a cleared throat. Jerry. You softly smiled as you turned around, being more than happy to see him since you’d been in Vegas. “E.P. wants to speak with you privately, Y/N.”

Your sisters looked over at you with a look of “you’re in trouble now, bird,” but you knew differently. If only y’all knew what he is about to do to me, you thought. Jerry didn’t have to show you up to where you would meet Elvis; the meetings all happened at the same place—his penthouse. You had expected to see Elvis still in his jumpsuit from earlier, a towel in hand as he dried the sweat that you so desperately wanted to lick off of his body. However, he was dressed in his robe once again, sitting in a chair that was directly in the line of sight of the doorway, his legs spread as if he was beckoning you closer.

“I can see that my idea of you not wearing your panties worked out in my favor, little mama. I could see your juices dripping from the middle of the stage,” His southern drawl making you nearly fall to your knees as you walked into the middle of the room, your heart picking up with every step that you took. Your stage outfit suddenly became uncomfortable as you stood in front of the man who was willing to take a chance on you, willing to take a chance to find your happiness. At that moment, you wanted nothing more than to show him your gratitude. “You followed my directions too, mama. I could hear you over your sisters; that voice…made me hard,”

You nearly choked at his words as your fingers gripped your skirt as they itched to lace in his wet hair, pulling him closer to you. “I had coaching, he knows his stuff.” You forced out, your voice becoming very shaky as you stood in front of him. His hands reached out, wrapping around your waist as he pulled you down on his lap. You lightly squealed, but you didn’t bother moving on his lap as you were frozen on the spot. His fingers moved up your skirt, brushing against your pussy slightly. Your body arched off of his lap, whimpers passing your lips as you were finally being touched. “You deserve a reward, mama. I’m gonna give it to you, like the southern gentleman that I am.” He chuckled as he knew that you weren’t attracted to any other southern man other than him.

Your legs spread as you sat on his lap; Elvis was brushing his fingers against your folds, watching as you writhed with need on his lap. With each movement, he became more solid under his robe as he watched you silently beg for more. He picked you up off of his lap, holding you into his arms as he stood up from his seat before laying you down on the bed. Your bronze skin glistened under the light as the sweat pooling on your skin from the tension that was between the two of them. His fingers skillfully unzipped your dress, pulling it off of your body before discarding it on the floor. “Your body is as beautiful as I imagined, mama. I should’ve taken you earlier, but I ain’t wanna run you away,” He whispered against the shell of your ear, smirking as you shivered at his closeness.

Your whimpers and moans were enough to push him forward, his hands moving up your thighs before pushing them apart to see his prize. You were slick, the juices still dripping from your pussy from earlier. His tongue danced across his bottom lip, a smirk playing on his lips as he got down on his knees in front of you as if he was worshiping God. His hands pushed your legs over his shoulders as he pulled you closer to his mouth, his lips wrapping around your sensitive bud. Your moans filled the room as you watched Elvis eat your vagina, the slurping noises becoming a part of the pleasure for you. Your fingers tangled in his soft satin sheets, your head thrown back in ecstasy as his name passed your lips like a prayer.

Elvis slid his index finger in between your folds before sliding inside of you as he tongued your pussy in such a way that you could have sworn that you were seeing stars. Suddenly everything became worth it—the rehearsals, the sexual tension, and even the kiss at the midnight show as you were finally getting pleasure from the man who you yearned for. As if he didn’t tease enough, he was in front of you, eating your pussy like a starved man who hadn’t eaten in weeks. “Elvis!” You whimpered as you lifted your head up to catch his now darkened eyes, watching your every move from underneath his long, beautiful lashes.

He hummed as his tongue played in between your folds, making your legs shake from his shoulders. “Please, I need you..don’t tease me no more,” Your voice was barely a whisper, but he heard you. He pulled his fingers and his lips from your pussy before he moved your legs back to the bed. He wasn’t even eating your pussy for long, yet you couldn’t feel your legs. He had given you the Bambi effect, but you weren’t complaining. He crawled on top of you, his fingers moving up your soft skin before he leaned down to capture your lips in a kiss. You shivered with anticipation as you could taste yourself on his lips, your arousal peeking once more.

Your hands moved to his robe, untying it slowly before moving up to his shoulders, pushing it off of his body. His tanned skin was soft under your fingertips as your hands drifted from his shoulder blades down to his chest, where his chest hair sat. Your fingers tangled in those hairs, your brown eyes locked on his dark blues, a silent communication between the both of you as his cock danced between your folds. You were caught in his trance, moans sounding almost pornographic as he pushed his cock into you. His hands found yours, pushing them down against the mattress as he laced them with yours, his forehead against yours. “Since the first day that I saw you, baby, I knew I had to make you my woman.”

His confession should have shocked you, but this was Elvis Presley that you were talking about. If he wanted anything or anyone, he would get it. If he wanted you, he would have you, no matter what he had to do. You said nothing in return, but your head nodded as you moaned out in pleasure as his hips slowly pistoned into you. His lips moved from yours, down your jawline until he sucked at the place where your jawline and ear met. You shivered as the electricity coarsed through your body as your pussy was being pounded into. He let go of one of your hands, placing his hand on your jaw as he forced you to look into his eyes as he whispered things that your sisters and your mama would make you repent for if they heard, telling you over and over again that you belonged to him and only him.

Skin slapping echoed in the room as Elvis continued pushing into you, his grunts sounding beautiful as they passed his lips. His hands caressed down your bronze skin, smearing the sweat that dripped from his black hair over your skin. You didn’t mind it; the feeling of him making love to you was all that your mind could focus on. “Look at me, mama. Don’t you take those beautiful chocolate eyes off of me.” Elvis commanded, his hand moved back to your neck, wrapping around your throat gently. You did exactly what he asked, your body shivering with pleasure at the sight of his eyes looking deep into your soul. The dirty words, the eye contact, and even the touches were enough to set your body on fire—needing only him to cool you down.

Your orgasm slowly builds up inside of you as Elvis hits your spot over and over again, his hips slowly swiveling inside of you, his southern accent whispering dirty things, whispering promises into your ear as if you could do nothing but whimper in response. “I want you to come apart for me, little one. Give me that sweet nectar,” That was all you needed to hear as your orgasm crashed over your body, the shivers becoming uncontrollable as your fingers held on to the sheets once again, his name passing your lips like a mantra. Elvis continued fucking into you, chasing his own orgasm as your pussy clenched around him over and over again.

“Goddamn, little mama. If you don’t stop clenching, I’m gon’ seriously give you a baby.” He chuckled as he thrusted into you a few more times before pulling out of you, shooting his load on your stomach. Elvis knew that he wanted nothing more than to stay inside of you, but he didn’t want to stand in the way of your future as a soloist. He would have to have a conversation with you before he decided to cum inside of you. He wasn’t an asshole after all; his mama taught him better than to take advantage of women. He grabbed the towel that he pulled out earlier as he waited for your return, wiping his cum off of your body before he cleaned himself off, discarding the material on the floor.

Elvis turned back to look at you, completely in awe as you watched him with your soft chocolate eyes. The look in your eyes was enough to make a grown man cry, but he was too much of a man to break. Surely, this wasn’t the last time that he would be inside of you, pushing you near the brink of uncontrollable pleasure as he continued whispering the dirty things that he wanted to do to you over and over again. Maybe it was because he witnessed you come apart on the stage from his voice and gaze alone, but he wanted to experience it as much as he could. He knew that the six-week residency would end eventually, but he wanted to keep you around.

He knew that you wanted to stay around him as well, noticing how you would look at your sisters every time they got on to you about “messing things up” for him on stage. He didn’t care what you did; he needed to experience you over and over again. Hear your angelic voice sing his name as he continues to push orgasm on top of orgasm out of your beautiful body. As Elvis watched you close your chocolate eyes and wrap your arms around his body, your beautiful manicured nails raking in his chest chair, he began to think of ways that he could keep you by his side for the long run.

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Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, Guinness World Records cited her as the most awarded female act of all time. Houston is one of pop music's best-selling music artists of all-time, with an estimated 170–200 million records sold worldwide. She released seven studio albums and two soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. Houston's crossover appeal on the popular music charts, as well as her prominence on MTV, starting with her video for "How Will I Know", influenced several African American women artists who follow in her footsteps.

Houston is the only artist to chart seven consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits. She is the second artist behind Elton John and the only woman to have two number-one Billboard 200 Album awards (formerly "Top Pop Albums") on the Billboard magazine year-end charts. Houston's debut album, Whitney Houston (1985), became the best-selling debut album by a woman in history. Rolling Stone named it the best album of 1986, and ranked it at number 254 on the magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Her second studio album, Whitney (1987), became the first album by a woman to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Houston's first acting role was as the star of the feature film The Bodyguard (1992). The film's original soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Its lead single, "I Will Always Love You", won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became the best-selling single by a woman in music history. With the album, Houston became the first act (solo or group, male or female) to sell more than a million copies of an album within a single week period under Nielsen SoundScan system. The album makes her the top female act in the top 10 list of the best-selling albums of all time, at number four. Houston continued to star in movies and contribute to their soundtracks, including the films Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher's Wife (1996). The Preacher's Wife soundtrack became the best-selling gospel album in history.

On February 11, 2012, Houston was found dead in her guest room at the Beverly Hilton, in Beverly Hills, California. The official coroner's report showed that she had accidentally drowned in the bathtub, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors. News of her death coincided with the 2012 Grammy Awards and featured prominently in American and international media.

Life and career

1963–1984: Early life and career beginnings

Whitney Houston was born on August 9, 1963 in what was then a middle-income neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey. She was the daughter of Army serviceman and entertainment executive John Russell Houston, Jr. (September 13, 1920 – February 2, 2003), and gospel singer Emily "Cissy" (Drinkard) Houston. Her elder brother Michael is a singer, and her elder half-brother is former basketball player Gary Garland. Her parents were both African American. Through her mother, Houston was a first cousin of singers Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick. Her godmother was Darlene Love and her honorary aunt was Aretha Franklin, whom she met at age 8 or 9 when her mother took her to a recording studio. Houston was raised a Baptist, but was also exposed to the Pentecostal church. After the 1967 Newark riots, the family moved to a middle-class area in East Orange, New Jersey, when she was four.

At the age of 11, Houston started performing as a soloist in the junior gospel choir at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, where she also learned to play the piano. Her first solo performance in the church was "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah". When Houston was a teenager, she attended Mount Saint Dominic Academy, a Catholic girls' high school in Caldwell, New Jersey, where she met her best friend Robyn Crawford, whom she described as the "sister she never had". While Houston was still in school, her mother continued to teach her how to sing. Houston was also exposed to the music of Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, and Roberta Flack, most of whom would have an influence on her as a singer and performer.

Houston spent some of her teenage years touring nightclubs where her mother Cissy was performing, and she would occasionally get on stage and perform with her. In 1977, at age 14, she became a backup singer on the Michael Zager Band's single "Life's a Party". In 1978, at age 15, Houston sang background vocals for Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls.

In the early 1980s, Houston started working as a fashion model after a photographer saw her at Carnegie Hall singing with her mother. She appeared in Seventeen and became one of the first women of color to grace the cover of the magazine. She was also featured in layouts in the pages of Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Young Miss, and appeared in a Canada Dry soft drink TV commercial. Her looks and girl-next-door charm made her one of the most sought after teen models of that time. While modeling, she continued her burgeoning recording career by working with producers Michael Beinhorn, Bill Laswell and Martin Bisi on an album they were spearheading called One Down, which was credited to the group Material. For that project, Houston contributed the ballad "Memories", a cover of a song by Hugh Hopper of Soft Machine. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called her contribution "one of the most gorgeous ballads you've ever heard". She also appeared as a lead vocalist on one track on a Paul Jabara album, entitled Paul Jabara and Friends, released by Columbia Records in 1983.

Houston had previously been offered several recording agencies (Michael Zager in 1980, and Elektra Records in 1981), but her mother declined the offers stating her daughter must first complete high school. In 1983, Gerry Griffith, an A&R representative from Arista Records, saw her performing with her mother in a New York City nightclub and was impressed. He convinced Arista's head Clive Davis to make time to see Houston perform. Davis was impressed and immediately offered a worldwide recording contract which Houston signed. Later that year, she made her national televised debut alongside Davis on The Merv Griffin Show.

Houston signed with Arista in 1983, but did not begin work on her album immediately. The label wanted to make sure no other label signed the singer away. Davis wanted to ensure he had the right material and producers for Houston's debut album. Some producers had to pass on the project because of prior commitments. Houston first recorded a duet with Teddy Pendergrass entitled "Hold Me" which appeared on his album, Love Language. The single was released in 1984 and gave Houston her first taste of success, becoming a Top 5 R&B hit. It would also appear on her debut album in 1985.

1985–1986: Rise to international prominence

With production from Michael Masser, Kashif, Jermaine Jackson, and Narada Michael Walden, Houston's debut album Whitney Houston was released in February 1985. Rolling Stone magazine praised Houston, calling her "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". Arista Records promoted Houston's album with three different singles from the album in the US, UK and other European countries. In the UK, the dance-funk "Someone for Me", which failed to chart in the country, was the first single while "All at Once" was in such European countries as the Netherlands and Belgium, where the song reached the top 5 on the singles charts, respectively.

In the US, the soulful ballad "You Give Good Love" was chosen as the lead single from Houston's debut to establish her in the black marketplace first. Outside the US, the song failed to get enough attention to become a hit, but in the US, it gave the album its first major hit as it peaked at No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and No. 1 on the Hot R&B chart. As a result, the album began to sell strongly, and Houston continued promotion by touring nightclubs in the US. She also began performing on late-night television talk shows, which were not usually accessible to unestablished black acts. The jazzy ballad "Saving All My Love for You" was released next and it would become Houston's first No. 1 single in both the US and the UK. She was then an opening act for singer Jeffrey Osborne on his nationwide tour. "Thinking About You" was released as the promo single only to R&B-oriented radio stations, which peaked at number ten on the US R&B Chart. At the time, MTV had received harsh criticism for not playing enough videos by black, Latino, and other racial minorities while favoring white acts. The third US single, "How Will I Know", peaked at No. 1 and introduced Houston to the MTV audience thanks to its video. Houston's subsequent singles from this, and future albums, would make her the first African-American woman to receive consistent heavy rotation on MTV.

By 1986, a year after its initial release, Whitney Houston topped the Billboard 200 albums chart and stayed there for 14 non-consecutive weeks. The final single, "Greatest Love of All", a cover of "The Greatest Love of All", originally recorded by George Benson in 1977, became Houston's biggest hit at the time after peaking No. 1 and remaining there for three weeks on the Hot 100 chart, which made her debut the first album by a woman to yield three No. 1 hits. Houston was No. 1 artist of the year and Whitney Houston was the No. 1 album of the year on the 1986 Billboard year-end charts, making her the first woman to earn that distinction. At the time, Houston released the best-selling debut album by a solo artist. Houston then embarked on her world tour, Greatest Love Tour. The album had become an international success, and was certified 13× platinum (diamond) in the United States alone, and has sold 25 million copies worldwide.

At the 1986 Grammy Awards, Houston was nominated for three awards including Album of the Year. She was not eligible for the Best New Artist category because of her previous hit R&B duet recording with Teddy Pendergrass in 1984. She won her first Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for "Saving All My Love for You". Houston's performance of the song during the Grammy telecast later earned her an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program.

Houston won seven American Music Awards in total in 1986 and 1987, and an MTV Video Music Award. The album's popularity would also carry over to the 1987 Grammy Awards when "Greatest Love of All" would receive a Record of the Year nomination, ten years after the original recording of "The Greatest Love of All" by George Benson, which was the main theme of the boxer Muhammad Ali biopic "The Greatest" in 1977. Houston's debut album is listed as one of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and on The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's Definitive 200 list. Houston's grand entrance into the music industry is considered one of the 25 musical milestones of the last 25 years, according to USA Today. Following Houston's breakthrough, doors were opened for other African-American women such as Janet Jackson and Anita Baker to find notable success in popular music and on MTV.

1987–1991: Whitney, I'm Your Baby Tonight and "The Star Spangled Banner"

With many expectations, Houston's second album, Whitney, was released in June 1987. The album again featured production from Masser, Kashif and Walden as well as Jellybean Benitez. Many 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". Still, the album enjoyed commercial success. Houston became the first woman in music history to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and the first artist to enter the albums chart at number one in both the US and UK, while also hitting number one or top ten in dozens of other countries around the world. The album's first single, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", was also a massive hit worldwide, peaking at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and topping the singles chart in many countries such as Australia, Germany and the UK. The next three singles, "Didn't We Almost Have It All", "So Emotional", and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" all peaked at number one on the US Hot 100 chart, which gave her a total of seven consecutive number one hits, breaking the record of six previously shared by The Beatles and the Bee Gees. Houston became the first woman to generate four number-one singles from one album. Whitney has been certified 9× Platinum in the US for shipments of over 9 million copies, and has sold a total of 20 million copies worldwide.

At the 30th Grammy Awards in 1988, Houston was nominated for three awards, including Album of the Year, winning her second Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)". Houston also won two American Music Awards in 1988 and 1989, respectively, and a Soul Train Music Award. Following the release of the album, Houston embarked on the Moment of Truth World Tour, which was one of the ten highest-grossing concert tours of 1987. The success of the tours during 1986–87 and her two studio albums ranked Houston No. 8 for the highest earning entertainers list according to Forbes magazine. She was the highest earning African-American woman overall and the third highest entertainer after Bill Cosby and Eddie Murphy.

Houston was a supporter of Nelson Mandela and the anti-apartheid movement. During her modeling days, the singer refused to work with any agencies who did business with the then-apartheid South Africa. On June 11, 1988, during the European leg of her tour, Houston joined other musicians to perform a set at Wembley Stadium in London to celebrate a then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday. Over 72,000 people attended Wembley Stadium, and over a billion people tuned in worldwide as the rock concert raised over $1 million for charities while bringing awareness to apartheid. Houston then flew back to the US for a concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City in August. The show was a benefit concert that raised a quarter of a million dollars for the United Negro College Fund. In the same year, she recorded a song for NBC's coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics, "One Moment in Time", which became a Top 5 hit in the US, while reaching number one in the UK and Germany. With her world tour continuing overseas, Houston was still one of the top 20 highest earning entertainers for 1987–88 according to Forbes magazine.

In 1989, Houston formed The Whitney Houston Foundation For Children, a non-profit 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. With the success of her first two albums, Houston was undoubtedly an international crossover superstar, the most prominent since Michael Jackson, appealing to all demographics. However, some black critics believed she was "selling out". They felt her singing on record lacked the soul that was present during her live concerts.

At the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards, when Houston's name was called out for a nomination, a few in the audience jeered. 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. She produced and chose producers for this album and as a result, it featured production and collaborations with L.A. Reid and Babyface, Luther Vandross, and Stevie Wonder. The album showed Houston's versatility on a new batch of tough rhythmic grooves, soulful ballads and up-tempo dance tracks. Reviews were mixed. Rolling Stone felt it was her "best and most integrated album". while Entertainment Weekly, at the time thought Houston's shift towards an urban direction was "superficial".

The album contained several hits: the first two singles, "I'm Your Baby Tonight" and "All the Man That I Need" peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; "Miracle" peaked at number nine; "My Name Is Not Susan" peaked in the top twenty; "I Belong to You" reached the top ten of the US R&B chart and garnered Houston a Grammy nomination; and the sixth single, the Stevie Wonder duet "We Didn't Know", reached the R&B top twenty. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and went on to be certified 4× platinum in the US while selling twelve million total worldwide.

In 1990, Houston was the spokesperson for a youth leadership conference hosted in Washington, D.C. She had a private audience with President George H. W. Bush in the Oval Office to discuss the associated challenges.

During the Persian Gulf War, Houston performed "The Star Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV at Tampa Stadium on January 27, 1991. This performance was later reported by those involved in the performance to have been lip synced or to have been sung into a dead microphone while a studio recording previously made by Houston was played. Dan Klores, a spokesman for Houston, explained: "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." (See also Star Spangled Banner lip sync controversy.) A commercial single and video of her performance were released, and reached the Top 20 on the US Hot 100, making her the only act to turn the US national anthem into a pop hit of that magnitude (José Feliciano's version reached No. 50 in November 1968). Houston donated all her share of the proceeds to the American Red Cross Gulf Crisis Fund. As a result, the singer was named to the Red Cross Board of Governors.

Her rendition was critically acclaimed and is considered the benchmark for singers. Rolling Stone commented that "her singing stirs such strong patriotism. Unforgettable", and the performance ranked No. 1 on the 25 most memorable music moments in NFL history list. VH1 listed the performance as one of the greatest moments that rocked TV. Following the attacks on 9/11, it was released again by Arista Records, all profits going towards the firefighters and victims of the attacks. This time it peaked at No. 6 in the Hot 100 and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

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. Houston's concert gave HBO its highest ratings ever. She then embarked on the I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour.

1992–1994: Marriage, motherhood, and The Bodyguard

Throughout the 1980s, Houston was romantically linked to American football star Randall Cunningham and actor Eddie Murphy, whom she dated. She then 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. On March 4, 1993, Houston gave birth to their daughter Bobbi Kristina, the couple's only child. Brown would go on to have several run-ins with the law, including some jail time.

With the commercial success of her albums, movie offers poured in, including offers to work with Robert De Niro, Quincy Jones, and Spike Lee; but Houston felt the time wasn't right. Houston's first film role was in The Bodyguard, released in 1992 and co-starring Kevin Costner. Houston played Rachel Marron, a star who is stalked by a crazed fan and hires a bodyguard to protect her. USA Today listed it as one of the 25 most memorable movie moments of the last 25 years in 2007. Houston's mainstream appeal allowed people to look at the movie color-blind.

Still, controversy arose as some felt the film's advertising intentionally hid Houston's face to hide the film's interracial relationship. In an interview with Rolling Stone in 1993, the singer commented that "people know who Whitney Houston is – I'm black. You can't hide that fact." Houston received a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actress. The Washington Post said Houston is "doing nothing more than playing Houston, comes out largely unscathed if that is possible in so cockamamie an undertaking", and The New York Times commented that she lacked passion with her co-star. Despite the film's mixed reviews, it was hugely successful at the box office, grossing more than $121 million in the U.S. and $410 million worldwide, making it one of the top 100 grossing films in film history at its time of release, though it is no longer in the top 100 because of rising ticket prices since the time the film was released.

The film's soundtrack also enjoyed big success. Houston executive produced and contributed six songs for the motion picture's adjoining soundtrack album. Rolling Stone said it is "nothing more than pleasant, tasteful and urbane". The soundtrack's lead single was "I Will Always Love You", written and originally recorded by Dolly Parton in 1974. Houston's version of the song was acclaimed by many critics, regarding it as her "signature song" or "iconic performance". Rolling Stone and USA Today called her rendition "the tour-de-force". The single peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for a then-record-breaking 14 weeks, number one on the R&B chart for a then-record-breaking 11 weeks, and number one on the Adult Contemporary charts for five weeks.

The single was certified 4× platinum by the RIAA, making Houston the first woman with a single to reach that level in the RIAA history and becoming the best-selling single by a woman in the US. The song also became a global success, hitting number-one in almost all countries, and the best-selling single of all time by a female solo artist with 20 million copies sold. The soundtrack topped the Billboard 200 chart and remained there for 20 non-consecutive weeks, the longest tenure by any Arista album on the chart in the Nielsen SoundScan era (tied for 10th overall by any label), and became one of the fastest selling albums ever. During Christmas week of 1992, the soundtrack sold over a million copies within a week, becoming the first album to achieve that feat under Nielsen SoundScan system. With the follow-up singles "I'm Every Woman", a Chaka Khan cover, and "I Have Nothing" both reaching the top five, Houston became the first woman to ever have three singles in the Top 11 simultaneously. The album was certified 17× platinum in the US alone, with worldwide sales of 44 million, making The Bodyguard the biggest-selling album by a female act on the list of the world's Top 10 best-selling albums, topping Shania Twain's 40 million sold for Come On Over.

Houston won three Grammys for the album in 1994, including two of the Academy's highest honors, Album of the Year and Record of the Year. In addition, she won a record 8 American Music Awards at that year's ceremony including the Award of Merit, 11 Billboard Music Awards, 3 Soul Train Music Awards in 1993–94 including Sammy Davis, Jr. Award as Entertainer of the Year, 5 NAACP Image Awards including Entertainer of the Year, a record 5 World Music Awards, and a BRIT award. Following the success of the project, Houston embarked on another expansive global tour, The Bodyguard World Tour, in 1993–94. Her concerts, movie, and recording grosses made her the third highest earning female entertainer of 1993–94, just behind Oprah Winfrey and Barbra Streisand according to Forbes magazine. Houston placed in the top five of Entertainment Weekly's annual "Entertainer of the Year" ranking and was labeled by Premiere magazine as one of the 100 most powerful people in Hollywood.

In October 1994, Houston attended and performed at a state dinner in the White House honoring newly elected South African president Nelson Mandela. At the end of her world tour, Houston performed three concerts in South Africa to honor President Mandela, playing to over 200,000 people. This would make the singer the first major musician to visit the newly unified and apartheid free nation following Mandela's winning election. The concert was 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".

1995–1997: Waiting to Exhale, The Preacher's Wife, and Cinderella

In 1995, Houston starred alongside Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon in her second film, Waiting to Exhale, a motion picture about four African-American women struggling with relationships. Houston played the lead character Savannah Jackson, a TV producer in love with a married man. She chose the role because she saw the film as "a breakthrough for the image of black women because it presents them both as professionals and as caring mothers". After opening at number one and grossing $67 million in the US at the box office and $81 million worldwide, it proved that a movie primarily targeting a black audience can cross over to success, while paving the way for other all-black movies such as How Stella Got Her Groove Back and the Tyler Perry movies that became popular in the 2000s. The film is also notable for its portrayal of black women as strong middle class citizens rather than as stereotypes. The reviews were mainly positive for the ensemble cast. The New York Times said: "Ms. Houston has shed the defensive hauteur that made her portrayal of a pop star in 'The Bodyguard' seem so distant." Houston was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for "Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture", but lost to her co-star Bassett.

The film's accompanying soundtrack, Waiting to Exhale: Original Soundtrack Album, was written and produced by Babyface. Though he originally wanted Houston to record the entire album, she declined. Instead, she "wanted it to be an album of women with vocal distinction", and thus gathered several African-American female artists for the soundtrack, to go along with the film's message about strong women. Consequently, the album featured a range of contemporary R&B female recording artists along with Houston, such as Mary J. Blige, Brandy, Toni Braxton, Aretha Franklin, and Patti LaBelle. Houston's "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" peaked at No. 1, and then spent a record eleven weeks at the No. 2 spot and eight weeks on top of the R&B Charts. "Count On Me", a duet with CeCe Winans, hit the U.S. Top 10; and Houston's third contribution, "Why Does It Hurt So Bad", made the Top 30. The album debuted at No. 1, and was certified 7× Platinum in the United States, denoting shipments of seven million copies. 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" and has since ranked it as one of the 100 Best Movie Soundtracks. Later that year, Houston's children's charity organization was awarded a VH1 Honor for all the charitable work.

In 1996, Houston starred in the holiday comedy The Preacher's Wife, with Denzel Washington. She plays a gospel-singing wife of a pastor (Courtney B. Vance). It was largely an updated remake of the film The Bishop's Wife (1948), which starred Loretta Young, David Niven and Cary Grant. Houston earned $10 million for the role, making her one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood at the time and the highest earning African-American actress in Hollywood. The movie, with its all African-American cast, was a moderate success, earning approximately $50 million at the U.S. box offices. The movie gave Houston her strongest reviews so far. 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". Houston was again nominated for an NAACP Image Award and won for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture.

Houston recorded and co-produced, with Mervyn Warren, the film's accompanying gospel soundtrack. The Preacher's Wife: Original Soundtrack Album included six gospel songs with Georgia Mass Choir that were recorded at the Great Star Rising Baptist Church in Atlanta. Houston also duetted with gospel legend Shirley Caesar. The album sold six million copies worldwide and scored hit singles with "I Believe in You and Me" and "Step by Step", becoming the largest selling gospel album of all time. The album received mainly positive reviews. Some critics, such as that of USA Today, noted the presence of her emotional depth, while The Times said, "To hear Houston going at full throttle with the 35 piece Georgia Mass Choir struggling to keep up is to realise what her phenomenal voice was made for". She won Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist for the Preacher's Wife at the 1997 American Music Awards for the Preacher's Wife Soundtrack.

In 1997, Houston's production company changed its name to BrownHouse Productions and was joined by Debra Martin Chase. 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. Their first project was a made-for-television remake of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella. In addition to co-producing, Houston starred in the movie 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. The film is notable for its multi-racial cast and nonstereotypical message. An estimated 60 million viewers tuned into the special giving ABC its highest TV ratings in 16 years. 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 then obtained the rights to the story of Dorothy Dandridge. Houston was to play Dandridge, the first African American actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. Houston wanted the story told with dignity and honor. However, Halle Berry also had rights to the project and got her version going first. Later that year, Houston paid tribute to her idols, such as Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, and Dionne Warwick, by performing their hits during the three-night HBO Concert Classic Whitney: Live from Washington, D.C.. The special raised over $300,000 for the Children's Defense Fund. Houston received the Quincy Jones Award for outstanding career achievements in the field of entertainment at the 12th Soul Train Music Awards.

1998–2000: My Love Is Your Love and Whitney: The Greatest Hits

After spending much of the early and mid-1990s working on motion pictures and their soundtrack albums, Houston's first studio album in eight years, the critically acclaimed My Love Is Your Love, was released in November 1998. Though originally slated to be a greatest hits album with a handful of new songs, recording sessions were so fruitful that a new full-length studio album was released. Recorded and mixed in only six weeks, it featured production from Rodney Jerkins, Wyclef Jean and Missy Elliott. The album debuted at number thirteen, its peak position, on the Billboard 200 chart. It 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.

From late 1998 to early 2000, the album spawned several hit singles: "When You Believe" (US No. 15, UK No. 4), a duet with Mariah Carey for 1998's The Prince of Egypt soundtrack, which also became an international hit as it peaked in the Top 10 in several countries and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song; "Heartbreak Hotel" (US No. 2, UK No. 25) featured Faith Evans and Kelly Price, received a 1999 MTV VMA nomination for Best R&B Video, and number one on the US R&B chart for seven weeks; "It's Not Right but It's Okay" (US No. 4, UK No. 3) won Houston her sixth Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance; "My Love Is Your Love" (US No. 4, UK No. 2) with 3 million copies sold worldwide; and "I Learned from the Best" (US No. 27, UK No. 19). These singles became international hits as well, and all the singles, except "When You Believe", became number one hits on the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play chart. The album sold four million copies in America, making it certified 4× platinum, and a total of eleven million copies worldwide.

The album gave Houston some of her strongest reviews ever. Rolling Stone said Houston was singing "with a bite in her voice" and The Village Voice called it "Whitney's sharpest and most satisfying so far". In 1999, Houston participated in VH-1's Divas Live '99, alongside Brandy, Mary J. Blige, Tina Turner, and Cher. The same year, Houston hit the road with her 70 date My Love Is Your Love World Tour. The European leg of the tour was Europe's highest grossing arena tour of the year. In November 1999, Houston was named Top-selling R&B Female Artist of the Century with certified US sales of 51 million copies at the time and The Bodyguard Soundtrack was named the Top-selling Soundtrack Album of the Century by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). She also won The Artist of the Decade, Female award for extraordinary artistic contributions during the 1990s at the 14th Soul Train Music Awards, and an MTV Europe Music Award for Best R&B.

In May 2000, Whitney: The Greatest Hits was released worldwide. The double disc set peaked at number five in the United States, reaching number one in the United Kingdom. In addition, the album reached the Top 10 in many other countries. While ballad songs were left unchanged, the album features house/club remixes of many of Houston's up-tempo hits. Included on the album were four new songs: "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" (a duet with Enrique Iglesias), "Same Script, Different Cast" (a duet with Deborah Cox), "If I Told You That" (a duet with George Michael), and "Fine", and three hits that had never appeared on a Houston album: "One Moment in Time", "The Star Spangled Banner", and "If You Say My Eyes Are Beautiful", a duet with Jermaine Jackson from his 1986 Precious Moments album. Along with the album, an accompanying VHS and DVD was released featuring the music videos to Houston's greatest hits, as well as several hard-to-find live performances including her 1983 debut on The Merv Griffin Show, and interviews. The greatest hits album was certified 3× platinum in the US, with worldwide sales of 10 million.

2000–2005: Just Whitney and personal struggles

Though Houston was seen as a "good girl" with a perfect image in the 1980s and early 1990s, by the late 1990s, her behavior changed. She was often hours late for interviews, photo shoots and rehearsals, and canceling concerts and talk-show appearances. With the missed performances and weight loss, rumors about Houston using drugs with her husband circulated. On January 11, 2000, airport security guards discovered marijuana in both Houston's and husband Bobby Brown's luggage at a Hawaii airport, but the two boarded the plane and departed before authorities could arrive. Charges were later dropped against them, but rumors of drug usage between the couple would continue to surface. Two months later, Clive Davis was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Houston had been scheduled to perform at the event, but failed to show up.

Shortly thereafter, Houston was scheduled to perform at the Academy Awards but was fired from the event by musical director and longtime friend Burt Bacharach. 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", and that while Houston was to sing "Over the Rainbow", she would start singing a different song. Houston later admitted to having been fired. Later that year, Houston's long-time executive assistant and friend, Robyn Crawford, resigned from Houston's management company.

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 deliver six new albums, on which she would also earn royalties. She later made an appearance on Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special. Her extremely thin frame further spurred rumors of drug use. Houston's publicist said, "Whitney has been under stress due to family matters, and when she is under stress she doesn't eat." The singer was scheduled for a second performance the following night but canceled. Within weeks, Houston's rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" would be 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 song peaked at No. 6 this time on the US Hot 100, topping its previous position.

In 2002, Houston became involved in a legal dispute with John Houston Enterprise. Although the company was started by her father to manage her career, it was actually run by company president Kevin Skinner. Skinner filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit and sued for $100 million (but lost), stating that Houston owed the company previously unpaid compensation for helping to negotiate her $100 million contract with Arista Records and for sorting out legal matters. Houston stated that her 81-year-old father had nothing to do with the lawsuit. Although Skinner tried to claim otherwise, John Houston never appeared in court. Houston's father later died in February 2003. The lawsuit was dismissed on April 5, 2004, and Skinner was awarded nothing.

Also in 2002, Houston did an interview with Diane Sawyer to promote her then-upcoming album. During the prime-time special, Houston spoke on topics including rumored drug use and marriage. She was asked about the ongoing drug rumors and replied, "First of all, let's get one thing straight. Crack is cheap. I make too much money to ever smoke crack. Let's get that straight. Okay? We don't do crack. We don't do that. Crack is whack." The line was from Keith Haring's mural which was painted in 1986 on the handball court at 128th Street and 2nd Avenue. Houston did, however, admit to using other substances at times, including cocaine.

In December 2002, Houston released her fifth studio album, Just Whitney.... The album included productions from then-husband Bobby Brown, as well as Missy Elliott and Babyface, and marked the first time that Houston did not produce with Clive Davis as Davis had been released by top management at BMG. Upon its release, Just Whitney... received mixed reviews. The album debuted at number 9 on the Billboard 200 chart and it had the highest first week sales of any album Houston had ever released. The four singles released from the album did not fare well on the Billboard Hot 100, but became dance chart hits. Just Whitney... was certified platinum in the United States, and sold approximately three million worldwide.

On a June 2003 trip to Israel, Houston said of her visit, "I've never felt like this in any other country. I feel at home, I feel wonderful."

In late 2003, Houston released her first Christmas album One Wish: The Holiday Album, with a collection of traditional holiday songs. Houston produced the album with Mervyn Warren and Gordon Chambers. A single titled "One Wish (for Christmas)" reached the Top 20 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and the album was certified gold in the US. Having always been a touring artist, Houston spent most of 2004 touring and performing in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Russia. In September 2004, she gave a surprise performance at the World Music Awards in a tribute to long-time friend Clive Davis. After the show, Davis and Houston announced plans to go into the studio to work on her new album.

In early 2004, husband Bobby Brown starred in his own reality TV program, Being Bobby Brown on the Bravo network, which provided a view into the domestic goings-on in the Brown household. Though it was Brown's vehicle, Houston was a prominent figure throughout the show, receiving as much screen time as Brown. The series aired in 2005 and featured Houston in, what some would say, not her most flattering moments. The Hollywood Reporter said it was "undoubtedly the most disgusting and execrable series ever to ooze its way onto television". Despite the perceived train-wreck nature of the show, the series gave Bravo its highest ratings in its time slot and continued Houston's successful forays into film and television. The show was not renewed for a second season after Houston stated that she would no longer appear in it, and Brown and Bravo could not come to an agreement for another season.

2006–2012: Return to music, I Look to You, tour and film comeback

After years of controversy and turmoil, Houston separated from Bobby Brown in September 2006, filing for divorce the following month. On February 1, 2007, Houston asked the court to fast track their divorce. The divorce was finalized on April 24, 2007, with Houston granted custody of the couple's daughter. On May 4, Houston sold the suburban Atlanta home featured in Being Bobby Brown for $1.19 million. A few days later, Brown sued Houston in Orange County, California court in an attempt to change the terms of their custody agreement. Brown also sought child and spousal support from Houston. In the lawsuit, Brown claimed that financial and emotional problems prevented him from properly responding to Houston's divorce petition. Brown lost at his court hearing as the judge dismissed his appeal to overrule the custody terms, leaving Houston with full custody and Brown with no spousal support. In March 2007, Clive Davis of Arista Records announced that Houston would begin recording a new album. In October 2007, Arista released another compilation The Ultimate Collection outside the United States.

Houston gave her first interview in seven years in September 2009, appearing on Oprah Winfrey's season premiere. The interview was billed as "the most anticipated music interview of the decade". Whitney admitted on the show to using drugs with former husband Bobby Brown, who "laced marijuana with rock cocaine". She told Oprah that before The Bodyguard her drug use was light, but after the film's success and the birth of her daughter it got heavier, and by 1996 "[doing drugs] was an everyday thing... I wasn't happy by that point in time. I was losing myself."

Houston released her new album, I Look to You, in August 2009. The album's first two singles were the title track "I Look to You" and "Million Dollar Bill". The album entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1, with Houston's best opening week sales of 305,000 copies, marking Houston's first number one album since The Bodyguard, and Houston's first studio album to reach number one since 1987's Whitney. Houston also appeared on European television programs to promote the album. She performed the song "I Look to You" on the German television show Wetten, dass..?. Three days later, she performed the worldwide first single from I Look to You, "Million Dollar Bill", on the French television show Le Grand Journal. Houston appeared as guest mentor on The X Factor in the United Kingdom. She performed "Million Dollar Bill" on the following day's results show, completing the song even as a strap in the back of her dress popped open two seconds into the performance. She later commented that she "sang [herself] out of [her] clothes".

The performance was poorly received by the British media, and was variously described as "weird" and "ungracious", "shambolic" and a "flop". Despite this reception, "Million Dollar Bill" jumped to its peak from 14 to number 5 (her first UK top 5 for over a decade), and three weeks after release I Look to You went gold. Houston appeared on the Italian version of The X Factor, also performing "Million Dollar Bill", this time to excellent reviews. Houston was later awarded a Gold certificate for achieving over 50,000 CD sales of I Look to You in Italy. In November, Houston performed "I Didn't Know My Own Strength" at the 2009 American Music Awards in Los Angeles, California. Two days later, Houston performed "Million Dollar Bill" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" on the Dancing with the Stars season 9 finale. As of December 2009, I Look to You has been certified platinum by the RIAA for sales of more than one million copies in the United States. On January 26, 2010, her debut album was re-released in a special edition entitled Whitney Houston – The Deluxe Anniversary Edition.

Houston later embarked on a world tour, entitled the Nothing but Love World Tour. It was her first world tour in over ten years and was announced as a triumphant comeback. However, some poor reviews and rescheduled concerts brought some negative media attention. Houston canceled some concerts because of illness and received widespread negative reviews from fans who were disappointed in the quality of her voice and performance. Some fans reportedly walked out of her concerts.

In January 2010, Houston was nominated for two NAACP Image Awards, one for Best Female Artist and one for Best Music Video. She won the award for Best Music Video for her single "I Look to You". On January 16, she received The BET Honors Award for Entertainer citing her lifetime achievements spanning over 25 years in the industry. The 2010 BET Honors award was held at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. and aired on February 1, 2010. Jennifer Hudson and Kim Burrell performed in honor of her, garnering positive reviews. Houston also received a nomination from the Echo Awards, Germany's version of the Grammys, for Best International Artist. In April 2010, the UK newspaper The Mirror reported that Houston was thinking about recording her eighth studio album and wanted to collaborate with will.i.am (of The Black Eyed Peas), her first choice for a collaboration.

Houston also performed the song "I Look to You" on the 2011 BET Celebration of Gospel, with gospel–jazz singer Kim Burrell, held at the Staples Center, Los Angeles. The performance aired on January 30, 2011. Early in 2011, she gave an uneven performance in tribute to cousin Dionne Warwick at music mogul Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy gala. In May 2011, Houston enrolled in a rehabilitation center again, as an out-patient, citing drug and alcohol problems. A representative for Houston said that it was a part of Houston's "longstanding recovery process".

In September 2011, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Houston would produce and star alongside Jordin Sparks and Mike Epps in the remake of the 1976 film Sparkle. In the film, Houston portrays Sparks' "not-so encouraging" mother. Houston is also credited as an executive producer of the film. Debra Martin Chase, producer of Sparkle, stated that Houston deserved the title considering she had been there from the beginning in 2001, when Houston obtained Sparkle production rights. R&B singer Aaliyah – originally tapped to star as Sparkle – died in a 2001 plane crash. Her death derailed production, which would have begun in 2002. Houston's remake of Sparkle was filmed in the fall of 2011 over a two-month period, and was released by TriStar Pictures. On May 21, 2012, "Celebrate", the last song Houston recorded with Sparks, premiered at RyanSeacrest.com. It was made available for digital download on iTunes on June 5. The song was featured on the Sparkle: Music from the Motion Picture soundtrack as the first official single. The movie was released on August 17, 2012 in the United States. The accompanying music video for "Celebrate" was filmed on May 30, 2012. The video was shot over 2 days, and a sneak peek of the video premiered on Entertainment Tonight on June 4, 2012.

Death and funeral

On February 9, 2012, Houston visited singers Brandy and Monica, together with Clive Davis, at their rehearsals for Davis' pre-Grammy Awards party at The Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills. That same day, she made her last public performance, when she joined Kelly Price on stage in Hollywood, California, and sang "Jesus Loves Me".

Two days later, on February 11, Houston was found unconscious in Suite 434 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, submerged in the bathtub. Beverly Hills paramedics arrived at approximately 3:30 p.m. and found the singer unresponsive and performed CPR. Houston was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m. PST. The cause of death was not immediately known. Local police said there were "no obvious signs of criminal intent". On March 22, 2012, the Los Angeles County coroner's office reported the cause of Houston's death was drowning and the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use". The office stated the amount of cocaine found in Houston's body indicated that she used the substance shortly before her death. Toxicology results revealed additional drugs in her system: diphenhydramine, alprazolam, cannabis and cyclobenzaprine. The manner of death was listed as an "accident".

An invitation-only memorial service was held for Houston on Saturday, February 18, 2012, at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. The service was scheduled for two hours, but lasted four. Among those who performed at the funeral were Stevie Wonder (rewritten version of "Ribbon in the Sky", and "Love's in Need of Love Today"), CeCe Winans ("Don't Cry", and "Jesus Loves Me"), Alicia Keys ("Send Me an Angel"), Kim Burrell (rewritten version of "A Change Is Gonna Come"), and R. Kelly ("I Look to You"). The performances were interspersed with hymns by the church choir and remarks by Clive Davis, Houston's record producer; Kevin Costner; Rickey Minor, her music director; her cousin, Dionne Warwick; and Ray Watson, her security guard for the past 11 years. Aretha Franklin was listed on the program and was expected to sing, but was unable to attend the service. Bobby Brown, Houston's ex-husband, was also invited to the funeral but he left before the service began. Houston was buried on February 19, 2012, in Fairview Cemetery, in Westfield, New Jersey, next to her father, John Russell Houston, who died in 2003. In June 2012, the McDonald's Gospelfest in Newark became a tribute to Houston.

Reaction

Pre-Grammy party

The Clive Davis's pre-Grammy party that Houston was expected to attend, which featured many of the biggest names in music and movies, went on as scheduled although it was quickly turned into a tribute to Houston. Davis spoke about Houston's death at the evening's start:

By now you have all learned of the unspeakably tragic news of our beloved Whitney's passing. I don't have to mask my emotion in front of a room full of so many dear friends. I am personally devastated by the loss of someone who has meant so much to me for so many years. Whitney was so full of life. She was so looking forward to tonight even though she wasn't scheduled to perform. Whitney was a beautiful person and a talent beyond compare. She graced this stage with her regal presence and gave so many memorable performances here over the years. Simply put, Whitney would have wanted the music to go on and her family asked that we carry on.

Tony Bennett spoke of Houston's death before performing at Davis's party. He said, "First, it was Michael Jackson, then Amy Winehouse, now, the magnificent Whitney Houston." Bennett sang "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" and said of Houston, "When I first heard her, I called Clive Davis and said, 'You finally found the greatest singer I've ever heard in my life.'"

Some celebrities opposed Davis' decision to continue on the party while a police investigation was being conducted in Houston's hotel room and her body was still in the building. Chaka Khan, in an interview with CNN's Piers Morgan on February 13, 2012, shared that she felt the party should have been canceled, saying: "I thought that was complete insanity. And knowing Whitney I don't believe that she would have said 'the show must go on.' She's the kind of woman that would've said 'Stop everything! Un-unh. I'm not going to be there.' [...] I don't know what could motivate a person to have a party in a building where the person whose life he had influenced so enormously and whose life had been affected by hers. They were like... I don't understand how that party went on." Sharon Osbourne condemned the Davis party, declaring: "I think it was disgraceful that the party went on. I don't want to be in a hotel room when there's someone you admire who's tragically lost their life four floors up. I'm not interested in being in that environment and I think when you grieve someone, you do it privately, you do it with people who understand you. I thought it was so wrong."

Further reaction and tributes

Many other celebrities released statements responding to Houston's death. Darlene Love, Houston's godmother, hearing the news of her death, said, "It felt like I had been struck by a lightning bolt in my gut." Dolly Parton, whose song "I Will Always Love You" was covered by Houston, said, "I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song, and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, 'Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed.'" Aretha Franklin said, "It's so stunning and unbelievable. I couldn't believe what I was reading coming across the TV screen." Others paying tribute included Mariah Carey, Quincy Jones and Oprah Winfrey.

Moments after news of her death emerged, CNN, MSNBC and Fox News all broke from their regularly scheduled programming to dedicate time to non-stop coverage of Houston's death. All three featured live interviews with people who had known Houston including those that had worked with her, interviewed her along with some of her peers in the music industry. Saturday Night Live displayed a photo of a smiling Houston, alongside Molly Shannon, from her 1996 appearance. MTV and VH-1 interrupted their regularly scheduled programming on Sunday February 12 to air many of Houston's classic videos with MTV often airing news segments in between and featuring various reactions from fans and celebrities.

Houston's former husband, Bobby Brown, was reported to be "in and out of crying fits" since receiving the news. He did not cancel a scheduled performance and within hours of his ex-wife's sudden death, an audience in Mississippi observed as Brown blew kisses skyward, tearfully saying: "I love you, Whitney."

Ken Ehrlich, executive producer of the 54th Grammy Awards, announced that Jennifer Hudson would perform a tribute to Houston at the February 12, 2012 ceremony. He said "event organizers believed Hudson – an Academy Award-winning actress and Grammy Award-winning artist – could perform a respectful musical tribute to Houston." Ehrlich went on to say: "It's too fresh in everyone's memory to do more at this time, but we would be remiss if we didn't recognize Whitney's remarkable contribution to music fans in general, and in particular her close ties with the Grammy telecast and her Grammy wins and nominations over the years." At the start of the awards ceremony, footage of Houston performing "I Will Always Love You" from the 1994 Grammys was shown following a prayer read by host LL Cool J. Later in the program, following a montage of photos of musicians who died in 2011 with Houston singing "Saving All My Love for You" at the 1986 Grammys, Hudson paid tribute to Houston and the other artists by performing "I Will Always Love You". The tribute was partially credited for the Grammys telecast getting its second highest ratings in history.

Houston was honored in the form of various tributes at the 43rd NAACP Image Awards, held on February 17. An image montage of Houston and important black figures who died in 2011 was followed by video footage from the 1994 ceremony, which depicted her accepting two Image Awards for outstanding female artist and entertainer of the year. Following the video tribute, Yolanda Adams delivered a rendition of "I Love the Lord" from The Preacher's Wife Soundtrack. In the finale of the ceremony, Kirk Franklin and the Family started their performance with "The Greatest Love of All". The 2012 BRIT Awards, which took place at London's O2 Arena on February 21, also paid tribute to Houston by playing a 30-second video montage of her music videos with a snippet of "One Moment in Time" as the background music in the ceremony's first segment. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said that all New Jersey state flags would be flown at half-staff on Tuesday, February 21 to honor Houston. Houston was also featured, alongside other recently deceased figures from the movie industry, in the In Memoriam montage at the 84th Academy Awards on February 26, 2012.

Artistry and legacy

Voice

Houston was a mezzo-soprano, and was commonly referred to as "The Voice" in reference to her exceptional vocal talent. She was third in MTV's list of 22 Greatest Voices, and sixth on Online Magazine COVE's list of the 100 Best Pop Vocalists with a score of 48.5/50. Jon Pareles of The New York Times stated she "always had a great big voice, a technical marvel from its velvety depths to its ballistic middle register to its ringing and airy heights". In 2008, Rolling Stone listed Houston as the thirty-fourth of the 100 greatest singers of all time, stating, "Her voice is a mammoth, coruscating cry: Few vocalists could get away with opening a song with 45 unaccompanied seconds of singing, but Houston's powerhouse version of Dolly Parton's 'I Will Always Love You' is a tour de force." Matthew Perpetua from Rolling Stone also eulogized Houston's vocal, enumerating ten performances, including "How Will I Know" from 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."

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." Mariah Carey stated, "She [Whitney] has a really rich, strong mid-belt that very few people have. She sounds really good, really strong." While in her review of I Look to You, music critic Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times writes, "[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", adding "When she was at her best, nothing could match her huge, clean, cool mezzo-soprano."

Lauren Everitt from BBC News Magazine commented on melisma used in Houston's recording and its influence. "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."

Houston's vocal stylings have had a significant impact on the music industry. 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. 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."

Elysa Gardner of the Los Angeles Times in her review for The Preacher's Wife Soundtrack praised Houston's vocal ability highly, 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."

Influence

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. Following Houston's breakthrough, other African-American women, such as Janet Jackson and Anita Baker, were successful in popular music. Baker commented that "Because of what Whitney and Sade did, there was an opening for me... For radio stations, black women singers aren't taboo anymore."

AllMusic noted her contribution to the success of black artists on the pop scene, commenting, "Houston was able to handle big adult contemporary ballads, effervescent, stylish dance-pop, and slick urban contemporary soul with equal dexterity" and that "the result was an across-the-board appeal that was matched by scant few artists of her era, and helped her become one of the first black artists to find success on MTV in Michael Jackson's wake". The New York Times stated that "Houston was a major catalyst for a movement within black music that recognized the continuity of soul, pop, jazz and gospel vocal traditions". Richard Corliss of Time magazine commented on her initial success breaking various barriers:

Of her first album's ten cuts, six were ballads. This chanteuse [Houston] had to fight for air play with hard rockers. The young lady had to stand uncowed in the locker room of macho rock. The soul strutter had to seduce a music audience that anointed few black artists with superstardom. [...] She was a phenomenon waiting to happen, a canny tapping of the listener's yen for a return to the musical middle. And because every new star creates her own genre, her success has helped other blacks, other women, other smooth singers find an avid reception in the pop marketplace.

Stephen Holden of The New York Times said that Houston "revitalized the tradition of strong gospel-oriented pop-soul singing". Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times referred to the singer as a "national treasure". Jon Caramanica, other music critic of The New York Times, called Houston "R&B's great modernizer", adding "slowly but surely reconciling the ambition and praise of the church with the movements and needs of the body and the glow of the mainstream". He also drew comparisons between Houston's influence and other big names' on 1980s pop:

She was, alongside Michael Jackson and Madonna, one of the crucial figures to hybridize pop in the 1980s, though her strategy was far less radical than that of her peers. Jackson and Madonna were by turns lascivious and brutish and, crucially, willing to let their production speak more loudly than their voices, an option Ms. Houston never went for. Also, she was less prolific than either of them, achieving most of her renown on the strength of her first three solo albums and one soundtrack, released from 1985 to 1992. If she was less influential than they were in the years since, it was only because her gift was so rare, so impossible to mimic. Jackson and Madonna built worldviews around their voices; Ms. Houston’s voice was the worldview. She was someone more to be admired, like a museum piece, than to be emulated.

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. "Because Whitney, more than any other single artist ― Michael Jackson included ― effectively mapped out the course of modern R&B, setting the bar for standards of soul vocalese, and creating the original template for what we now routinely refer to as the 'soul diva' ", stated Gill. "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".

Houston was considered by many to be a "singer's singer", who had an influence on countless other vocalists, both female and male. Similarly, Steve Huey from Allmusic wrote that the shadow of Houston's prodigious technique still looms large over nearly every pop diva and smooth urban soul singer – male or female – in her wake, and spawned a legion of imitators. Rolling Stone, on her biography, stated that Houston "redefined the image of a female soul icon and inspired singers ranging from Mariah Carey to Rihanna". Essence ranked Houston sixth on their list of 50 Most Influential R&B Stars of all time, calling her "the diva to end all divas".

A number of artists have acknowledged Houston as an influence, including Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Toni Braxton, Christina Aguilera, LeAnn Rimes, Jessica Simpson, Nelly Furtado, Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears, Ciara, P!nk, Aneeka, Ashanti, Robin Thicke, Jennifer Hudson, Stacie Orrico, Amerie, Destiny's Child, and Ariana Grande. Mariah Carey, who was often compared to Houston, said, "She [Houston] has been a big influence on me." She later told USA Today that "none of us would sound the same if Aretha Franklin hadn't ever put out a record, or Whitney Houston hadn't." Celine Dion who was the third member of the troika that dominated female pop singing in the 1990s, did a telephone interview with Good Morning America on February 13, 2012, telling "Whitney's been an amazing inspiration for me. I've been singing with her my whole career, actually. I wanted to have a career like hers, sing like her, look beautiful like her." Beyoncé told the Globe and Mail that Houston "inspired [her] to get up there and do what [she] did". She also wrote on her website on the day after Houston's death, "I, like every singer, always wanted to be just like [Houston]. Her voice was perfect. Strong but soothing. Soulful and classic. Her vibrato, her cadence, her control. So many of my life's memories are attached to a Whitney Houston song. She is our queen and she opened doors and provided a blueprint for all of us."

Mary J. Blige said that Houston inviting her onstage during VH1's Divas Live show in 1999 "opened doors for [her] all over the world". Brandy stated, "The first Whitney Houston CD was genius. That CD introduced the world to her angelic yet powerful voice. Without Whitney, half of this generation of singers wouldn't be singing." Kelly Rowland, in an Ebony's feature article celebrating black music in June 2006, recalled that "[I] wanted to be a singer after I saw Whitney Houston on TV singing 'Greatest Love of All'. I wanted to sing like Whitney Houston in that red dress." She added that "And I have never, ever forgotten that song [Greatest Love of All]. I learned it backward, forward, sideways. The video still brings chills to me. When you wish and pray for something as a kid, you never know what blessings God will give you."

Alicia Keys said "Whitney is an artist who inspired me from [the time I was] a little girl." Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson cites Houston as her biggest musical influence. She told Newsday that she learned from Houston the "difference between being able to sing and knowing how to sing". Leona Lewis, who has been called "the new Whitney Houston", also cites her as an influence. Lewis stated that she idolized her as a little girl.

Awards and achievements

Houston was the most awarded female artist of all time, according to Guinness World Records, with two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among a total of 415 career awards as of 2010. She held the all-time record for the most American Music Awards of any female solo artist and shared the record with Michael Jackson for the most AMAs ever won in a single year with eight wins in 1994. Houston won a record 11 Billboard Music Awards at its fourth ceremony in 1993. She also had the record for the most WMAs won in a single year, winning five awards at the 6th World Music Awards in 1994.

In May 2003, Houston placed at number three on VH1's list of "50 Greatest Women of the Video Era", behind Madonna and Janet Jackson. She was also ranked at number 116 on their list of the "200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons of All Time". 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. Similarly, she was ranked as one of the "Top 100 Greatest Artists of All Time" by VH1 in September 2010. 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.

Houston's debut album is listed as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine and is on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Definitive 200 list. In 2004, Billboard picked the success of her first release on the charts as one of 110 Musical Milestones in its history. 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. In 1997, the Franklin School in East Orange, New Jersey was renamed to The Whitney E. Houston Academy School of Creative and Performing Arts. In 2001, Houston was the first artist to be given a BET Lifetime Achievement Award. Houston is one of pop music's best-selling music artists of all-time, with an estimated 170–200 million records sold worldwide. She was ranked as the fourth best-selling female artist in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with 55 million certified albums sold in the US, and held an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Grambling State University, Louisiana. Houston was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2013. In August 2014, Houston was inducted to the official Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in its second class.

Film

On April 27, 2016, it was announced that the British Academy Award winning film director Kevin Macdonald, who created Marley (2012) and the production team, Altitude, behind the controversial award-winning film about Amy Winehouse, Amy (2015), that a documentary film on Whitney Houston's life and death, entitled simply as Whitney is in progress and is scheduled to be released in 2017. This is the first documentary to be officially authorized by the estate that will tell the unvarnished and authentic story of the singer’s life in a film, including access to never-before-seen footage of Houston, exclusive demo recordings, rare performances and audio archive. Macdonald also will interview those who knew her best, including Clive Davis, founder and president of Arista Records. Macdonald stated; "The story that is never told about Whitney is just how brilliant she was as an artist; by many measures she had the greatest voice of the last 50 years. She changed the way pop music was sung - bringing it back full circle to its blues and gospel roots. She was also completely unique in being a black pop star who transcended her race globally with her work sold in countries where black artists don’t sell."

Discography

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)

Wikipedia

#Whitney Houston

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