People we love: Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston, August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012

Born on this day in 1963.

The entertainment world was shocked by the death of actress and recording star Whitney Houston in February of this year.

Houston was one of the world’s best selling music artists. She sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos. She is the only artist to chart seven consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits.

Her first acting role was starring in The Bodyguard with Kevin Costner in 1992. The soundtrack from the film won the 1994 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and her recording of “I Will Always Love You” became the best-selling single by a female artist in music history.

Houston married ex-New Edition singer Bobby Brown in 1987. Around that same time, Houston began using drugs and by 1996 she was using daily. She was admitted to rehab twice and in 2010 declared herself to be drug-free. But she returned to rehab in May 2011.

Houston was found dead in a hotel bathtub on February 11, 2012. In March the Los Angeles County Coroner stated that the cause of her death was accidental drowning due to the “effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use.” She was 48.


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