TaylorHicksRocks
10-12-2007, 04:13 PM
She deserves her own thread what a powerful voice!!!!
Early career: 1977–1984
Houston spent much of her teenage years touring night clubs with her mother. In 1977, at fourteen years of age, Houston was featured as the lead singer on the Michael Zager Band’s single “Life’s a Party.” Zager subsequently offered to help obtain a recording contract for the young singer, but Cissy declined, wanting her daughter to finish school first. Then in 1979, at age sixteen, Houston sang background vocals on Chaka Khan’s hit single "I'm Every Woman", a song she would later turn into a bigger hit for herself on her monstrous selling "The Bodyguard" soundtrack album. In the early 1980s, Houston worked as a fashion model, snagging the cover of Seventeen magazine and appearing in a Canada Dry soft drink commercial. While modelling, and touring nightclubs with her mother, she continued her recording career, working with producers Michael Bienhorn, 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” (composed by Hugh Hopper, lyrics by Robert Wyatt), which Robert Christgau of the The Village Voice called "one of the most gorgeous ballads you've ever heard" upon the album's release.
Houston had previously been offered several recording contracts (Michael Zager in 1980 and Elektra Records in 1981). In 1983, Gerry Griffith, an A&R representative from Arista Records, saw her performing with her mother in a New York City night club and was impressed. He convinced Clive Davis, Arista's label head, to take time to see Houston perform at the nightclub. Davis, too, was impressed after the performance and offered her a worldwide recording contract, which Houston signed. Later in the year, Whitney made her national televised debut alongside Davis on the The Merv Griffin Show.
Houston signed with Arista in 1983 but did not began work on her album immediately. Arista put forth the deal to make sure no other label signed the singer from under them. At first, Davis had a hard time finding material for Houston to record. Many major producers would pass on her. Houston first recorded a duet with Teddy Pendergrass entitled “Hold Me,” which appeared on his album, Love Language. The single became a Top 5 R&B hit, and would also appear on her debut album as well.
Debut: 1985–1986
When Houston's self-titled 1985 debut album was released in February, it initially sold modestly and failed to make in impact. The plan was to first appeal to a black audience, hence the release of the lead single “You Give Good Love,” which peaked at #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 while going #1 on the R&B Charts. With the song's success, the album began climbing the charts. The follow-up singles, “Saving All My Love for You,” “How Will I Know,” and “Greatest Love of All” all peaked at number one on the pop singles chart and all would help establish a cross-over base. By 1986, a year after its initial release, Whitney Houston topped the Billboard 200 album chart and stayed there for 14 consecutive weeks. It became an international success, selling over thirteen million copies in the United States alone —making it the best-selling debut album by a female artist. To date, the album has sold approximately 25 million copies worldwide. The album received mainly positive reviews. Many praised the new voice with Rollingstone calling her "one of the most exciting new voices in years" The same year, Houston launched her first headlining tour called The Greatest Love Tour. Because of her duet "Hold Me" in 1984, Houston was ineligible for 'Best New Artist' at the 1986 Grammys. Many felt it was unfair because she the award was hers to lose. However, she did win her first Grammy award for ‘Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female’ for “Saving All My Love for You”. At the same award show, Houston performed her Grammy-winning hit; the performance won Houston her first and only Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. Houston also won two American Music Awards for ‘Favorite Soul/ R&B Video’ and ‘Favorite Soul/ R&B Single’ for “Saving All My Love” and “You Give Good Love” respectively; and a MTV Video Music Award for ‘Best Female Video of the Year’ (“How Will I Know”). Houston's grand entrance into the music industry was listed as one of the 25 musical milestones of the last 25 years according to USA Today.
Houston’s second album, Whitney, was released in June 1987, and became the first album in history by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 in the US and the UK album chart, as well as topping the charts in several countries around the world. The album's first four singles, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “Didn't We Almost Have It All,” “So Emotional,” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” all peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100—which brought her a total of seven consecutive Hot 100 number-one hits; breaking the record of six previously shared by The Beatles and The Bee Gees. The album's fifth, and final single, “Love Will Save the Day” also peaked in the Top 10 on the Hot 100. Whitney was certified nine times platinum in America, and sold approximately 20 million worldwide.
Houston won her second Grammy in 1988, for ‘Best Female Pop Vocal Performance’ (“I Wanna Dance With Somebody”) and embarked on the worldwide The Moment of Truth tour. The same year, she recorded a song for NBC's coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics, “One Moment in Time,” which peaked at number five in the U.S., while reaching number one in the UK and Germany.
With the success of her first two albums, Houston was a cross over superstar. However, many critics complained that her music was "bland" and that she sounded "too White". Then at the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards, Houston's name was called out for a nomination before the audience booed her. This led the pop singer to take a more urban direction in her music. I'm Your Baby Tonight, Houston’s third studio album, was released in November 1990 and featured collaborations with 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. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and went on to be certified four times platinum in the US, selling ten million worldwide. The first two singles, “I’m Your Baby Tonight” and “All The Man That I Need” each hit number one on both the pop and R&B singles charts respectively. The third and fourth singles: “Miracle,” and “My Name Is Not Susan” peaked at numbers nine and twenty, respectively —the fifth single, "I Belong to You", peaked in the Top 10 on the R&B charts, while yet another single, the duet with Stevie Wonder entitled, "We Didn't Know", made the R&B Top 20. The sales of the album were down drastically compared to her previous efforts.
Whitney performed “The Star Spangled Banner” at Super Bowl XXV in January 1991. Her recording on the song was released as a commercial single, reaching the top twenty on the U.S. Hot 100; making her the only artist to turn the national anthem into a chart hit (ten years later, the song was re-released after the September 11, 2001 attacks, this time peaking becoming a Top 10 hit.) Houston donated her share of the proceeds to the American Red Cross. This legendary performance of the national anthem was named number one in the NFL’s 2003 list of Top 25 greatest moments in NFL history.[citation needed]. VH1 also listed it as the 12th greatest moment that rocked TV.
In 1991, Houston embarked I’m Your Baby Tonight World Tour, which Rolling Stone poll voters voted “Worst Tour of the Year.” The tour didn't sell out as much as her previous tours.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_Houston
Early career: 1977–1984
Houston spent much of her teenage years touring night clubs with her mother. In 1977, at fourteen years of age, Houston was featured as the lead singer on the Michael Zager Band’s single “Life’s a Party.” Zager subsequently offered to help obtain a recording contract for the young singer, but Cissy declined, wanting her daughter to finish school first. Then in 1979, at age sixteen, Houston sang background vocals on Chaka Khan’s hit single "I'm Every Woman", a song she would later turn into a bigger hit for herself on her monstrous selling "The Bodyguard" soundtrack album. In the early 1980s, Houston worked as a fashion model, snagging the cover of Seventeen magazine and appearing in a Canada Dry soft drink commercial. While modelling, and touring nightclubs with her mother, she continued her recording career, working with producers Michael Bienhorn, 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” (composed by Hugh Hopper, lyrics by Robert Wyatt), which Robert Christgau of the The Village Voice called "one of the most gorgeous ballads you've ever heard" upon the album's release.
Houston had previously been offered several recording contracts (Michael Zager in 1980 and Elektra Records in 1981). In 1983, Gerry Griffith, an A&R representative from Arista Records, saw her performing with her mother in a New York City night club and was impressed. He convinced Clive Davis, Arista's label head, to take time to see Houston perform at the nightclub. Davis, too, was impressed after the performance and offered her a worldwide recording contract, which Houston signed. Later in the year, Whitney made her national televised debut alongside Davis on the The Merv Griffin Show.
Houston signed with Arista in 1983 but did not began work on her album immediately. Arista put forth the deal to make sure no other label signed the singer from under them. At first, Davis had a hard time finding material for Houston to record. Many major producers would pass on her. Houston first recorded a duet with Teddy Pendergrass entitled “Hold Me,” which appeared on his album, Love Language. The single became a Top 5 R&B hit, and would also appear on her debut album as well.
Debut: 1985–1986
When Houston's self-titled 1985 debut album was released in February, it initially sold modestly and failed to make in impact. The plan was to first appeal to a black audience, hence the release of the lead single “You Give Good Love,” which peaked at #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 while going #1 on the R&B Charts. With the song's success, the album began climbing the charts. The follow-up singles, “Saving All My Love for You,” “How Will I Know,” and “Greatest Love of All” all peaked at number one on the pop singles chart and all would help establish a cross-over base. By 1986, a year after its initial release, Whitney Houston topped the Billboard 200 album chart and stayed there for 14 consecutive weeks. It became an international success, selling over thirteen million copies in the United States alone —making it the best-selling debut album by a female artist. To date, the album has sold approximately 25 million copies worldwide. The album received mainly positive reviews. Many praised the new voice with Rollingstone calling her "one of the most exciting new voices in years" The same year, Houston launched her first headlining tour called The Greatest Love Tour. Because of her duet "Hold Me" in 1984, Houston was ineligible for 'Best New Artist' at the 1986 Grammys. Many felt it was unfair because she the award was hers to lose. However, she did win her first Grammy award for ‘Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female’ for “Saving All My Love for You”. At the same award show, Houston performed her Grammy-winning hit; the performance won Houston her first and only Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. Houston also won two American Music Awards for ‘Favorite Soul/ R&B Video’ and ‘Favorite Soul/ R&B Single’ for “Saving All My Love” and “You Give Good Love” respectively; and a MTV Video Music Award for ‘Best Female Video of the Year’ (“How Will I Know”). Houston's grand entrance into the music industry was listed as one of the 25 musical milestones of the last 25 years according to USA Today.
Houston’s second album, Whitney, was released in June 1987, and became the first album in history by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 in the US and the UK album chart, as well as topping the charts in several countries around the world. The album's first four singles, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “Didn't We Almost Have It All,” “So Emotional,” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” all peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100—which brought her a total of seven consecutive Hot 100 number-one hits; breaking the record of six previously shared by The Beatles and The Bee Gees. The album's fifth, and final single, “Love Will Save the Day” also peaked in the Top 10 on the Hot 100. Whitney was certified nine times platinum in America, and sold approximately 20 million worldwide.
Houston won her second Grammy in 1988, for ‘Best Female Pop Vocal Performance’ (“I Wanna Dance With Somebody”) and embarked on the worldwide The Moment of Truth tour. The same year, she recorded a song for NBC's coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics, “One Moment in Time,” which peaked at number five in the U.S., while reaching number one in the UK and Germany.
With the success of her first two albums, Houston was a cross over superstar. However, many critics complained that her music was "bland" and that she sounded "too White". Then at the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards, Houston's name was called out for a nomination before the audience booed her. This led the pop singer to take a more urban direction in her music. I'm Your Baby Tonight, Houston’s third studio album, was released in November 1990 and featured collaborations with 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. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and went on to be certified four times platinum in the US, selling ten million worldwide. The first two singles, “I’m Your Baby Tonight” and “All The Man That I Need” each hit number one on both the pop and R&B singles charts respectively. The third and fourth singles: “Miracle,” and “My Name Is Not Susan” peaked at numbers nine and twenty, respectively —the fifth single, "I Belong to You", peaked in the Top 10 on the R&B charts, while yet another single, the duet with Stevie Wonder entitled, "We Didn't Know", made the R&B Top 20. The sales of the album were down drastically compared to her previous efforts.
Whitney performed “The Star Spangled Banner” at Super Bowl XXV in January 1991. Her recording on the song was released as a commercial single, reaching the top twenty on the U.S. Hot 100; making her the only artist to turn the national anthem into a chart hit (ten years later, the song was re-released after the September 11, 2001 attacks, this time peaking becoming a Top 10 hit.) Houston donated her share of the proceeds to the American Red Cross. This legendary performance of the national anthem was named number one in the NFL’s 2003 list of Top 25 greatest moments in NFL history.[citation needed]. VH1 also listed it as the 12th greatest moment that rocked TV.
In 1991, Houston embarked I’m Your Baby Tonight World Tour, which Rolling Stone poll voters voted “Worst Tour of the Year.” The tour didn't sell out as much as her previous tours.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_Houston