MAIN Art & ... Pop Culture Pop Music Whitney Houston

News of Whitney's Houston's death has plunged millions of her fans into mourning around the world. The pop divia fondly remembered for "Didn't We Almost Have it All", The Greatest Love of All," "I'm Every Woman" and dozens more chart-busting hits was 48 at the time of her death.

On the comeback trail with new recordings - after years of drug addition and financial troubles - Whitney Houston was reportedly slated to retake the national stage as a judge in the US competition show, the X Factor.

Born Whitney Elizabeth Houston on August 9, 1963, she grew up in a singing dynasty in East Orange, New Jersey.

From day one, young Whitney was predisposed to becoming a worldwide singing sensation. She was born the daughter of singer Cissy Houston, and the first cousin to multi-octave Dionne Warwick. Shortly after her birth, she was christened in a local church with "Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin presiding as godmother.

Houston's early experience began in a Baptist church in Newark, New Jersey where she reportedly often brought the congregation to tears with a soulful rendition of a popular gospel hymn.

It was not long before the teenager was accompanying her mom at singing engagements & concerts, and playing background singer to other major soul & R&B acts, including Lou Rawls and Chaka Khan.

Houston finally made her own debut onto the pop music scene in 1987. Exhibiting a well-developed and emotionally soaring vocal range, her first album climbed to the top of the charts, and spun off three No. 1 single hits - "How Will I Know", "Saving All My Love for You", and "The Greatest Love of All."

Throughout the rest of the decade and into the 1990's, Houston often became a leading nominee and/or winner at the annual Grammy Awards. And with her first foray into Hollywood in 1992 she starred in The Bodyguard (opposite Kevin Costner) from which the anthem, I Will Always Love You, became a worldwide megahit.

That same year she married singer Bobby Brown and, since then, sporadic successes checkered Houston's once-solid career, which finally descended into a much-publicized battle with drug addiction first reported in 2004, when she was admitted to a drug rehabilitation center.

She was later re-admitted for treatment in 2005, the same year she appeared with Brown in the reality TV hit Being Bobby Brown, chronicling the life of her husband's homelife and career.

It was Whitney, however, who everyone watched - as the ravages of suspected use of crack and cocaine appeared to take their toll on her and by default upon her 12-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina.

The former pop diva made only brief guest appearances at concerts or benefits, and was an executive producer of the Disney Channel original movies "The Cheetah Girls" and "The Cheetah Girls 2."

In 2006, Houston was inadvertenly back in the tabloids in August when it was reported that a Sudanese writer claimed that Al-Qaeda leader, Ossama bin Laden, once expressed a desire to do away with Bobby Brown, and marry Houston saying that "Whitney Houston was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen."

A month later, the much-rumored breakup of Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston was confirmed by a spokesman who announced that Houston had filed for divorce on September 13, 2006. The divorce was finalized in April 2007 with custody of their teenage child, Bobbi Kristina, awarded to Whitney.

Her long-awaited comeback finally arrived in 2008 with fan excitment spilling over onto the Internet as her appropriately titled new single, "Like I Never Left" - her first since 2003 - was leaked onto the Web. A much-awaited national TV appearance resulted in a moving performance of "I Didn't Know My Own Strength" at the AMA Awards in November 2009, and cemented an emotional comeback with millions of fans both old and new.

For much of the remainder of her career, however, Houston performed before small audiences or at award ceremonies, and In May 2011 enrolled in rehabilitation center again, as an out-patient, citing drug and alcohol problems.

Reportedly partying late into the evening the night before, Whitney Houston was pronounced dead at 3:55 pm on Saturday, February 11, 2012 at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel. An accidental bathtub drowning has not been ruled out, although official autopsy results are still forthcoming.

Having passed just a day before the 2012 Grammy Awards, Houston was honored with several tributes. These included a clip from her performance of her mega-hit "I Will Always Love You" from the 1994 Grammy Awards telecast, followed by a live performance of the same song by singer Jennifer Hudson.

More about Whitney Houston around the Web:

Whitney Houston and Kelly Price perform at Price's pre-Grammy party on Feb. 9

Whitney Houston - Wikipedia coverage includes a complete biography, career highlights including discography & filmography plus publicity photos, album & CD covers, related links.

Whitney Houston - The official site with news & career updates, biography, online chat & discussion boards, related links to Whitney Houston fan sites.

Whitney Houston Lyrics - Complete lyrics in a huge catalog of Whitney Houston hits including I Wanna Dance with Somebody, How Will I Know, The Great Love of All, Saving All My Love for You, I Will Always Love You, Run to You, and more.

Classic Whitney Houston - Online tribute to Houston at her career height, featuring picture galleries of album & CD covers, magazine scans & publicity photos, audio & video clips, bio, movie & music reviews, related discussion forum.

All Whitney Houston - Archived fan site with extensive picture collection by year, bio, career chronology & professional accomplishments, chart history & sales statistics.