On February 11 it will be 10 years since the beloved music icon was discovered face down in the bathtub of a Beverly Hills hotel. The 48-year-old had been due to perform at a pre-Grammy Awards party in LA that night, but there would be no introductory spotlight, no spine-tingling moment when her extraordinary three-octave voice swept through the room. No more adoring applause.
Whitney was gone and her untimely death was a dramatic end to a life that had become blighted by the very fame that had made her so loved.
Born on August 9, 1963, talented Whitney – cousin to Heartbreaker songstress Dionne Warwick and unofficial goddaughter to Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin – was lead soloist for her gospel choir by the tender age of 11.
Eight years later, the well-mannered New Jersey girl with a “million-watt smile” had inked her first recording contract, and the combination of her spectacular voice and supermodel looks was dynamite. With songs like How Will I Know and Saving All My Love for You, she dominated charts around the world, smashing a record previously held by The Beatles by releasing seven number-one hits in a row.
“I was a millionaire by the time I was 22,” she once confessed.
This story is from the February 14, 2022 edition of New Zealand Woman's Weekly.
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This story is from the February 14, 2022 edition of New Zealand Woman's Weekly.
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