RIP Whitney Houston

What stands out to me about Whitney Houston is that her singing was brilliant whether she was in the throws of her life issues or at the peak of her powers, whether she was in studio or live, whether she was performing for a TV show audience or a Super Bowl crowd.

Has anyone ever seen a video of her singing poorly? There was one video I remember seeing of her singing "I Will Always Love You" where she was sweating bullets, shaking and looking a general mess. She looked horrible. She looked like she was about to pass out. She destroyed it.

 

At her peak she was very consistent.

Look up any video of her from the past 15 years, though, and it's painful. Her "comeback" concert on Good Morning America a few years ago was just sad.

 

I've acknowledged Houston's voice as being terrific. But Grammy victories and album sales aren't how we judge talent (any more than we judge a starting pitcher based on wins).

Have you listened to Ruth Brown, Audra McDonald, or Alfreda Burke? They all have/had pipes. but they didn't sing pop, get on MTV and the radio, or have Clive Davis marketing and producing them.

They're also not random people. Each of them has/dad successful careers. In fact, Brown has a TONY and a Grammy, and McDonald has four TONYs.

My only point is her voice wasn't some singular, generational voice. It wasn't a dime a dozen, but you have to look beyond the biggest selling artists. I've mentioned three off the top of my head. There are hundreds of comparable voices out there -- most we'll never hear of.

 

I can't wait until Mick Jagger passes away so we can debate him against Nathan Lane.

 

Yeah, I would have to agree with PCLoadLetter here, Versatile. Alcohol and drugs essentially ravaged her voice the last few years. Her recent "comeback" was embarrassing. George Diaz wrote the other day about watching her try to sing at the Winter Olympics in Torino, and how uncomfortable everyone was because she was so awful.

 

She didn't perform for a Super Bowl crowd.

 

I'm so with YF on this one.

Good pop voice. Outstanding even. Hall of Fame. But ultimately vanilla in a vanilla genre. Anyone who gets "goosebumps" from Whitney Houston's voice needs to expand their musical horizons a bit.

 

Good stuff. Mick's an international superstar. Much like Bert Lahr, Lane's great
on Broadway, but is a non-starter anywhere else.

 

The song she sang was played at the Super Bowl, so yeah, she did perform for a Super Bowl crowd.

Nice try, though.

 

Dick ... anyone who gets goosebumps over Whitney Houston's voice is fine. That's entirely different from getting them over her repertoire.

 

Awwwwww