The team at United Leeds Endeavours were saddened to wake on Sunday morning to learn that singing legend Whitney Houston had passed away.
A spokesperson for United Leeds Endeavours said “We are deeply shocked and saddened like the rest of the world at the death of Whitney Houston. She was an incredibly talented musician and a huge star in the UK as well as the rest of the world. We are sure that her music will be enjoyed for generations to come.”
Whitney Houston appears to be the latest in a long line of talented musicians who has passed away before their time in recent years. Leeds-based direct marketing and sales company, United Leeds Endeavours, looks back at the singer’s career and her troubled life.
Houston, who has died at the age of 48, came from a background seeped in music. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of Dionne Warwick and had Aretha Franklin as her godmother. Whitney grew up in New Jersey and sang in church there before moving onto the New York club scene. She was offered a recording contract at 14 but her mother turned it down insisting that she must finish her schooling first. A brief, but successful career in modeling was a hiatus on the path to her first record contract at 19.
As a global superstar Whitney was prolific. United Leeds Endeavours learnt that she enjoyed 7 successive number one hits in the US surpassing a record previously held by The Beatles. She also had a successful acting career including The Bodyguard with Kevin Costner, Waiting to Exhale and The Preacher’s Wife. All three produced soundtrack albums featuring her songs but it was in The Bodyguard that her greatest hit, I Will Always Love You, was debuted.
Houston quickly got a reputation for being a diva and being difficult to work with. Her tempestuous marriage to Bobby Brown was littered with accusations of domestic abuse and they divorced in 2007. She also had a very public battle with drugs and alcohol which saw her enter rehab on multiple occasions and severely affected her incredible voice. In an interview in 2002 she said, “The biggest devil is me. I’m either my best friend or my worst enemy.”
Tributes have poured from the industry and United Leeds Endeavours has chosen a few to share. Godmother Aretha Franklin said simply “I just can’t talk about it now…It’s so stunning and unbelievable.” Mariah Carey who frequently sited Houston as her inspiration said “Heartbroken and in tears over the shocking death of my friend, the incomparable Ms Whitney Houston. She will never be forgotten as one of the greatest voices to ever grace the earth.” Simon Cowell summed her up perfectly for United Leeds Endeavours, “She was a legend. These people don’t come around often.”
