Whitney Houston: another fallen superstar

Tom says:

10:01am | 13/02/12

Whitney always spoke very highly of you, BizzyD.

SD says:

07:15pm | 12/02/12

Tell us what you’ve done that’s better! I doubt she ‘chose’ any songs.  Whichever studio owned her probably did.

Cynicised says:

04:17pm | 12/02/12

B grade singer? Please! The woman had amazing pipes, you can’t take that away from her, no matter what else she was. She had mpeccable genealogy (cousin of Aretha Franklin) and the gospel roots to produce a fine, powerful sound. I’m not a fan of her style, nor of some of her song choices, but I’m not so blinkered or so much of a musical snob that I refuse to recognize her talent. People like you who love to pull stars down (and she was a star, with millions of fans and imitators) after their deaths make me sick.
Watching Whitney’s decline was tragic. Her last performances here were jeered as she appeared to be in the grip of her addiction and had lost her professionalism. Sadly, it seems inevitable that she died young. Many will remember her heyday and be grieving today.

rudy says:

07:12pm | 12/02/12

RIP, Whitney. Beautiful looks and voice, but sadly abused and wasted. A lesson to anyone going into the music business: control your recreational drugs or they’ll eat your talent.

Cynicised: Aretha was Whitney’s godmother, not cousin. Whitney’s mother Thelma Houston was a leading gospel singer, and Whitney’s aunt Dionne Warwick was a big star in the 60s and 70s.

Cynicised says:

08:54pm | 12/02/12

Thanks Rudy. I remembered the connection, but not the exact relationship.

Tom says:

10:08am | 13/02/12

Vivian, she had a great voice.
Cynicised, well said. Her decline was tragic.

I cannot understand why people do that when they are given everything. As one who is still here, wheezing my out-of-tune dirges, is it better to be ordinary and mediocre?

Cynicised says:

05:55pm | 12/02/12

 Deny it all you like, but the sad reality is that you  really can’t help someone who won’t accept it. Many drug addicts are controlled so much by their habit that losing it is the last thing they want. They enjoy it. It makes the world go away and that’s a fact that many people don’t understand.  However,add  plenty of money and flunkies who are ready to procure for them and  you are fighting a losing battle. Throw in business interests that are about keeping the star happy and you have a lethal cocktail. Both Amy and Whitney would appear to be examples of this. People tried, people begged, but they said no.

stephen says:

07:06pm | 12/02/12

The Entertainment Industry is rife with self-inflicted egos and important reasons for being there.
I get your point, though, that, clinically, so many are not capable, (that word is important) of deciding what is best.
It seems to me that, in the Medical Literature, to do something which is purposefully not good for one’s health or which may do severe harm is an aspect of mental illness.
I disagree with that.
I think it is more a point of a realignment of certain emotional responses - to now state a prognosis - that is not in fact a medical condition, but a psychological one.
I didn’t know either of them, of course, but Medicine may be overstating their case : sanity is really a matter of perception, ours and the Doctors, and remedies are not so much chemical, (except in the most severe of cases) but care, coercion and probably a certain violence, (ask one Mr. Van Halen about this one, I’m sure) might do the trick.

It is true, too, that good people will most likely ask for help before the hopeless case.
Or is that what you are trying to refute ?

Cynicised says:

08:52pm | 12/02/12

I don’t  it’s anything to do with being “good people” Stephen. It’s got to do with addiction and the incentive to kick it. In the case of people like Amy and Whitney it would appear that using was  a higher priority than not. Their careers suffered  as a result, their love lives were complicated and painful as well,  so the more  things deteriorated, the more they turned to the drugs. It’s a vicious cycle. It would seem that they were both psychologically fragile  talented  performers trapped by their addictive natures. Not unusual in the entertainment industry, I agree.

Of course, we don’t know how poor Whitney died, nor Amy, for that matter, but is is a logical assumption that their choice to use, plus the ease of obtaining it, has some responsibility.

M.Mouse says:

09:12pm | 12/02/12

Whitney, Amy and others should have followed the example of Stevie Nicks who proved you can beat drugs, she saved her voice and is still an amazing performer even in her 60s.
All that money can’t buy you happiness. I feel sorry for her daughter, watching her mum self destruct must have been heartbreaking for a young girl.

Rose says:

10:32am | 13/02/12

Unfortunately M.Mouse, Whitney’s daughter was apparently rushed to hospital today, I’m not sure why. I just hope that she will not be a tragic victim of her parent’s addiction and self destruction.

Rose says:

10:42am | 13/02/12

She had an amazing voice, her talent is undeniable. What she didn’t have was the right songs to showcase it. I will agree that many of the songs she did sing were annoying through their reliance on ‘vocal gymnastics’ rather than good song-writing.
I get so annoyed when people are so quick to dish out insults which are just mean and uncalled for. Whitney had a great voice but didn’t get the most out of it. You do realize that it is possible to recognize someone’s talent even though you don’t particularly like their material.
As for her drug addiction, I think it’s absolutely tragic that her life spiralled out of control in the way that it did, even more so when you think that she definitely had the resources to get the help she would have needed to overcome her problems. I think it just goes to show that drug addiction is far deeper and more complex than people sometimes assume and that no one is automatically immune to it’s clutches.

stephen says:

06:01pm | 12/02/12

Kevin Costner - good postman.
And actually, Waterworld wasn’t a bad picture at all.

nihonin says:

06:13pm | 12/02/12

Tim, lol.

Cynicised says:

01:20am | 13/02/12

No one is saying, I think, that she was “the best there ever was”.However, many people conflate not liking her style with denying that she could sing well. If you’re going to call her an “Idol type “voice only, that’s  cool, but remember some pretty damn fine voices have come from talent shows. I don’t like Anthony Callea, but  I won’t deny he can sing. Ditto Adam Lambert.

Yes, Whitney got some breaks through connections. However, what about Celine Dion.? That woman’s  nasal screech sets my teeth on edge, She’s the epitome of the sceaming diva. Whitney could be quite mellow and I found her tones generally pleasing. Her power and range were pretty awesome too. She wasn’t my cup of java, and obviously wasn’t  for you and many others, but millions loved her. 

Direct says:

07:30am | 13/02/12

Reminds me of the Family Guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M6g0fTNM_o

Beckala says:

02:00pm | 13/02/12

Direct, I was actually watching that series on dvd yesterday and that came on not 30 minutes after I’d heard she had passed… Awkward!!

Rose says:

12:13pm | 13/02/12

Neither have I, but I have met a lot of people who claim their lives are better due to recreational drugs. If only they could see themselves as others see them!

Janey says:

01:02pm | 13/02/12

The kid had a damn good question.