CAIRO - Whitney Houston has died and again, just as every time one of my favourite singers dies, I was shocked. I guess it's human nature to forget about death, while knowing that someone is not with us anymore comes as a surprise. It's the wakeup call which reminds us that we are only mortals. Anyway, at the age of 48 and six months Whitney was found dead on February 11. I'm sure by now you must have read and heard so many things about her, but I am also positive that investigations and speculations are still going on about the death of this diva. I didn't want to postpone the publishing of this article. It was meant to appear last week, but I was on sick leave. When Whitney first appeared on the international scene, I was very young, but still I was impressed with her number one hit ‘Saving All My Love for You'. Even back then I realised that this was one exceptionally talented artist with an amazing voice and total control over it. From the very start and before achieving her very impressive status, it was apparent that she was meant to be a superstar. As many soul and R&B artists, Whitney started singing in a church choir as a child. She was no stranger to singing and show business just like many other gifted artists, she had been surrounded by music since her birth her mother is singer Cissy Houston. She used to coach her girl when she was young and I remember once Whitney's father said that she used to sing in the basement and Cissy listened carefully to her while working in the kitchen. Of course she didn't allow her to sing a single out of key note. Cissy was not the only talented family member Whitney's cousin is the iconic Dionne Warwick. There is so much I can say about Dionne, but I will stick to things I regard as milestones. The famous hit ‘I Say a Little Prayer' was originally recorded by her a year before Aretha Franklin covered it. Dionne was also one of the few artists who had an entire album written for her by the Bee Gees. That was the 1982 epic ‘Heartbreaker'. Three years later Dionne was one of those chosen by legendary producer Quincy Jones to sing a solo part on the timeless ‘We Are the World' written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. In the same year she decided to make a song to raise both awareness of and funds for AIDs research. She enlisted the help of three of her ‘friends' and the hit ‘That's What Friends Are For' was released by Dionne Warwick and Friends. But who are these friends? They are Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder and Elton John. Isn't this impressive? I have to mention that a live version of that song was later performed by Dionne, Stevie, the late great Luther Vandross and Whitney. I personally think that Luther and Whitney are much better singers than Elton and Gladys. That was the cousin. However, Whitney had a more influential artist close to her in her life the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. This amazing lady is in a league of her own and she was Whitney's godmother. Having a singer whose voice was declared ‘national treasure' as a godmother would make an incredible impact on anyone, especially someone who wanted to be a professional singer. On ‘The Bodyguard' soundtrack Whitney covered a song called ‘I'm Every Woman' and some don't know that it was originally a hit for diva Chaka Khan, who was a close friend of Whitney. On the cover version Whitney actually said Chaka Khan twice and on the video a smiling Chaka appeared. Speaking of covers and ‘The Bodyguard', Whitney's timeless hit from the same movie, ‘I Will Always Love You', was originally written and recorded by country star Dolly Parton. Naturally, the original version sounded totally different and wasn't quite as good. Another artist whose presence in Whitney's life was quite remarkable is Bobby Brown. It seems that she found the R&B artist who was six years younger than her ��" charming, fell in love with him and ended up as Mrs Bobby Brown. However, I always refer to him as Mr Whitney Houston simply because in my opinion he couldn't match her talent, popularity, fame and even charisma. After her first number one, the hits followed and Whitney made an impact. She sang with legends like Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey and George Michael. The rest is history. She was even mentioned in The Guinness Book of World Records as the most-awarded female act of all time. What happened later? A severe drug problem… Some accuse Bobby of introducing her to drugs, but others say that she was into that before meeting him. Either way we can't deny that drugs messed her life up. So far, the cause of death hasn't been determined and there is a slight possibility that drugs didn't cause death… still what that led her to was worse than death ��" losing her voice, popularity and of course her life as an ordinary human being. Over the past 50 years, the world lost many of its best artists to drug abuse or drug-related problems. That includes the King of Rock ‘n Roll Elvis Presley, the King of Pop Michael Jackson, the youngest Gibb brother Andy, exceptional artist Amy Winehouse and now Whitney. Of course the list is much longer than this and also includes movie stars like Marilyn Monroe and Heath Ledger. I don't want to keep preaching about drugs and how bad they are, but I really find it very frustrating to see many people losing their lives because of a stupid addiction. I am sure I'm not the only one who is very anxious to know the real cause of death, if ever it is going to be declared. Anyway, my collection of Whitney songs is something that I will always enjoy listening to. My email is: [email protected]
