Whitney Houston

She has been dubbed the voice of a generation. She influenced a whole section of singers who came after her with her emotional prowess and stellar renditions. And one of her songs still stands as one of the longest-running and bestselling singles of all time. She is “The Voice,” better known as Whitney Houston. But what many people do not know about this legendary songstress is that she was bi. 

Born Whitney Elizabeth Houston on August 9, 1963 in East Orange, New Jersey, she was the daughter of John and Cissy Houston, her mother, a renowned gospel singer. Houston grew up in a strong environment of music, between her mother singing back-up for Aretha Franklin and her cousin, Dionne Warwick, circling in her orbit. She also grew up in the Baptist church, where she began to sing as a child. In her teen years, her parents’ marriage began to sour, but Houston was taking off, singing backing vocals for Chaka Khan and briefly exploring a career as a model. In fact, she was one of the first black female cover models for Seventeen magazine. But her true interest and joy remained in music. 

She began to sing in nightclubs, sometimes to as few as ten audience members, but her work still shone through. Eventually, at 19 she was approached by Clive Davis (#Bi2) of Arista Records, and after her mother’s urging signed a contract with his company. David personally tutored and managed her career at first, helping shape her image and sound, as he has with many other musical superstars. In 1985, Whitney released her self-titled debut album, leaning much harder into pop than her mother’s gospel sound. It paid off in dividends, yielding such hits as “How Will I Know,” “Saving All My Love For You,” (for which she won a Grammy, presented to her by Warwick), and “Greatest Love of All.” In 1987, she went on a world tour with her second album, Whitney, which included her megahit “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)”. She also won a Grammy for this song, and the album also went platinum many times over (same as her debut.) However, Houston’s early success was not without its detractors. Some critics of the time accused her of trying to be too squeaky clean and trying to sound white, a charge to which she took umbrage. 

Houston was also noted for some major pop culture moments with her live performances. She was invited to perform for Nelson Mandela for his birthday, she is also known to have delivered perhaps one of the best Super Bowl performances of “The Star Spangled Banner” ever, and an extremely technically tricky medley of “I Loves You, Porgy,” “And I Am Telling You,” and “I Have Nothing” for the 21st annual American Music Awards.

But Houston’s success didn’t stop there. In 1992 after much convincing from costar Kevin Costner, she stepped into acting with the romantic drama The Bodyguard. In the film, Houston plays a pop superstar who is terrified she is being hunted by a stalker, and enlists the help of an unorthodox new bodyguard (Costner) to protect her — with the two falling for each other along the way. Though it got mixed reviews, the film was a major hit. But perhaps most notably, Houston released a companion soundtrack with both new songs for the film as well as covering Dolly Parton’s 1974 “I Will Always Love You”, released as a single. The recording became the biggest hit of Houston’s entire career, taking up 14 weeks at the number one spot of the Billboard charts and remaining one of the best selling songs of all time to this day. It also started a popular trend of creating a single to go along with a movie’s release — something Houston capitalized on with some more hits such as “Exhale (Shoop Shoop”.

Houston’s acting and musical career did not stop there. She went on to star in Waiting To Exhale (1995) with Angela Bassett, as well as the lead in The Preacher’s Wife (1996) with Denzel Washington, a reboot of the 1940s classic The Bishop’s Wife with Cary Grant. The ‘90s continued to have musical hits for Houston as well, including but not limited to: “I’m Your Baby Tonight,” “I’m Every Woman,” “I Have Nothing” and “It’s Not Right (But It’s Okay.” She also made sure to give back in multiple philanthropic gestures over the years.

Regarding her bisexuality, Houston was famously married to rapper Bobby Brown for 14 years; the two had a child together, Bobbi Kristina. But Houston also had a relationship with a friend from her youth, Robyn Crawford. It was an intense friendship that also had physical components, a love which Houston did her best to hide from her religious mother. Brown has confirmed this early relationship as well — and that it was one of the reasons they hurried along their marriage as well, to keep homosexual rumors from hurting Houston’s image and career. Crawford eventually backpedaled to Houston’s mother by just being close friends as Houston’s career took off, with her taking on a professional role on Houston’s team for years. Though the two eventually grew apart, Crawford wrote all about their relationship in her 2019 book, A Song For You: My Life With Whitney Houston.  Eventually members of Houston’s family have also confirmed the relationship Whitney and Robin had as well after the artist’s death. 

Despite her megastar status and exceptional talent, Houston’s life was not without strife. Her marriage to Brown was a torrid one, with the latter constantly philandering and emotionally abusing and allegedly physically abusing Houston at times. The two also experienced drug problems, with Brown being arrested on drug charges and Houston experiencing drug abuse, going to rehab twice during the tenure of their marriage. The drug use also affected Houston’s voice and professional commitments, her voice needing re-training at times as well as being fired from performing at the Oscars due to absences during rehearsals. The couple divorced in 2007 with Houston gaining custody of Bobby Kristina. Houston’s career also plateaued during the 2000s, with different musical tastes hitting the market, and her citing deep grief and exhaustion at her father’s death in 2003.

On February 11, 2012, at the age of 48, Houston was found dead in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, CA, before she was expected to attend a Grammys party honoring Clive Davis. The coroner ruled the death an accidental drowning, finding heart disease and cocaine in her system. Tragically and in similar circumstances, nearly three years later daughter Bobby Kristina was found face-down in a bathtub, put into a medically induced coma for six months, but also sadly passed. 

Houston leaves a giant legacy in her wake. Multiple documentaries have been made about her life and work, as well as the 2022 biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody with Naomie Ackie taking on the singer’s role. (The movie also discusses Houston’s bisexuality.) She remains one of the bestselling artists of all time, with billions of views on her music videos on YouTube and billions of streams on Spotify (with nearly 30 million monthly listeners.)

Houston was a powerhouse singer and a successful actress whose work dominated the pop culture scene in the 1980s and 1990s. Her works still resonate today with listeners and fans worldwide. And she was bi.