She told ABC’s Diane Sawyer in 2002: “The biggest devil is me. I’m either my best friend or my worst enemy.”
Houston tried to stage a comeback with the 2009 album I Look To You, but things fell apart when a concert to promote the album was clearly off-key.
Broadcaster and music journalist Paul Gambaccini described Whitney Houston’s voice as “the template for female vocal performers for the last 30 years”.
But in the end, he told the BBC, she became the victim of a “self-administered decline” and, sadly, threw all it all away.
I watch the Whitney Houston funeral spectacle as I did when Michael Jackson died — with the question, “Are y’all serious?” It was absolutely no secret that these talented people were broken and hurting, and that the people who come out to the funerals to mourn and shake their heads knew. Michael and Whitney were often the butt of jokes and SNL sketches. Precious few people cared enough to help them but they turn out in droves for the memorials.
I was hoping that Whitney’s family would hold onto their initial resolve to keep the funeral a private, family affair. I thought the funeral director’s statement about the family’s feelings was spot on. The public had her when she was alive but the family wants her funeral to be private and respectful.
“Lady Sings the Blues” is on TV this afternoon. How appropriate — another very sad story. Fabulous and heart-breaking movie.