Mourning The Death of Whitney Houston....

Wow. I suppose I'm still really in shock over the loss of such a talented and oddly tragic entertainer, the fabulous Whitney Houston. I had not looked at the TV all day so I wasn't aware of her death. However, my daughter, who was practically raised on the song 'Greatest Love Of All', called to tell me. 

I think I was particularly obsessed with her music during the summer of 1992, the same year that "The Bodyguard" was released. SD was 7 that year and she loved listening to Whitney as much as I, especially during summers spent at the lake house. It was always my *thing* to make a summer favorites cassette tape before leaving for the lake (though I usually had several). Back in those days (for you young ones) we had to record cassette tapes from vinyl albums. (which my daughter is now in possession of the 100's we'd owned). Anyway, those songs became what I called our summer anthems and Whitney's songs were up there at the top of my list, long before Celine Dion hit the scene. They were essential to spending long days out on the lake dragging all the kiddles around on our numerous lake toys (behind the boat) while Mr. Snoots was back here in West Texas slaving away during the week.

It was during the days when MTV was king as far as music videos went (they actually only played music videos back then), although VH1 was gaining in popularity. It was a magical time and she was the Queen of them all in my humble opinion. The beginning of her road to the end started with Bobby Brown who will always be a scum bag in my eyes, although I don't mean to diminish the fact that Whitney gave birth to her only child with BB. Still, Whitney changed once Bobby Brown came on the scene, and it was not for the better. His prison time & drug use, as well as Whitney's obvious drug use were well documented and just so very sad to witness. Her music began to change then too, and I began to lose interest.

However, I will always love her for the songs she produced that filled me with joy when I listened to them. She was really something special. In fact, her mother Cissy Houston, was (and still is) a well respected jazz/R&B singer (with very strong gospel roots) who worked with the likes of Herbie Mann, Dusty Springfield, Dionne Warwick (her niece), Jimi Hendrix, The Drifters, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Lou Rawls, and the list goes on. So Whitney cut her teeth around some truly amazing talent.



Whitney Houston was found dead Saturday afternoon in a room at the Beverly Hills Hilton, alone. Cause of death will not be known until after an autopsy has been performed and mostly likely an additional 2-3 weeks while the toxicology tests are being done.

Rest In Peace Whitney......