Whitney Houston

Birth name: Whitney Elizabeth Houston
Date of birth: 9 August 1963
Place of birth: Newark, New Jersey
Record labels: SonyBMG/Arista
Career highlights: Six-time Grammy Award Winner, a record-breaking seven US number one singles on the trot, more than 150 million record sales Highest charting singles: Saving All My Love For You, number one, 1985, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, number one, 1987, I Will Always Love You, number one, 1992

There’s no disputing Whitney Houston is one of the biggest female pop stars of all time. Born into a Pentecostal family, she was exposed to choir and gospel music from a young age. And it helped that her mother Cissy Houston, first cousin Dionne Warwick, and godmother Aretha Franklin were all huge stars in R&B, gospel and soul music.

Following in their footsteps she joined the church choir at 11, singing solo in front of the congregation every week.

Then she began singing with her mother on stage before becoming a backing vocalist with smash 70s disco group Chaka Khan.

Whitney’s debut album Whitney Houston, from 1985, was a slow-seller, but the popstrel ploughed on and released second album Whitney in 1987, and went straight to number one. People couldn’t get enough of all the fizzy pop she was belting out and overnight Whitney became a household name.

Since then, she’s had a string of hit albums and film soundtracks, most famously The Bodyguard, which became the best-selling soundtrack album ever.

Despite her taste for drugs, which has led to several brushes with the law, the talented singer has continued to release albums to much critical acclaim.