Happy Heavenly 58th Birthday to Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston, aka “The Voice”, was born in New Jersey on August 9, 1963. If she were still with us today, she would be turning 58 years old. When I really think about her age, it boggles my mind that she was as young as she was when singing and recording some of her classics, as well as the fact that she wasn’t even 30 when The Bodyguard (the movie and soundtrack) dropped. How could one person be so naturally beautiful and gifted? But I don’t want to jump ahead. There is a lot I could say about Whitney and the impact she has had on me, as well as on every female singer who has come after her. Even in death, she is still the standard. I mean, who else gave you goosebumps from singing the national anthem?

As an 80s baby and 90s kid, I basically grew up on Whitney’s music. Some of my earliest memories of anything, for example, involve my love of “Saving All My Love For You”(which is hilarious to me in hindsight, considering the song’s subject matter). My young self just loved the melody and thought it was a pretty song. Haha. Other songs, such as “How Will I Know”, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”, “I’m Your Baby Tonight”, and “Miracle”(such a beautiful song that made me emotional then and now) all scream “my childhood” to me.

This brings me to one of the first movies I remember seeing in a movie theater: The Bodyguard. I distinctly remember seeing it with my mom, sisters, aunt, and cousin. To this day, I often joke about how emotional I was at the end of the movie. I was so young, yet I cried at the end. I can only assume that the events that built up to the movie’s ending, coupled with Whitney’s singing(if you recall, “I Will Always Love You” is performed at the end of the movie) stirred up something in me, even at that young age. Speaking of The Bodyguard, I distinctly recall my sister Jamie having the soundtrack on cassette tape, as well as the “I’m Every Woman” single. I also inherited this single on vinyl from my late aunt Carolyn.

But wait, there’s more! Fast forward three years, when I also saw Waiting To Exhale in theaters, which is really a movie I had no business seeing at that point in my life, but that’s not the point. Haha. That soundtrack is legendary, and again, personal memories abound with it. That soundtrack was also the soundtrack to a huge snowstorm in the winter of 1996, and my sister Jamie also bought the “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” cassette single. That song is quite possibly my favorite Whitney song for several reasons: mainly the relatable lyrics and Whitney’s strong vocals, but more on that later.

Another movie and album of Whitney’s that I will always cherish is The Preacher’s Wife. Whether it’s for her classic rendition of the Christmas standard “Joy To The World”, or for the treat of hearing Whitney sing from her Gospel roots, that soundtrack has been a go-to for me and mine literally since 1996. My junior choir even sang “I Go To The Rock” back in the day.

Anyway, you get the point! There is much more I could say, but I will leave it there. I will share that Whitney passed away on my sister Jamie’s birthday(February 11th), which I have always felt was very poignant, considering that Jamie had passed two years prior, and she was largely responsible for me knowing and loving a lot of Whitney’s music. I say that to say that perhaps another Whitney post is coming around that time.

Happy Birthday once again to the one and only Whitney Houston, aka Nippy! Check out a few of my favorites by her below, and feel free to comment yours!

The Songs