February 12, 2012
I will always love you, Whitney.
Learning of Whitney Houston’s death has made me very sad. She was a great singer and a part of my growing up. I have fond memories of Whitney Houston. She made it big right when I was getting into music and able to pick what I listen to. She was a part of my childhood.
“Whitney Houston,” or the orange album as I like to call it, was one of the first tapes I got when I got my first tape player. I played “Whitney,” or the blue album, so much my 3-year-old brother knew the chorus of “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” by heart. I can still see him singing it with me in the back of the car. I’m sure driving my mom crazy.
In 1988, I thought it was so cool she got to sing the Olympic anthem “One Moment in Time.” And then I got to sing it with the Centerville Elementary chorus at our fifth-grade graduation. Somehow I don’t think we sounded as good as she did.
I remember doing my homework while listening to the “I’m Your Baby Tonight” tape.
And then came “The Bodyguard.” The movie soundtrack is the best-selling soundtrack of all time. I don’t know any female who doesn’t feel the need to sing along with her on “I Will Always Love You.”
I remember in college breaking out into an impromptu a cappella version of “The Greatest Love of All” with my three roommates. My boyfriend at the time was not impressed. Nobody does it better than Whitney.
Here are some songs off those first albums and “The Bodyguard:” “Whitney Houston” — “All at Once,” “You Give Good Love,” “Saving All My Love For You,” “How Will I Know,” and “Greatest Love of All”
“Whitney” — “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” “So Emotional,” “Where Do Broken Hearts Go,” and “Love Will Save the Day”
“I’m Your Baby Tonight” —“I’m Your Baby Tonight,” “All the Man That I Need,” “My Name is Not Susan,” and “I Belong to You”
“The Bodyguard” —“I Will Always Love You,” “I Have Nothing,” “I’m Every Woman,” “Run to You,” and “Queen of the Night”
So many great songs I still know all the words and get pretty excited when I hear them on the radio these days. (And if I am alone in the car, I turn them up and sing at the top of my lungs.)
It’s very sad what happened to Whitney, she was seriously talented. She’ll always be a part of my growing up. And I have all the wonderful music to remember her by. So if you'll excuse me, I have to go play "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" and sing in front of the mirror with my hairbrush.
Gwinnett Daily Post copy editor and music lover Tori Boone also shares her thoughts on Whitney.
Remembering one of my music icons growing up
As a child of the ’80s, I was so sad to hear of Whitney Houston’s death on Saturday night. I had the same feeling hearing of her tragic end as I did a few years earlier when Michael Jackson died. My two icons of my childhood are gone and it’s so surreal.
I have fond memories of listening to Whitney because I remember my mom buying her first, self-titled album in 1985. We would listen to it on Saturday mornings while eating breakfast. I always remember “Greatest Love of All” being my favorite song on that album. Then my mom bought her second album “Whitney” and I remember grooving around the house to “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” I loved Whitney’s big hair and the tight, purple dress she wore in the video.
And who can forget Whitney singing the National Anthem for the Super Bowl in 1991? To me, no one else has ever been able to top that performance. I even bought the cassette single for that song days after she sang it.
Then “The Bodyguard” was released in theaters and I went to see that movie several times with my mom. I couldn’t get enough of Whitney and Kevin Costner on the big screen.
I’ve always felt music brings people together and that never rang more true than Saturday night. My mom and I, ironically enough, texted each other at the exact same time asking if we had heard the news. And my good friend Diane, who lives in Los Angeles, called me because she thought of me when she heard the news. We talked about how Diane once waited on Whitney at the restaurant she worked at several years ago. She said Whitney was a little intimidating but was fine. She feels grateful she got to meet her.
So on the day of the Grammys, I can’t help but feel a little sad because tonight will definitely be a somber time for the music industry. I think Jennifer Hudson doing a tribute is very fitting and I have no doubt it will be moving.
But let’s remember Whitney by listening to her music and focusing on the impact she had on the industry and not her troubled personal life. I’ve already listened to “Greatest Love of All” and “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” several times today.
And I talked to my mom today and she was listening to the records this morning. She also said I could have the albums next time I see her. It doesn’t get better than that.
What are some of your favorite memories of Whitney?
Comments
dikpa 1 year, 3 months ago
Corinne and Tori, thank you for the tribute. You nailed it. Whitney's music made dating a lot easier for us young men back in the day, still does, and probably always will. Thanks again for sharing the memories.
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