Music Industry Mourns Icon Houston

Singers, critics, pros all call her one of greatest ever
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 12, 2012 7:06 AM CST
Music Industry Mourns Icon Houston
In this May 10, 1986, file photo, American singer Whitney Houston belts out a song during her segment of a benefit concert at Boston Garden. Houston died Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012, she was 48.   (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Tributes are pouring in for the career of the late Whitney Houston, after her shocking death yesterday, focusing on her uniquely powerful voice and incredible catalogue of hits. A sampling:

  • "At her peak, Houston was the golden girl of the music industry," praised Billboard. "She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen."
  • "A light has been dimmed in our music community today," said the president of the Recording Academy, calling Houston "one of the world's greatest pop singers of all time."

  • "First of all, I want to tell you that I love you all," said her ex-husband Bobby Brown, while performing a show in Mississippi hours after Houston's death, according to the AP. "Second, I would like to say, I love you, Whitney. The hardest thing for me to do is to come on this stage."
  • "She was the most beautiful woman I think I ever saw," said Elton John at a Las Vegas concert. "Thank you for giving us your talent, and one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard."
  • "She will never be forgotten as one of the greatest voices to ever grace the earth," tweeted Mariah Carey.
Check out scenes from yesterday and Houston's storied career in the gallery, or Billboard and Rolling Stone have the own. (More Whitney Houston stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X