欢迎来到VOA在线收网 www.voa365.com
当前位置:VOA NEWS > VOA慢速英语 > 美国万花筒 >

Remembering Singing Superstar Whitney Houston

2012-02-17 12:45来源:未知

音频下载

 
 
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I’m Christopher Cruise. Today on our show we remember the life and music of singing superstar Whitney Houston…

(MUSIC: “One Moment in Time”)

Whitney Houston Remembered

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Saturday, hundreds of people will gather in Newark, New Jersey, for the funeral of Whitney Houston. The forty-eight year old performer died a week earlier at a hotel in California. June Simms looks back at the life of the singer, actress, and mother.

(MUSIC)

JUNE SIMMS: That is Whitney Houston performing the song, “I’m Every Woman.” And that is what many who loved the singer say: Whitney was every woman. People in her hometown of Newark say she never forgot where she came from. Her close friend and gospel singer Marvin Winans recently said that below the surface Whitney Houston was still the same little girl from New Jersey.

A childhood friend of the star, Gregory Whittle, remembers growing up with her.

GREGORY WHITE: “A lot of time in the basement you could hear her singing. Singing in the back by the pool. She had a gift. It was strictly from God.”

Marvin Winans is to speak at the funeral. It will be held at the New Hope Baptist Church. Whitney Houston attended that church while growing up. It was also the first place she sang publicly. She was a member of the church choir.

(MUSIC: “Greatest Love of All”)

Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born in Newark in nineteen sixty-three. Her mother Cissy Houston is a gospel singer. Her father served in the military and was in the entertainment business. Cissy Houston was not the only family musician. Singers Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick were cousins of Whitney Houston. And her godmother was Aretha Franklin. At a performance earlier this week, Aretha Franklin remembered her goddaughter with a song and praise for the music and memories.

 

A 22 year-old Whitney Houston performing in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1986A 22 year-old Whitney Houston performing in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1986
 

As a teenager, Whitney Houston performed as a back-up singer for Chaka Khan, Lou Rawls and other artists. But she also had a successful modeling career by the time she was twenty. Her picture appeared on the cover of Seventeen and inside magazines including Glamour and Cosmopolitan.

In nineteen eighty three, Clive Davis, the head of Arista records, heard Whitney Houston singing in New York City. He offered her a recording agreement soon after. For the next two years, Whitney Houston worked on her first record album. “Whitney Houston” was released in nineteen eighty-five. Slowly but surely, it became a huge hit. It stayed in the number one position on Billboard magazine’s Top Two Hundred Albums chart for fourteen weeks. The first number one single from the album was “Saving All My Love for You.”

(MUSIC)

Another popular song from that first album was this dance number “How Will I Know.”

(MUSIC)

The album “Whitney Houston” had seven number one hit singles. It remains the biggest-selling first album by any artist.

The singer followed that success with another. Her album “Whitney” sold twenty million copies. It also made her the first female artist to enter the Billboard Top Two Hundred at number one. Whitney Houston was clearing a path of recognition for women artists.

However, her next professional move was her most important. She recorded the soundtrack for and starred in “The Bodyguard,” in nineteen ninety-two.

Kevin Costner played opposite White Houston in the movie. It is the story of a relationship between a pop music star and a former secret service agent who protects her. The movie was a big hit, making more than four hundred million dollars in ticket sales worldwide. But the film’s popularity did not even come close to the success of the album that went with it.

“The Bodyguard” is the fourth highest selling album of all time. Forty-four million copies have been sold. Among the singles is “I Will Always Love You,” a song written and recorded earlier by Dolly Parton. Whitney Houston’s version sold many more copies.

(MUSIC)

In nineteen ninety-two, Whitney Houston’s personal life also grew. She married singer Bobby Brown, of the band New Edition. The marriage surprised many people both in and outside the music industry. Bobby Brown was considered an industry “bad boy,” while Whitney Houston had an innocence that led to her nickname the “prom queen of soul.”

 

Singer Whitney Houston, her husband Bobby Brown, left, and Clive Davis, president and founder of Arista Records in New York City, 1998
Singer Whitney Houston, her husband Bobby Brown, left, and Clive Davis, president and founder of Arista Records in New York City, 1998

She and Bobby Brown had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in nineteen ninety-three. In the late nineteen nineties, Whitney Houston’s professional behavior began to come under question. She began to cancel shows and was late for important events. Her appearance changed; she lost weight and looked unhealthy. Her voice also was suffering. Many reports said she was abusing drugs and alcohol.

(MUSIC: “I Have Nothing”)

Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown ended their marriage in two thousand seven. She also publicly admitted to drug abuse. But she entered a treatment program. In two thousand ten, she reported she was drug-free.

But, last Saturday, the singer and actress was found dead in her hotel room in Los Angeles. Officials have not yet released a cause of death. However, news reports say Whitney Houston’s family has been told the entertainer died from taking too many prescription drugs.

Her seventh and final studio album, “I Look to You,” was released in two thousand nine. Critics generally praised the effort. We leave you with Whitney Houston performing the Leon Russell song, “A Song for You.”

(MUSIC)

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE:  I’m Christopher Cruise. This program was written and produced by Caty Weaver.

Join us again next week for music and more on AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(责任编辑:admin)
最新新闻
  1. 网传日月光Q4产能利用率降至70%
  2. 新型存储器已经开始增长,到20
  3. 市场人士透露:联发科在汽车芯片
  4. 【VOA在线闲聊】三星收购Arm会步英
  5. Nikola召回迄今为止生产的93辆Nik
  6. 蚂蚁数科两项区块链专利完成一对
  7. 蔚来申请注册“NIO CERTIFIED 蔚来官
  8. 获小米超千万投资 改装车公司工
  9. 法拉第未来首款电动汽车FF 91再次
  10. 消息称LG显示计划明年生产920万块
  11. 宝马面向欧洲市场推出最小的跨界
  12. 美国副总统哈里斯承诺就电动汽车
  13. 知情人士透露称马斯克和推特CE
  14. 因苹果缩减订单 台积电或修改明
  15. LG推出一项新技术,以开放局域网
  16. 小米13正式上线:骁龙8Gen2发布1
  17. 米家3 KG迷你洗衣机售价699元
  18. 苹果公司官方非常兴奋:印度将生
  19. 中国广电在全国31个省区开通广电
  20. 华为 Mate 50 Pro国外上市:售价远高
  21. 特斯拉柏林超级工厂回收工厂发生
  22. 华为 Mate 50原价4999
  23. iPhone 14销售比上一代下降了11%
  24. 2021至2025中国台湾将投350亿元新台
  25. 华为Mate50Pro预定5 G芯片,苹果公司
  26. 锐龙7000核显性能实测 单核及多核
  27. 索尼PS5最新更新:6 nm制程功率与
  28. 华为会议马上就要开始了!一种全
  29. 小米再次成为了冠军!该系列产品
  30. 还能吸收病毒?!戴森首个产品也
  31. 小米又推出了一款新产品,售价
  32. Imagination携手百度飞桨创建Model
  33. 奔驰要不要再加价?2024将发布
  34. TikTok在英国或被罚款2900万美元 被
  35. iPhone15PM改用 ULTRA:笔记本和 iPa
  36. 因库存不断提升存储芯片持续降价
  37. 预计小米Civi2将推出五款新产品
  38. 可靠商务桌面电脑推荐:联想M4
  39. 受飓风影响:NASA撤回阿尔忒弥斯
  40. 《三体》影迷们疯狂了!
  41. 4090设计实在是太离谱了!
  42. Meta试图Facebook和Instagram账户添加到
  43. 苹果公司在技术上遭受重大挫折,
  44. 我国成功发射遥感三十六号卫星,
  45. 骁龙8Gen2+120 W快速充电!小米13系
  46. 屏幕下手机价格大跌,灵动岛安卓
  47. 亚马逊宣布下月举办新会员促销活
  48. 酷睿i9-13900K预告片,5.8 GHz稳定!
  49. 美国流媒体巨头Netflix宣布在芬兰
  50. 外科手术机器人 商业化将加快世