Happy Birthday, Whitney Houston: Celebs Remember Fallen Pop Icon

Houston, who died in February, would have been 49 on Thursday (August 9).

It's been six months since Whitney Houston passed, but her legacy lives on. The pop icon would have turned 49 on Thursday (August 9), had she not passed in a Beverly Hills hotel room on February 11. But with all of the awards-show tributes, live concert covers and her upcoming film"Sparkle," it's clear that Whitney continues to touch family, friends and millions of fans across the globe.

"We challenged each other a lot in the studio from the first moment we laid eyes on each other, but it was a lot of fun," R. Kelly told MTV News of his and Whitney's dynamic when working on the music for the soundtrack to "Sparkle," which opens August 17. "Whitney was a ball of fun."

Sure, there were tragic parts of Whitney's career. It's impossible to examine her life and gloss over her battle with drugs and run-ins with the law, but her troubles are eclipsed by the positivity that she brought to the lives of loved ones and fellow artists.

In April, Monica, who not only idolized Whitney but formed a close relationship with the pop icon, reminisced on the Houston she knew personally. "Losing somebody that you idolize is one thing, but losing a friend is another thing," Monica told MTV News. "I look back over many, many years of my life, and Whitney wasn't the type of person that would call and ask if I was OK — she would actually fly to me. She would come looking for me, she would sit with me."

For Monica, though, it's Whitney's musical legacy that will endure. "I really appreciate the fact that for almost three decades she gave us music that will last," she said. "My grandchildren will know exactly who she is; my great-grandchildren will know exactly who Whitney Houston is."

Kells described Houston as a sibling. "She reminded me of my sister, whom I used to argue with all the time over music," he said. "And that's what me and Whitney did: We argued over White Castles, we argued over what note she wanted to hit, what note I wanted her to hit. But it was fun; at the end of the day, we got it done."

http://www.mtv.com/news/a...hday.jhtml

Whitney Houston's daughter and adopted son get dove tattoos to honor singer's memory

Birds of peace, initials and a Christian cross help mark Houston's 49th birthday

Whitney Houston's daughter and adopted son marked the singer’s 49th birthday — the first since her death — by getting memorial tattoos of doves.

Daughter Bobbi Kristina, 19, and brother-turned-boyfriend Nick Gordon visited Inksomnia Tattoo in Alpharetta, Ga., Wednesday night to get matching designs on their right wrists featuring the singer’s initials, a quartet of the beloved birds of peace and two small crosses.

"The doves have a spiritual connotation, flying free I suppose,” said Inksomnia owner Mike Cummings, who personally inked Kristina while another artist handled Gordon.

Cummings said the couple walked in with a film crew for their new reality TV series and outlined their vision for the indelible memorial to the singer.

"They were happy at times, and sad at others. When you would talk about their mom, they got sad, but we tried to keep their spirits up," Cummings told the Daily News.

The daughter of the late music icon posted a photo of the new body art on Twitter.

"Tat tat tatted YURP.. now your truly ALWAYS with us mommy (: we love you," tweeted Kristina, who has been an Inksomnia customer ever since her mom took her there at age 15 to get her belly button pierced.

Gordon, 22, was informally adopted by Houston as a minor and caused a stir when he began dating Bobbi Kristina shortly after the singer's death.

"Happy Birthday Mom You will be forever missed," he wrote on Twitter Thursday.

The couple is filming the reality show, "The Houston Chronicles" for Lifetime.

Houston drowned suddenly in a Beverly Hills hotel bathtub Feb. 11 shortly before her mentor Clive Davis held his annual Grammy party.

An autopsy found cocaine in her system.

Her last movie project, "Sparkle," hits theaters next week.

A source close to the family told The News that the movie studio originally asked to hold the red carpet premiere in Los Angeles this week, but family members requested a postponement due to Houston's birthday.

The TriStar flick follows three teenaged sisters from Detroit as they form a girl group during the 1960s Motown era. Houston, who helped produce the film, plays the sisters' single mom.

"Sparkle" star Jordin Sparks tweeted her own birthday message Thursday and posted a photo of Houston in full costume from the set.

"We found the pic!!! Me, the girls & Whitney doin the 'dougie'!!! She was so fun & loving!! I love you mama! #HappyBirthdayWhitney," she tweeted.

"Happy Birthday Whitney! I can't wait 4 everyone to see you #Sparkle on August 17!" she said in an earlier post. "I love you & miss you so much!"

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.co...z2356iXVGq

New Whitney Houston Hits Album Due This Fall

The first authoritative greatest hits album from the late singer Whitney Houston is due out this fall in the U.S. on RCA Records.

While a tracklist, title and release date has not been announced, sources have suggested it will be the first compilation to span her entire career and include the familiar hit versions of her Billboard chart-topping singles.

That would stand in contrast with Houston's first, and only other American hits set, "Whitney: The Greatest Hits," which was released in 2000.

While that 36-track Arista Records album offers most of her best-known ballads, it substituted remixes of her uptempo singles instead of the well-known original versions. For example, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" is represented by a Junior Vasquez club mix, while "So Emotional" was reworked by Dave Morales.

To date, the album has sold 2.6 million copies in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan. This year, it has moved 836,000 -- most in the wake of Houston's death on Feb. 11. It is currently the fourth biggest-selling album of 2012.

In her lifetime, Houston notched 39 hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100, with 23 of those reaching the top 10. Of those, a whopping 11 went to No. 1, including "How Will I Know," "I Will Always Love You" and "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)." Her most recent Hot 100 hit was 2009's "Million Dollar Bill," which peaked at No. 100. (Though it climbed to No. 1 on the Dance Club/Play Songs chart, in part thanks to the popularity of a remix by the Freemasons.)

Unlike Houston's superstar peers of the '80s and '90s (Michael Jackson, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Celine Dion and so on), Houston is one of the few to only have one greatest hits album in their U.S. catalog. Previous to his death, Jackson had five sets dedicated to his Epic Records material. Meanwhile, Madonna's Warner Bros. catalog is represented by three best-ofs (not including a ballads compilation).

Outside of America, Houston issued "The Ultimate Collection" in 2007, which is a more traditional hits album and features 18 songs (the bulk of which were not remixed). On the Official U.K. Albums chart, it peaked at No. 3.

Houston is currently charting this week on Billboard's tallies as a featured player on the soundtrack to her final film, "Sparkle." The album debuts at No. 26 on the Billboard 200, selling 12,000 copies in its first week. It includes two cuts by Houston: "Celebrate" (a duet with her co-star Jordin Sparks) and a cover of "His Eye Is On the Sparrow."

Read more at http://www.billboard.com/...60Ph655.99

BeBe Winans recalls the spirit of Whitney Houston

1:46 am August 9, 2012, by Melissa Ruggieri

A couple of weeks after Whitney Houston’s “homegoing” in February, BeBe Winans started to hear from people who were moved by his words at the ceremony for his longtime friend.

Winans was aware that for all of Houston’s millions of fans, hardly any knew the Whitney he and sister CeCe shared their lives with for 28 years of friendship.

He wanted that to change.

After receiving the blessing of Houston’s family, Winans sat down to begin writing “The Whitney I Knew,” a personal book that touches on her publicized demons, but focuses on the girl from New Jersey who liked to dress in jeans and T-shirts and was as quick to provoke a squabble with a patron at a movie theater as she was to quietly aid friends burdened with financial troubles.

While Winans found the writing therapeutic, he also found himself laughing fondly at many of his recollections.

”It was the beginning of me remembering all of the wonderful moments that we shared,” he said earlier this week from New York, where he was recording “The BeBe Experience, his weekly show on SiriusXM’s Praise channel. “This isn’t my first loss [Winans’ brother, Ronald, died in 2005] so I understand the reality of life. We should learn from past losses that we don’t take life for granted. I realized that the 28 years I had with Whitney were blessed, all of those wonderful memories she left in my heart.”

In the book – which Winans will sign copies of Sunday (AUG12) at the Sam’s Club in Marietta – he lovingly recounts how Houston would frequently call him and CeCe at home in Nashville and ask them to hop on a plane to come visit her in New Jersey.

When Houston moved to Atlanta last decade, she became a regular presence at the Winans’ instead.

“She’d just show up on our doorstep,” Winans said with a laugh. “We knew when she moved we’d see a whole lot more of her and we did. We hung out, like families do.”

Winans also recounts in the book how, after meeting Houston’s local pastor Michael McQueen at February’s service, he was invited to sing at St. James United Methodist Church in Alpharetta, but hasn’t otherwise been to Atlanta much this year.

“I try to avoid it there in the summertime,” he said, laughing again. He does, however, expect Houston’s brother Gary and his wife Pat, to attend the book signing and also reminded that CeCe is Bobbi Kristina’s godmother.

Winans will sign copies of the book on Sunday.

“It wasn’t just Whitney who became our family. Her family became our family, too,” Winans said.

It’s a busy summer for Winans who, along with promoting the book is also on tour with Dave Koz to expose his new album of patriotic songs, “America, America,” and is currently writing a theatrical production, tentatively called “The Winans Family: The Musical,” with plans to open it in D.C. next year.

Among the originals and covers on “America, America” is “The Star Spangled Banner,” a classic that will always be associated with Houston because of her powerhouse presentation at the 1991 Super Bowl.

Winans said recording the song brought back a new round of memories of his friend.

“She’s always been part of everything I’ve done, even if it was just to sit down and listen to the songs and give her ‘ooh’ or ‘ahh’ or ‘no,’ this was bittersweet,” Winans said. “But, she was a part of it because she knew I was going to do the song and was like, ‘Really?’ and I said, ‘I’m not scared of you’ and we laughed about it. It turns out there was a reason I did this particular album even though I was questioning myself while doing it. I really do believe that nothing catches God off guard.”

http://blogs.ajc.com/atla...usic_scene

RIP and happy birthday Nippy.

[Edited 8/9/12 13:20pm]

Damn she was young

Around the corner is Madge and Mike, August was a fertile month for music's legacy. We miss you Nippy, thanks for the voice.

UncleGrandpa said:

Around the corner is Madge and Mike, August was a fertile month for music's legacy. We miss you Nippy, thanks for the voice.

Very true!

Happy Birthday Whitney... We miss and love you... The VOICE will never be forgotten!

I love you.... R.I.P.

Radios have been playing her all day

Mike and Madonna got some bdays coming up to...

Havent been at home to tune into BET but radios have been playing Whitney ALL day. I was exactly quite impressed with that.

VH1 Soul is playing her videos for the rest of the day right now. Happy 49th Nippy and may she livein eternity!

Happy 49th B-day Whitney.

Miss you.

silverchild said:

She was so beautiful. A stunner. Still hard to believe she is gone . Happy Birthday Whitney

[Edited 8/9/12 16:18pm]

silverchild said:

Beautiful

R.I.P. one of the most beautiful voices and faces in the industry. Still can't believe she's gone

could of....would of...should of...

avasdad said:

could've....would've...should've...

May she be resting peacefully.

WOW, never seen those pictures. Whitney was a gorgeous woman.