Whitney Houston's Legacy: a Great Singer and Humanitarian
Whitney Houston's sudden death Saturday afternoon is sending shockwaves around the world.
Best known for her work with Kevin Costner in "The Bodyguard" Houston influenced countless female and male singers including Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Faith Evans and Mary J. Blige, according to Rolling Stone.
"I am stunned at the passing of Whitney Houston whom I have known since the late 1980′s," Rev. Al Sharpton said in a statement Saturday. "The morning of the Grammys the world should pause and pray for the memory of a gifted songbird."
Mariah Carey posted a message on her Twitter today; "My heartfelt condolences to Whitney's family and to all her millions of fans throughout the world."
She gained success with the songs "Saving All My Love For You," "How Will I Know," "Greatest Love Of All," "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)," "Didn't We Almost Have It All," "So Emotional," and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go."
The Bodyguard soundtrack became one of the top 10 biggest-selling albums of all-time and her version of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" is the biggest-selling U.S. single of all-time.
The Guinness Book of World Records lists Houston as music's "most awarded female artist of all time," with a total of 411 awards including two Emmys, six Grammys, 16 Billboard Music Awards, and 23 American Music Awards.
She was the only artist to chart seven consecutive #1 Billboard Hot 100 hits and also became the only artist with seven consecutive multi-platinum albums.
Houston was also a humanitarian. In 1989 she established the Whitney Houston Foundation as a non-profit organization that cares for the homeless, children with cancer and AIDS, and deals with other issues of self-empowerment.
She earned many awards for her humanitarian work.
In 1991 she donated the royalties of her rendition of the national anthem to the Red Cross and in 1997 she raised more than $300,000 for the Children's Defense Fund.
Houston was pronounced dead Saturday afternoon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel where she was expected to attend a pre-Grammy party organized by Clive Davis. Davis launched Houston to stardom in 1983.
The singer's cause of death remained unknown as of Saturday night.
