I love Whitney Houston.
It seems like yesterday when I first heard her spine-tingling rendition of “I Will Always Love You.” I was in Bellevue, Wash., in my little used, red Mazda 626, headed to the old Group Health Credit Union. The year was 1992.
As I waited at a stoplight, the song came onto the radio. and, so stunning was her pure, virtuoso vocal performance, I simply could not move. It was nothing less than a tour de force.
The sound of honking horns eventually made me snap out of my Houston-induced paralysis, but not before hearing “The Voice,” as she is affectionately known in the music industry, hit “The Note,” in what immediately became her signature song.
It was extraordinary. Yes, Dolly Parton wrote it, and sang it well … but our Whitney owned it.
I can remember such minute details because this was one of those rare occasions—on the timeline called life—that you recall exactly what you were doing when it occurred. And Whitney Houston has given all of us many such moments.
Another was when she sang the National Anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl. Houston belted out a rendition of the notoriously difficult, usually staid song that will likely never be matched. And she made it look so easy, as she stood there, on the world stage, looking ever so beautiful … and so happy.
