Whitney

I'm not one to usually follow celebrities much, or especially write about them on my blog. But yesterday's passing of the fabulous singer, WHITNEY HOUSTON, is so sad to me, I've thought about it a lot over the past 24 hours. She was about my age.

I listened in awe when I first heard her sing "The Greatest Love of All..." in the mid 1980's. What PIPES!!  She also had extraordinary beauty, a fun, bubbly personality and every connection needed in the music industry (Cissy Houston [mom] was a famous gospel singer, Dionne Warwick was her aunt, Aretha Franklin was her godmother, etc.)

What gifts she had been given!The girl shot up like a rocket, and was everywhere in a very short time, becoming one of the biggest superstars in the world. Unstoppable...!

Like her southern gospel stylings or not, listeners were sucked in by the power and clarity of her voice. She turned her roots into a whole new genre of POP music that went way beyond gospel. Memorable songs that blew my mind were "Didn't We Almost Have it All," "Run to You," "Saving All My Love for You," "How Will I Know," "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," "I'm Every Woman," "One Moment in Time," and...of course... the Dolly Parton re-make, "I Will Always Love You." She left singers and wanna-be-singers jaw-dropped, wishing they had half her abilty and God-given talent.

Her version of the National Anthem at the 2003 SuperBowl was A-MAZING! I had to look it up to remember what year, but I remember how she knocked it out of the park! It was so strong, and so clear, and identifiable! Watch it HERE.

I think I own her debut CD, and haven't bought anything since then. She was on the radio non-stop back then. I can't say I am a die-hard Whitney fan; in fact, in recent years, I have thought her life a sad display of excess, addiction and a woman LOST, looking for something real to hold on to. She was given SO MUCH, and yet her inner demons kept her from realizing and enjoying her phenomenal blessings.

I guess what hit me so hard about her death yesterday is that she was only 48...so much of her life ahead of her, with a daughter, a family, talent, beauty, fame...and "everything." But it wasn't enough.

May she rest in peace.