Of all the artists to make an impact on the music industry over the years, none do, will or ever can be compared to The Voice herself, Whitney Houston.
We sadly lost the late queen of pop on February 11, 2012 at the age of 48, quite young when you think of her contemporaries like Janet Jackson, Regina Belle and Anita Baker currently enjoying legend status in their late 50s/early 60s — even predecessors like Patti Austin and Dionne Warwick are still prospering at 72 and 81, respectively.
While her death is contributed to drowning by way of overdosing on cocaine, famed Hollywood producer Tyler Perry believes her demise started way before then when she received heavy criticism earlier in her career by her own community for coming off as “too white.”
Here’s a quick example from the 1988 Soul Train Music Awards to get an idea of what he means:
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It’s been well documented that Houston’s highly successful self-titled debut in 1985 and its
1987 follow-up, also ironically self-titled, were both criticized by the Black community for having a more pop-leaning sound. It didn’t help that in music videos for chart-toppers like “How Will I Know” and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me),” Whitney is rocking a frizzy, sandy blonde wig that gave her more European features.
Perry spoke with comedic mogul Kevin Hart on his Peacock series
Hart to Heart to describe his blanket statement, using the aforementioned Soul Train situation as an example by stating, “[Whitney] being booed at the Soul Train Awards was one of the worst things that could have happened to her in her life. People saying she’s ‘white’ or she’s this or she’s that, made her want to show…she came to this industry very young, but it made her want to show that she was something different.” He went on to add, “Instead of just realizing, let me keep my eye on this—she’s got the best voice in the world—if she had kept her eye on that, none of this other stuff would have mattered.”
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Although Perry makes a great argument on public opinion sometimes influencing people to go down a road of regret, there’s also an argument that can be made for letting your detractors be your biggest motivators towards success. Whitney would go on to become a beloved pillar in the Black community, marrying a Black man that sadly enabled her drug use and having a beautiful Black child that unfortunately died in eerily similar circumstances. Many would take those facts and attribute her issues to uncontrolled drug use primarily, but what do you think?
Take a look at what some people are saying below on social media on if criticism by the Black community led to Whitney Houston’s untimely death:
R.I.P. forever, Nippy…
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