Singer, Actress, Film Producer and Model. Regarded as one of the finest female vocalists of her generation, she began her musical career singing as a member of the New Hope Baptist Church junior gospel choir in Newark, New Jersey. She is credited with inspiring the successful musical careers of Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, and Jennifer Hudson among others. She was discovered at a local New York City nightclub by Arista Records founder-president Clive Davis, where she performed as a backup vocalist for her mother Cissy Houston. In February 1985, her self-titled debut album "Whitney Houston" was released to the general public, eventually reaching the top spot in the album charts, where it remained for a record 14 consecutive weeks. The album produced three number one Billboard Top 100 singles "Saving All My Love for You," "How Will I Know" and "You Give Good Love," with sales topping 25 million copies worldwide. Two years later, her second album "Whitney" (1987) became the first album by a female to debut at the top of the Billboards 200 albums list. She famously performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV in Tampa, Florida on January 27, 1991, widely considered to be one of the best renditions of the National Anthem. She made her motion picture acting debut opposite Kevin Costner in "The Bodyguard" (1992). The Bodyguard soundtrack holds the record as the best-selling movie soundtrack of all-time. Her other screen credits include "Waiting to Exhale" (1995), "The Preacher's Wife" (1996), "Cinderella" (1997), and "Sparkle" in post-production at the time of her death. She was the recipient of two Emmy Awards and six Grammy Awards. Her other notable accomplishments included 30 Billboard Music Awards, seven consecutive number one hit single releases, 22 American Music Awards and several platinum selling albums. By the end of 2009, she had sold an estimated 170 million records. Her meteoric rise to stardom was overshadowed by widely publicized bouts of substance abuse and allegations of domestic violence during her nearly 15-year marriage to singer Bobby Brown (New Edition). She was found lifeless in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, one day before the 54th Annual Grammy Awards telecast. In 2020, Houston was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.