Katy Perry Used To Be A Gospel Singer? 10 Artists Who Completely Changed Their Look And Sound

Whitney Houston

While Whitney Houston is one of the most loved artists to ever pick up a microphone now, in the late ’80s and early ’90s, some people, including disc jockeys (according to Ebony magazine) thought her sound and look was “too white.” She was even booed at the Soul Train Awards after her name was called for an award. This bothered her:

“And don’t say I don’t have soul or what you consider to be ‘blackness.’ I know what my color is. I was raised in a black community with black people, so that has never been a thing with me. Yet I’ve gotten flak about being a pop success, but that doesn’t mean that I’m white. … Pop music has never been all-white.”

But that pop sound took a backseat as time went on, with Houston’s sound focusing more on R&B and ballads than “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”-like jams. By the time her fourth album came out, she was not only doing R&B, but a little reggae here, a little hip-hop there and more.