In Honor Of Her Birthday, Relive Some Of Whitney Houston's Iconic Moments

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Her First Role As An Actress in The Bodyguard

Starring as Rachel Marron in the 1992 romantic thriller, Houston’s performance alongside Kevin Cosner as the lead in The Bodyguard made her acting chops respected in the industry. Notably, the album’s soundtrack also gave us one of the world’s most recognizable songs, “I Will Always Love You,” which was originally written by Dolly Parton.

In 2017, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the film’s soundtrack, Buzzfeed News shared that the singer’s presence on the album helped it reach its status as the best selling original soundtrack for a film in American history, and that the single “I Will Always Love You” will forever be “associated with Houston and her image.”

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Co-producing And Starring In The Black Cinderella

In case you didn’t know, Houston was integral to the success and long-staying cultural impact of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1997 version of Cinderella.

Affectionately referred to as The Black Cinderella by those of us who grew up with the film or played it for our children when they were young, Houston starred as Cinderella’s fabulous fairy godmother, was one of the film’s executive producers, and hand-picked Brandy Norwood for the lead as Cinderella herself.

Remembered most for its diverse casting, the film is still being viewed all these years later by families and young people everywhere.

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2002 Interview With Diane Sawyer For ABC

As one of her interviews that has gone down in history, Houston’s 2002 primetime conversation with Diane Sawyer “was both hotly anticipated and widely watched” according to the Los Angeles Times.

Fans were curiously about the singer’s personal wife — wanting to know if Houston was on drugs and what dynamic was at play between her and her then-husband Bobby Brown.

Infamously, when it came up if she’d ever done crack, she told Sawyer:

I make too much money to ever smoke crack. Let’s get that straight. Okay? We don’t do crack. We don’t do that. Crack is whack.

…That Wendy Williams Interview

The following year, Houston’s on-air back and forth with Wendy Williams also made waves. Back when Williams was still working as a radio personality and DJ on her show “The Wendy Williams Experience,” the two had an exchange thick with tension as the host grilled Houston on the biggest rumors that swirled her — including the singer’s drug addiction, her plastic surgery, and her relationship with Bobby Brown.

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The Release Of Her Seventh And Final Solo Studio Album

In 2009, after a six-year hiatus, Houston released her comeback album I Look to You. Its hits included the album’s title track and the song “Million Dollar Baby.” According to Wikipedia, the project went platinum in seven countries and gold in eight.

While speaking on the topics that came up for her as she developed the project, Houston told the U.K. press that it chronicalled the highs and lows of her life in the time of her absence from the music industry.

“That makes it real,” Houston shared then. “The changes that we go through, the transitions that we go through, the tests that we go through, being a mother, becoming a single mother. It all had its ups and its downs, but for the most part, I kept my faith and I kept my head up… I took my time. All the triumphs and the ups and downs and stuff, it’s all incorporated on the album, and hopefully not only does it inspire me, but inspires a whole lot of other people.”

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Her Role In Sparkle

With Jordin Sparks, Tika Sumpter, Carmen Ejogo, and a few other well-known celebs as her co-stars, Sparkle — a remake of the 1976 classic of the same name — was the last movie Houston filmed before she passed.

When the film was released in August 2012, The Hollywood Reporter shared that its premiere was a “bittersweet moment” considering that her castmates and family — including her daughter Bobbi Kristina (as seen above), her sister in law and her mother — had all gathered together for the viewing.

Her Last Public Performance

On February 9, two days before she died, Houston gave her last public performance on stage as she sang “Jesus Loves Me” with Kelly Price at a pre-Grammys party in Houston. As you may recall, the two had previously collaborated on the song “Heartbreak Hotel,” which also featured Faith Evens.

Watch TV One’s coverage from Houston’s last performance above.