I saw the trailer for this documentary film, I knew I was definitely going to go to the cinema to see it when I was able to, I am a very big fan of the singer, and I was fascinated to see the story of her life, directed by Kevin Macdonald (Touching the Void, The Last King of Scotland, Life in a Day). Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born 9 August 1963, this film depicts the life and career of the American singer and actress, charting her stratospheric rise to fame. The film is made up of archive footage, from Whitney's television appearances, and never-before-seen home video footage from her family and friends, stills from newspaper and magazine articles, and interviews from her family, friends and colleagues. Whitney's family had a history of singing, including her mother Cissy Houston, and she is first cousin of singers Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick. Whitney herself started singing in a gospel choir, then she performed as a soloist in nightclubs, she had a short stint in fashion modelling, before returning to singing and being offered numerous record deals. Whitney turned down many of them, eventually agreeing to sign a contract with Arista Records, headed by Clive Davis, she made her debut television appearance on The Merv Griffin Show in 1985. Her breakout song was "Saving All My Love for You", which went straight to number one in the US and the UK, she followed with other big hits like "How Will I Know" and "The Greatest Love of All". Whitney was fast becoming a superstar, and followed with her second album, which included hits "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", "Didn't We Almost Have It All", "So Emotional", and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go", she also performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV at Tampa Stadium. During this time, she met R&B singer Bobby Brown, they married a couple of years later, then she got her opportunity to become an actress, starring alongside Kevin Costner in The Bodyguard, which included the song, her most successful in history, "I Will Always Love You". Of course during this time she was also introduced to drugs, she tried and eventually became addicted alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and pills, and there were many tabloid scandals about the marriage to Bobby Brown, including his various arrests, and reports of him beating Whitney, they divorced in 2007. Whitney did have success with her next albums, including further hits like "It's Not Right But It's Okay" and "My Love Is Your Love", but her behaviour, addictions, many cancelled appearances and tours were causing her career to go downwards. She attempted a comeback, with varied success, but her live performances did not go down well with fans, with her singing being often off-key, she eventually went to rehab, and after returning patched things up with her family, including daughter Bobbi Kristina, and also returned to acting in a remake of Sparkle. Throughout the film, in various archive clips and performances, you can tell that Whitney struggled with her personal demons and addictions, displaying "dishevelled" and "erratic" behaviour, and struggling as a wife and mother.
On 11 February 2012, Whitney was found dead in a suite at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, submerged in the bathtub, her death was caused by drowning and the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use", she was aged 48. Three years later, her daughter Bobbi Kristina was also found unconscious in a bathtub, she was put into an induced coma, she died in hospice care on 26 July 2015, at the age of 22. With contributions from Bobby Brown, Cissy Houston, Clive Davis, Gary Houston, L.A. Reid, Mary Jones and Kevin Costner. There are things I found out about Whitney I never would have known about, including her bisexuality, and a lesbian relationship with her best friend Robyn Crawford. It is difficult to watch when the footage shows Whitney acting strangely under the influence of drugs, but you cannot deny she was an incredible talent, her singing voice is amazing, and she still holds the records as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, it may be a bit up and down with its editing and approach to particular subjects, but it is a most interesting biographical music documentary. Good!