Died On This Date (February 11, 2012) Whitney Houston / Pop Music Icon
themusicsover Whitney Houston
August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012
Whitney Houston was an R&B singer who, by most accounts was one of the biggest female pop stars of all time. Born in Newark, New Jersey to a musical family that also included mother, Cissy Houston and cousins Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick. Her godmother was none other than Aretha Franklin. Following an early career that included fashion modeling and back-up singing for the likes of Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson, and Lou Rawls, Houston found herself taken in by legendary hit maker, Clive Davis, who signed her to his Arista Records and released her self-titled debut in February, 1985. The album, which spawned several hit singles, went on to sell an astonishing 25 million albums worldwide. Her follow-up album, Whitney, became the first album by a female artist in history to debut at #1 on the Billboard album charts. Over the next several years, Houston released hit after hit. In 1992, she starred opposite Kevin Costner in The Bodyguard. The romantic-thriller was the 2nd highest grossing film worldwide that year, while Houston’s soundtrack went on to sell over 45 million copies thanks to such hits as “I’m Every Woman, “Run To You,” and of course, her cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” which sold over 12 million copies itself. The soundtrack reached #1 in virtually every country that does such tracking. On January 7, 1991, while the United States was locked in the Persian Gulf War, Houston performed what many consider the greatest version of the “Star Spangled Banner” that the Super Bowl has ever known. It was quickly released as a single and became the first and only time the national anthem was a massive pop hit. Houston donated her share to the American Red Cross. The following year, Houston married former New Edition member and rap star, Bobby Brown. The two had a daughter together but divorced in 2006. After several years of personal set-backs, Houston returned with a new album, I Look To You, in 2009. The album hit #1 in the US and went on to sell over 3.5 million copies worldwide. It was her first #1 album since The Bodyguard. In September of 2011, Houston announced that she was going to produce and star in a remake of the 1976 film, Sparkle. On February 11, 2012, while in Los Angeles for the Grammys, Whitney Houston was found dead in her Beverly Hilton Hotel room bathtub. Officials later ruled that she accidentally drowned as a result of a heart condition and chronic drug use. She was 48.
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Steve Popovich was a long-time music industry powerhouse who, over a career that spanned some 50 years wore many hats. He started in the Columbia Records warehouse in 1962, and quickly moved into radio promotion, sales, TV promotion and even inventory control. In those early years, he helped promote the likes of Blood, Sweat & Tears, Simon & Garfunkel, and Paul Revere & The Raiders. In 1972, he became Columbia’s Vice President of Promotion – appointed by Clive Davis. At just 26, he was the youngest VP there ever. In 1974, he moved over to Epic Records where he helped launch the careers of Boston, Cheap Trick, and Ted Nugent, to name just a few. In 1977, Popovich founded Cleveland International Records where he would release Meat Loaf’s landmark album Bat Out Of Hell, which went on to sell upwards of 40 million copies during an era when most new releases sold at best, 5000 copies. He later went on to work as Sr Vice President at Polygram Nashville where he was responsible for numerous other successes. In recent years, Popovich found himself embroiled in a legal battle with Sony Music over royalties and failure to put the Cleveland International logo on millions of CDs. Steve Popovich died of an apparent heart attack on June 8, 2011. He was 69.