Directors Nick Broomfield, Rudi Dolezal Starring Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown, Robyn Crawford, Cissy Houston archive footage. Perhaps the saddest thing about Whitney Houstons story is the way that, five years after her death, it looks more and more like a blueprint for a certain kind of fame  one in which God given artistry is burnt out by tense familial relations, a wayward lover, drugs and overwork. Recent films by Asif Kapadia and Amy Berg told versions of this cautionary tale as lived by Amy Winehouse and Janis Joplin. So in Whitney Can I Be Me, you can understand Nick Broomfields determination to pick a new route around its tragic contours. Anyone familiar with the wily documentarians work will know that sidling up to salacious material from unexpected angles is one of Broomfields stock in trade manoeuvres. That said, he remains behind the camera at all times here there are none of the heart in mouth authorial interventions here that made his earlier musical tragedy films, 1. Kurt Courtney and 2. Biggie Tupac, such prickly watches. Whitney Houston Wikipedia. Whitney Houston. Born. Whitney Elizabeth Houston1. August 9, 1. 96. 3Newark, New Jersey, U. S. Died. February 1. Los Angeles, California, U. S. Cause of death. Drowning due to drug intoxication. Resting place. Fairview Cemetery. Westfield, New Jersey, U. S. Nationality. American. Education. Mount Saint Dominic Academy. Occupation. Singeractressfilm producerrecord producermodel. SpousesBobby Brownm. Alias Season 2 Episode 20. Children. Bobbi Kristina Brown. ParentsJohn Russell Houston, Jr. Cissy Houston. Relatives. Musical career. Genres. Jimmy Kimmel Opens Up About Revealing Sons Medical Issues To Viewers Pussycat Dolls Founder Robin Antin Slams Claims That Girl Group Is A Prostitution Ring. FTHN0STWS87578/1501255759_large.jpg' alt='Watch Whitney: Can I Be Me Download' title='Watch Whitney: Can I Be Me Download' />Instruments. Years active. Labels. Associated acts. Websitewhitneyhouston. Signature. Whitney Elizabeth Houston August 9, 1. February 1. 1, 2. American singer, actress, producer, and model. In 2. 00. 9, Guinness World Records cited her as the most awarded female act of all time. Houston is one of the best selling music artists of all time, with 2. She released seven studio albums and two soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi platinum, platinum, or gold certification. Houstons crossover appeal on the popular music charts, as well as her prominence on MTV, starting with her video for How Will I Know,4 influenced several African American women artists who follow in her footsteps. Houston is the only artist to chart seven consecutive No. Billboard Hot 1. 00 songs. She is the second artist behind Elton John and the only woman to have two number one Billboard 2. Album awards formerly Top Pop Albums on the Billboard magazine year end charts. Houstons self titled debut album 1. Rolling Stone named it the best album of 1. Greatest Albums of All Time. Her second studio album, Whitney 1. Billboard 2. 00 albums chart. Houston made her screen acting debut as Rachel Marron in the romantic thriller film The Bodyguard 1. She performed the lead single from the films original soundtrack, I Will Always Love You, which received the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became the best selling single by a woman in music history. With the soundtrack, which received the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1. Houston became the first act solo or group, male or female to sell more than a million copies of an album within a single week period under Nielsen Sound. Scan system. 8 The album makes her the top female act in the top 1. Houston made other high profile film appearances and contributed to their soundtracks, including Waiting to Exhale 1. The Preachers Wife 1. The latters soundtrack became the best selling gospel album in history. On February 1. Houston was found dead in her guest room at the Beverly Hilton, in Beverly Hills, California. The official coroners report showed that she had accidentally drowned in the bathtub, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors. News of her death coincided with the 2. Whitney Can I Be Me review an unbearably sad show business puzzle still waiting to solved. Grammy Awards and featured prominently in American and international media. Life and career. 19. Early life and career beginnings. Whitney Houston was born on August 9, 1. Newark, New Jersey. She was the daughter of Army serviceman and entertainment executive John Russell Houston, Jr. Watch Whitney: Can I Be Me Download' title='Watch Whitney: Can I Be Me Download' />September 1. February 2, 2. 00. Emily Cissy Drinkard Houston. Her elder brother Michael is a singer, and her elder half brother is former basketball player Gary Garland. Her parents were both African American. Through her mother, Houston was a first cousin of singers Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick. Her godmother was Darlene Love1. Aretha Franklin,1. Houston was raised a Baptist, but was also exposed to the Pentecostal church. After the 1. 96. 7 Newark riots, the family moved to a middle class area in East Orange, New Jersey, when she was four. At the age of 1. 1, Houston started performing as a soloist in the junior gospel choir at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, where she also learned to play the piano. Her first solo performance in the church was Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah. When Houston was a teenager, she attended Mount Saint Dominic Academy, a Catholic girls high school in Caldwell, New Jersey, where she met her best friend Robyn Crawford, whom she described as the sister she never had. While Houston was still in school, her mother continued to teach her how to sing. Houston was also exposed to the music of Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, and Roberta Flack, most of whom would have an influence on her as a singer and performer. Houston spent some of her teenage years touring nightclubs where her mother Cissy was performing, and she would occasionally get on stage and perform with her. In 1. 97. 7, at age 1. Michael Zager Bands single Lifes a Party. In 1. 97. 8, at age 1. Houston sang background vocals for Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls. In the early 1. 98. Houston started working as a fashion model after a photographer saw her at Carnegie Hall singing with her mother. She appeared in Seventeen2. She was also featured in layouts in the pages of Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Young Miss, and appeared in a Canada Dry soft drink TV commercial. Her looks and girl next door charm made her one of the most sought after teen models of that time. While modeling, she continued her burgeoning recording career by working with producers Michael Beinhorn, Bill Laswell and Martin Bisi on an album they were spearheading called One Down, which was credited to the group Material. For that project, Houston contributed the ballad Memories, a cover of a song by Hugh Hopper of Soft Machine. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called her contribution one of the most gorgeous ballads youve ever heard. She also appeared as a lead vocalist on one track on a Paul Jabara album, entitled Paul Jabara and Friends, released by Columbia Records in 1. Houston had previously been offered several recording agencies Michael Zager in 1. Elektra Records in 1. In 1. 98. 3, Gerry Griffith, an A R representative from Arista Records, saw her performing with her mother in a New York City nightclub and was impressed. He convinced Aristas head Clive Davis to make time to see Houston perform. Davis was impressed and immediately offered a worldwide recording contract which Houston signed. Later that year, she made her national televised debut alongside Davis on The Merv Griffin Show. Houston signed with Arista in 1. The label wanted to make sure no other label signed the singer away. Davis wanted to ensure he had the right material and producers for Houstons debut album.