WHITNEY HUSTON: SOME THOUGHTS

Whitney Huston... The Way I'd Like to Remember Her.

When I saw the post on Facebook that Whitney Huston checked out of this world, it gave me pause. Of course I felt bad that this once great talent had been snuffed out like Elton John’s song said… like a candle in the wind. But in all honestly, I always thought Whitney Huston’s brilliant life (like Michael Jackson a couple years earlier and more recently Amy Winehouse) wouldn’t have a pretty ending… and to be honest; I was surprised that what happened yesterday took this long? Her delema was not a guarded secret at all... we all knew what was up with her. Whitney Huston was such a force in music the 1980’s & 90’s, she truly was America's sweetheart of pop music. And she let it all get away from her. And she had this amazing charisma on stage, she had these looks of a fashion model that gave her an entrée into the movies… she was destine for some really amazing things… but her life sadly derailed off the tracks. Drugs, a bad marriage, who knows what else? Some people get sucked into the vortex of fame and get spit out in shreds… Whitney Huston made her film debut in the smash 1993 movie called The Bodyguard, playing a pop superstar who falls in love with her protector played by Kevin Costner. I think she might have really needed someone like that in her real life... but then again; how can you have someone protect you from yourself?

Where were you, Kevin Costner?

She was a superstar, but unfortunately Whitney Huston was a modern day version of jazz great Billie Holiday, who died at age 44 in 1959 after hard times due to addiction. History sadly continues to repeat itself again… we don’t know as of yet what caused Whitney Huston’s final curtain call… but I’m sure battle with drugs didn’t help one bit. I’m not Dr. fn OZ, but let this be a lesson, you just can’t do that shit and expect to have the luxury of living to a ripe old age. One thing I can say about Madonna (the Joan Crawford of pop music) is that she takes care of herself.

What I do take from this sad story is how many people loved Whitney Huston… from all the posts I saw on Facebook, all her fans forgave and forgot all of her past trails and tribulations. Sadly for as much jubilation that artists like Whitney Huston, Michael Jackson… all the way back to Elvis himself gave; it’s heartbreaking when they seem to fail themselves… when they crumble before our eyes.  We find that they are mere humans, same as us… the amazing thing, for all the heroic charisma they seems to possess as artists; many lack or lose the fundamental strength to save themselves in the real world. I really feel sorry for Whitney Huston's eighteen year old daughter, who is now without a mother… and I’m sure all the vultures are sitting in the trees just sharpening their beaks, just waiting… very sad indeed. A friend posted a memory last night on Facebook. She wrote something to the affect, that she had loved Whitney Huston, and as a little girl had the joy to her see her in concert in her prime sitting on her mothers shoulders… well that’s the way to remember her. That’s my two fn cents.