Katlego Maseko, Year 11
On August 9th, 1963, a star called Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born. Whitney Houston grew up in Newark, New Jersey, USA. Her mother, Cissy Houston, was the lead singer in the church choir, which led her to start singing at the age of 5. As she grew older, she realised that she wanted to sing professionally. At just 19 years old, she became the famous singer we know today, with a net worth of $450 million (USD) and having sold over 220 million records worldwide.
Whitney Houston has faced a lot of discrimination based on her gender and race when she entered the music industry, while winning award after award, people continued to say that she’s not singing black, she’s singing white. But with her resilience, strength, and passion for singing, she became one of the greatest singers of her generation, which is why I love her so much. I look up to her, and she’s just an amazing person.
Whitney Houston’s voice is one of the greatest, as she uses her beautiful soprano voice to perfectly hit high notes. On February 14, 1985, she released her first album, naming it after herself. One of my favorite songs on that album is “The Greatest Love of All, How Will I Know, and Saving All My Love You”.
Another song that I love dearly is “I Will Always Love You”, written by the great Dolly Parton, which was a Grammy award-winning song. I will forever remember the day I first ever heard the song. I had chills, goosebumps, and was touched by her perfect soprano voice. Whitney is not just a singer to me; she motivates me to love myself, not to care about what other people say, and to focus on my well-being. The song called “The Greatest Love of All” is my favorite one on the album because it talks about learning to love yourself; it is the greatest love of all. I decided long ago, “Never to walk in anyone’s shadows, If I fail, if I succeed, At least I’ll live as I believe, No matter what they take from me, They can’t take away my dignity.” This being one of my favourite quotes from her has had a big impact on me because she is telling me to love myself, as it’s the greatest love of all. I wish her joy and happiness in heaven.
