Whitney Houston
American singer, actress, and film producer (1963–2012)
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, and record producer. Commonly referred to as "the Voice", Houston is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with sales of more than 220 million records worldwide. She is among the most awarded artists of all time. A cultural icon, Houston broke down gender and racial barriers through her artistic achievements, Hollywood crossover, and music videos. Known for her vocal delivery, gospel singing style, crossover appeal, and live performances, she was ranked second on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest singers of all time in 2023.
Houston became one of the first black women to appear on the cover of Seventeen after becoming a teen model in 1981. She signed to Arista Records at the age of 19. Her first two studio albums, Whitney Houston (1985) and Whitney (1987), topped the Billboard 200 for 14 and 11 weeks, respectively. The former remains the best-selling debut album by a solo artist, while the latter made her the first woman to debut atop the US and UK charts. Houston took a more urban turn with her third album, I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990), and performed an acclaimed rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV in 1991.
The public source identifies “Whitney Houston” as american singer, actress, and film producer (1963–2012). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Whitney, Houston and American.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Whitney Houston”, the useful work is to connect “american singer, actress, and film producer (1963–2012)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q34389. VIAF identifies the subject as 100252201. The Library of Congress control number is n87938447. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1963, 2012, 2023 and 1981.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Whitney Houston”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Whitney Houston primary sources, Whitney Houston archive and Whitney research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Whitney Houston”?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Whitney Houston” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.