Whitney

It's not like I was a huge Whitney Houston fan or anything, but there is no denying that her music was a huge part of my teens. How could it not be? Mtv was the center of so many things, and Whitney had an amazingly powerful voice and was everywhere. You could not deny her talent. You could not help but stop and listen to her. She was mesmerizing.



Even in my later teens when I turned away from pop music, songs like I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) were hard not to like. Why? Because that voice.



As I said once, she may not sing music I like, but holy shit does she have a voice.

Much has been written about her ties to gospel music through her mom, Cissy Houston. This is the thing: I love gospel music. Love it. It makes me cry. It makes me want to cheer. It give me chills. Here's the other thing: I don't believe in god. Any god. But gospel music? It amazes me. It's the emotion that gets me. It's so deep and so heartfelt. Whitney Houston had that gospel voice. It was so clear and pure and heartfelt. I think that is what I liked about it. I think that's what we all liked about it.



It's all over the interwebs right now, of course, that Whitney Houston died at the age of 48. Cause and location were not released. [Edit: She died in Beverly Hills.] Given her history of drug abuse, I think it's pretty safe to say that if her death wasn't directly related to drug us, it was the long-term use of drugs that ravaged her body that led to whatever killed her.

Her voice hasn't been what it was for years. And while her death is a shock, once you think about it, it probably isn't a surprise. We've all been watching this happening, slowly.

RIP, Whitney. Such a talent.