No embellishment was needed to describe Whitney Houston's vocal talent -- she was "The Voice."
With her octave-spanning instrument, Houston could inject drama into a song with unparalleled emotional power. Recall her 1985 hit "How Will I Know." "There's a boooooy I know -- he's the one I dream of!" she declares on the track's opening line. "Looks into my eyes, takes me to the clouds above." In just seconds, Houston transforms what could've been an ordinary pop song into a four-and-a-half-minute tour de force about the desire to be seen.
Houston's coruscating voice propelled her to superstardom. Her first two albums -- 1985's "Whitney Houston" and 1987's "Whitney" -- spawned a record-setting seven consecutive No. 1s. And nearly three decades after its release, "The Bodyguard" soundtrack, which features Houston's iconic version of "I Will Always Love You," remains the best-selling soundtrack album of all time.
Some listeners know only Houston's pop tunes -- 1987's electrifying "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)," for instance. But the singer worked immaculately across a variety of genres. There was her tough-talking new-jack-swing track "My Name Is Not Susan" (1990). There was her gospel-influenced version of "I Believe in You and Me" (1996). There was her skittering R&B toe-tapper "If I Told You That" (1998). And on and on.
By the time Houston died from a drug-related accidental drowning on February 11, 2012, at age 48, her life had become a kind of spectacle. She was stalked by chatter about her sexuality, by her turbulent marriage to Bobby Brown and by merciless scrutiny of her addiction and the heartbreaking deterioration of her voice.
But Houston was much more than the gossip. She was a musical institution who, at her zenith, was capable of delivering rafter-shaking vocal performances.
