Whitney Houston and the Sounds of Silence
Whitney Houston during Welcome Home Heroes concert, March 31st, 1991. Sourced by Wikimedia Commons.
Whitney Houston, 48, possibly one of the greatest female vocal talents of the past 25 years, has unfortunately died in a hotel in Beverly Hills, California, due to currently unknown, but non-violent, circumstances.
Growing up as a child in the late 80s and early 90s, I was never in control of the radio; my parents were. In the car, especially, my mother would have soft rock and pop stations playing, and Whitney’s voice was everywhere; “I wanna dance with somebody“, “I will always love you“—these songs shall always be in my memory. When Michael Jackson died, I was surprised, as all were, but I wasn’t particularly affected by his death; it was merely a curious happening. While I can’t say I feel tremendous emotional distress at the moment, I do feel a certain bittersweet loss and am aware that a certain part of my life has now closed and ended, for the source of that music I once listened to and was pleasantly flooded by can no longer sing.
There’s no real reason to post an incomplete biography or arbitrary dates and happenings of Houston’s life here in this post; it doesn’t do justice to the singer’s past and history, nor the importance and impact she had to the world of music. However, for further reading, her Wikipedia article can be found here.
Today is a day of loss, and one of the greatest singing voices ever to grace the airwaves shall never sing again. One hopes that after all the examples of these exemplar musical talents—from Hendrix, to Jackson, to Winehouse, to Houston—that future voices won’t be silenced for their poor decision-making. Unfortunately, we know they will be…and that is the saddest thing of all.
She has been a great source of inspiration and divinity for us. She is dearly missed and always remembered.
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