Classic Song: Whitney Houston & Jermaine Jackson Duet Take Good Care Of My Heart
I remember when I was a child in the 1980s my mother always played this Whitney Houston song! Whitney Houston and Jermaine Jackson’s duet Take Good Care of My Heart is a romantic song. The passionate lyrics, the excellent singing, are just wonderful!
Sad News: R.I.P. Pop Superstar Whitney Houston Dead At age 48 In Los Angeles!!!
According to the Associated Press, pop legend Whitney Houston died today in Los Angeles she was forty-eight years old. Whitney Houston was the most important female solo pop star of her generation because she broke down racial barriers.
Although Madonna sold more records than Whitney Houston she lacked the vocal talent and class. Whitney’s success illustrated to the music industry that a black female singer can become an international superstar. Houston had all the ingredients an incredible singing voice, flawless beauty, intelligence, and a sense of humor.
In the early 1980s, Diana Ross was successful after leaving the Supremes but she wasn’t able to maintain her 1960s and 1970s success.
MTV rarely broadcast the videos of black female entertainers until Whitney Houston emerged and became a crossover success.
African American entertainers struggled just to reach wider audiences due to racial discrimination in the early 1980s.
Whitney Houston’s crossover success had an incredible cultural impact with black and white audiences.
At the 1989 Soul Train awards, Whitney Houston was booed by the African American audience they accused her of “acting white”, “singing white”, and ignoring the “black” audience.
Some blacks even called Houston “whitey” because they believed she had abandoned the black community.
Clive Davis the president of Arista Records wanted Whitney to appeal to white America so her records had less soul. Davis was concerned that Whitney not appear “too black” to offend white
American audiences. Davis carefully marketed Houston to be as bland and boring as possible.
Davis was focused on record sales but I personally believe Whitney felt shackled to this boring, pop princess image.
The pop songs Whitney sang were successful and popular with white audiences but her songs lacked soul.
Although some music fans love Whitney’s adult contemporary songs some blacks viewed her as a traitor for singing pop songs.
Whitney also appealed to the gay community she was a gay icon. Houston reached a global audience and she demonstrated with her talent, poise, and beauty that an African American woman can become
a global superstar.
Whitney inspired a new generation of female artists such as Christina Aguilera, Mary J Blige, Mariah Carey, Brandy, Beyonce, and Monica.
Houston’s success continued in the 1990s with hit films and soundtracks such as The Bodyguard, Waiting to Exhale, and The Preacher’s Wife.
The media was obsessed with Houston’s marriage to R&B bad boy Bobby Brown the couple married in 1992 and divorced in 2007.
Whitney was tired of the pop princess image and she wanted to stop the facade of not being her true self.
I think Whitney’s marriage to Bobby Brown was her way to reclaim her African American identity.
Bobby Brown was everything Whitney Houston wasn’t he was brash, outspoken, and he was also very popular with young black audiences in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Houston’s sound changed from contemporary pop to R&B with her 1998 album My Love Is Your Love.
In the early 2000s, Whitney could no longer hide her drug addiction and she was honest about her struggles with alcohol, marijuana, and rock cocaine.
In the year 2009, Whitney tried to make a comeback with the album I Turn To You it sold well but the tour was a disaster.
Houston appeared disorientated on stage forgetting the lyrics to songs and her powerful voice was destroyed due to years of drug use.
Whitney’s decline was similar to 1950s jazz diva Billie Holiday because drug addiction ultimately ruined their lives.
Of course, many people probably wonder why did Whitney Houston start using drugs?
Whitney Houston was one of the biggest stars in the world and she had a public image that she was the perfect person.
I think people need to realize celebrities are also people with public personas and private personalities.
Sometimes for some stars it is difficult to deal with the pressures of fame.
The intense media scrutiny Whitney Houston endured was difficult because she was so famous.
Every little thing Whitney did in her private life was analyzed in detail by the mainstream press and the vociferous tabloid media.
We will probably never find out the truth but drug addiction is very serious and real.
Some people think a quick visit to rehab can cure an addiction but for some people they struggle with drugs for the rest of their lives.
The mainstream white media was very negative towards Whitney Houston when she admitted to using narcotics and alcohol.
By contrast, black publications and media outlets such as Essence Magazine, Ebony, Upscale, Jet, supported Whitney with tough love.
The black press did not condemn Whitney Houston and treat her like she was a pariah like the mainstream white media.
People struggle with drug addiction regardless whether they are famous or ordinary people.
Whitney tried to kick her drug habit and turn her life around.
Some people easily attack Whitney Houston but I guess they lived perfect lives and never had personal demons?
It is so easy for people to criticize another person even though they never walked a mile in that individual’s shoes.
I believe Whitney Houston was a great singer and it is so sad and disappointing she died so young at the age of forty eight.
Lesbian Talk Show Host Ellen Degeneres Fires Back At Anti Gay Group One Million Moms About Being A Spokesperson for JC Penney!!!
I am proud of Ellen Degeneres standing up to the anti gay group One Million Moms. However, why is Ellen calling herself gay and not lesbian?
The word gay tends to refer more to gay men than lesbians. Ellen is a lesbian because the word means women who desire and love other women.
I think when Ellen uses the word gay is kind of sounds more neutral. Ellen is a lesbian and she should embrace that term.
Madonna’s Amazing Super Bowl Half Time Show Performance Featuring M.I.A. & Nicki Minaj!!!
Wow Madonna knows how to put on a show! Girlfriend totally rocked the Super Bowl half time show with an amazing performance!
I personally don’t care for football or the Super Bowl I only watched the half time show.
First, the opening sequence with the sexy muscle-bound soldiers looked like a gay porn movie coming to life on my television screen!
Madonna totally queered the Super Bowl!
Madonna is fifty-three years old but girlfriend proved she’s still the Queen of pop music! Lady Gaga has nothing on Madonna and all the pretenders to the Queen’s throne such as Britney Spears, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, need to bow down! Madonna performed in high heel boots and she quickly sang four songs Vogue, Music, Gimmie All Your Luvin, and finished with Like A Prayer.
I was impressed with Madonna’s exuberance and energy she seemed to be enjoying herself. The choreography was hot and the spectacle was incredible!
Did anyone notice M.I.A. flipping the bird to the audience? M.I.A. is a real rebel I love her!!
LA Complex New Scene: Tariq & Kal Take Their Gay Relationship To The Next Level Letting Other People Know.
In this week’s episode of LA Complex Kal and Tariq decide to visit a bed and breakfast outside of Vancouver. I really am starting to love this LA complex gay storyline! It is so rare for me to see gay black men in a passionate romantic relationship on television. I love how slowly but surely Tariq is trying to get Kal to see they can become a couple. It is wonderful to see this kind of vulnerability between these men. Kal and Tariq are maturing before the television viewers and admitting they love each other. The final scene is so sad because Kal and Tariq have to return home and back to the closet.
Gayblackcanada 