Was Whitney Houston’s death inevitable?
I was never a huge fan of Whitney Houston but I always understood and respected the fact that she possessed one of the greatest voices in popular music. With the release of her self titled album “Whitney Houston” in 1985, she became the new gold standard for female vocalists pretty much overnight. Seven studio albums and 50 singles later there is little doubt that she will be remembered as one of the most important singers of our time.
My friend, colleague and a writer that I really admire, Joey Guerra was obviously shaken by the loss of one of his favorite artist. As I was reading his article on Whitey’s death last night, the whole thing really started to sink in. She’s gone forever. What an incredible loss and what a shame.
Here’s the tricky thing about fame that I think most people don’t realize until a tragedy like this occurs: being famous can kill you. With all her magnificent talent she was at the end of the day just a simple human being like you and me. When you suddenly have it all, the money, the fame, the fans it can be too much to take. We have all heard the phrase “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely..” What does it mean in this case? It means that an immensely talented, passionate and good hearted person can very easily be consumed by the indescrimminate, meat grinding, killing machine that is the music industry. Was her death inevitable? I don’t think so but after all her well publicized struggles the odds were against her.
When I heard the news that Amy Winehouse died last year it wasn’t that big of a shock to me because like many of her fans, I knew she was living on borrowed time. Winehouse was just starting to live and then suddenly she was gone. I listen to her music now and I love it so much more because I know that there will never be more of it. And now Whitney Houston, a much more established and accomplished singer with an extensive catalogue has passed away tragically just like Amy. What a shame. Again.
