What Was The Last Song Whitney Houston Recorded Before She Died?
Dubbed "The Voice" by record producer and music executive Clive Davis (per Vibe), Whitney Houston is one of the greatest vocalists in the history of pop music. Still, the late icon's singing abilities did not just end at power ballads such as "I Will Always Love You" or upbeat pop tracks like "I Wanna Dance with Somebody." Fellow singer Faith Evans said this about Houston's voice and musicianship: "Her voice was an instrument, and she knew how to use it. With the same complexity as someone who has mastered the violin or the piano, Whitney mastered the use of her voice."
Houston seemed destined for greatness. At only 14-years-old, she was singing backup for her mother, an acclaimed singer in her own right, Cissy Houston. Three years later, she was singing backup for Chaka Khan. Not only that, but her first cousin is Dionne Warwick (via Biography). With that lineage, it should not be surprising that Whitney Houston became a superstar.
However, behind the voice of an angel were demons in her personal life. A shaky marriage to R&B superstar Bobby Brown and over a decade of drug abuse left Houston's career hanging by a thread by the turn of the century. Despite attempts to revitalize her career, Houston continued to struggle with drug abuse until she died in February 2012 at only 48-years-old. Before her death, Houston co-starred in a remake of the 1976 musical "Sparkle."
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Houston's Last Song was a Duet with Jordin Sparks
"Sparkle" tells the fictional story of a 1960s girl group who attempt to join Motown Records and become pop stars (via NBC New York). It seemed appropriate for a singer of Whitney Houston's caliber to appear in a movie musical set in the African American community in the 1960s. In the film, Houston plays the mother of the three girls who form a girl group (per ABC News). It was Houston's first film in 16 years.
On the soundtrack for "Sparkle," Houston's voice made two appearances. The first was a cover of the gospel track, "His Eye Is on the Sparrow." The second song, "Celebrate," was an original track produced by R. Kelly and a duet with the film's star, Jordin Sparks. For Sparks, the chance to work and perform with her idol was overwhelming, as she remembered (via ABC News): "She [Whitney] goes, 'Come here.' She's standing there, and she put my face in her hands, and she was like, 'You're everything that we were looking for,' and I just completely lost it. Here's this person that I've looked up to my entire life telling me that I am what she was looking for."
Houston finished filming the movie three months before her death, and she lent her voice to the soundtrack just five days before her passing. One of the album's producers, Harvey Mason Jr., said the singer seemed to be in a good place on her final day of recording.