Whitney Houston tributes are all over the internet today, but if anyone wants to share videos below, they're encouraged to do so. (For instance, this gorgeous a capella version of "How Will I Know," via Jake Fogelnest.) In the meantime, here's her legendary 1991 Super Bowl performance — not the most obscure find on YouTube, but a truly perfect performance.
Oh, Whitney. That voice. Girlfriend, you will be missed.
When You Believe, with Mariah Carey. Two bad-ass divas, for serious--whatever you think of them personally, these women can SING.
@The Everpresent Wordsnatcher Ahhh thank you, I think that's my favorite Whitney song! Very sad.
I remember really loving < a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14Sgnlz719Q>I'm Your Baby Tonight, because this is the album where she made the leap from pop to more mature R&B. I still die over the Marlene Dietrich homage.
@applestoapples HTML fail: let's try that again.
Poooooor Whitney. 80s Whitney is my favorite Whitney. I Wanna Dance With Somebody and How Will I Know are simply flawless.
(How'd everybody like Jennifer Hudson's tribute last night? I didn't see it until this morning, because waiting through all the Bruno Mars and Katy Perry crapfests was too much, but I thought she did a really nice job.)
@werewolfbarmitzvah I was talking with my friend about which artist would be the best for a tribute...we hadn't considered JHud, but we thought Stevie Wonder might deliver. Anyways, JHud totally brought "it."
@werewolfbarmitzvah I thought she sang the song very well within her range, but I had to remind myself of that when she wasn't hitting Whitney's notes. She's nailed it completely, but it just pointed out how much better Whitney really was. Amanda Dobbins at NYMag pretty much nails the uncomfortable
feeling
I have yet to see a mention of The Preacher's Wife, which I think is way more sufferable than The Bodyguard. What we need is a supernatural compilation of Whitney, Etta, Amy, and MJ.
@bonemeaux I would watch/listen to that. ALL DAY.
I put on her Greatest Hits yesterday morning while I washed my floors. I cried, ummm, more than once. I figure this is as safe a space as any to admit that I wept into a bucket of cleaning solution over the death of a woman I don't know.
@Jolie Kerr I cried in my car while listening to the verse in "My Love is Your Love" about how we shouldn't cry if she were to die this very day. I have a similar mixture of feelings of embarrassment and genuine, quasi-unexplained sadness.
I might be hiding right now, watching Whitney videos on YouTube and crying.
This video is pretty cheesy but it's one of my favorite songs
"All the Man that I Need" (1991). this is crazy. my favorite. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOl9onNx6rA&feature=related
@aintquite This is one of my favorite Whitney songs. Thank you.
Is it wrong that every time I see something about Whitney Houston "I will always love you" gets stuck in my head, but the one with Tracy Morgan and Jack McBrayer?
@Megan Patterson@facebook Last night at karaoke, a group of us sang "I Will Always Love You", and as our group included a few very drunk people, it turned out to be much in the style of Tracy Morgan and Jack McBrayer. It was still beautiful
I remember being much too young to watch The Bodyguard when it came out but I still listened to the soundtrack on repeat for half of '92. Turns out it was the best bit!
Every time I hear that version of the anthem it completely knocks me on my ass.
@The Lady of Shalott Me too! I remember it so clearly as the first time I heard the national anthem and actually felt something.
@The Lady of Shalott
Whitney Houston owns the national anthem. I feel like it should be retired now.
@The Lady of Shalott Totally. Someone needs to sit all of the other "diva" singers down, show them this video, and have a serious conversation about the appropriate level of trilling and what not during the national anthem.
@All we should have just designated her The Official National Anthem Singer and maybe everything could have turned out differently
HOW COULD I FORGET THE ROBYN MASHUP?! "Dancing in Houston." Amazing. (Thanks, Jen, for the reminder!!)
@Edith Zimmerman ahhh!! shut up!!
@Edith Zimmerman Amazing!
One of my favorite Whitney moments is when she encountered Serge Gainsbourg being very Serge on a French talk show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMdXi6f5KRg
@austin adams@twitter "Sometimes he is a bit drunk." That is hilarious and haunting, what with the heavily medicated lifestyles.
Not her most popular, but love this one: It's Not Right but It's Ok
Listened to that one on repeat when I was going through my divorce.
@ImASadGiraffe ditto. also good for screaming on treadmills, if you are, uh, of the sort that needs to be really pumped up to actually exercise.
Oh, this anthem. For 20 years, every time I watched any sporting event with my parents, televised or not, my dad would always chime in after the anthem: "Not nearly as good as Whitney Houston." It was tattooed on his brain, for good reason.
The best part of that video is how much fun Houston looks like she is having. And since her voice is phenomenal, that's saying something.
Also... the early 90's fashion is pretty rad. SO much aquanet in that stadium.
@PistolPackinMama She's all, "Octaves, pitch, huge crowd, whatever, nbd."
Michael Jackson's death was sad but didn't really have an effect on me personally, despite how much I liked his music growing up. All the fanfare got to be super obnoxious after a while.
Whitney, on the other hand... :( I am heartbroken. Why aren't the flags at half mast?!
Pretty sure this was my original standing-on-my-seat-at-the-dinner-table, fork as microphone performance number.
Title/So emotional
Thanks, Whitney, for all the hours of pure joy your songs gave me when I was a kid.
Norwegian state radio just reported that Whitney Houston will live on in many people's hearts.
So that's a relief.
I think it would be impossible to oversell this: the MOST diva-esque, artistically interesting thing I've ever seen her do. South Africa, 1994. Stick with it til the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8CGzhb7BJE
@jules WOW.
I was big into Whitney in the 80's but as my taste in music changed I moved away from her. This single performance brought the love back. I had to fight off tears at work. Thanks for sharing (and making me fight off tears at work).
The Soul Food soundtrack was given to me on cassette when I was seven years old and I literally melted it from repeated playings. Ugh, addiction ruins everything.
I wish this could be a wake-up call to the parents of the future Lohans, MJs, and Whitneys (toddler and tiaras moms?).
I really believed that someday she would conquer all her demons and make a spectacular comeback and then eventually ride out her days doing a big Vegas show. It's just so sad.
I think this is my favorite Whitney ballad. It made me burst into tears even before her passing, so yeah, now...