Whitney Huoston

Whitney Houston

Born on August 9, 1963 in Newark, New Jersey, Whitney Houston almost seemed destined from birth to become a singer. Her mother Cissy Houston, cousin and godmother were all legendary figures in American gospel, soul and pop music. Her parents did what they could to provide well for Whitney and her older brothers, Gary and Michael. But somewhere along the way, her brothers fell victim to drug use, and their little sister wasn’t far behind. Whitney Houston released her debut album at age 22 and scored three No. 1 singles.

By 1992, Whitney Houston was on top of the world, but her life was about to get very complicated very quickly. That year she married the R&B Singer Bobby Brown, formerly of New Edition, after a three-year engagement. At first the marriage was passionate and loving, but things turned sour as the decade progressed and both Brown and Houston battled substance abuse and increasingly erratic behavior, with Houston later alluding to emotional abuse from Brown and domestic violence. It wasn’t Bobby Brown who introduced her to drugs. Drugs were around her for years before she met Bobby and continued after he left. It was worse when they were together, but he didn’t cause it. He also wasn’t the person Houston needed to help get her life on track and off the drugs she was taking with increasing frequency.

Houston dabbled only in light drugs during the initial stages of her career, say several people who were around her at the time. But as her fame grew by leaps and bounds, so did the pressure to succeed and her need to escape from it all.

Along that downhill road, Houston’s drug use led her to forget the lyrics to her most famous songs, blow off concert dates at a moment’s notice, lose her fortune, ruin her voice, and even sometimes ignore the basic needs of her only daughter. She planned her day around the drugs, and nothing else mattered. Drug sellers loved her, and everyone wanted to sell to her because she paid in cash.

Autopsy results revealed just how much self-inflicted damage Houston had done in her 48 years.Years of cocaine use had burned a hole through her septum, she had heart disease, and toxicology tests showed residue of marijuana, Xanax, Benadryl, and other medications in her system.

Addiction has been described as a family disease that infects not just addicts, but those closest to them, and it doesn’t seem to have spared 19-year-old Bobbi Kristina. She disappeared after her mother’s funeral and was later found in a hotel room using drugs, according to two people familiar with the incident.

That’s what drugs will do to you, and it doesn’t matter how rich you are. An addict is an addict.

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