Photo by: Photographs by Jackie
F O U N D A T I O N
Publisher’s Corner
Editor in Chief
Renee’ Smith Managing Editor
Martin Dawkins Assistant to the Editor Christina Mial Copy Editor
Drucilla Dunn Writers
Chanel Hunter Schelle Holloway Stevii Mills Theresa Walker
On February 11, 2012 the voice of Whitney Houston was
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silenced. Gone too soon was the thought that raced
Designer Creations
through my head when I heard the news, afterwards disbelief. As I began to think what we would bring to our readers in this issue, it became evident that we had to pay tribute to a Diva who has paved the way for so many of us who desire to carry that title. Whitney was an icon to us all and a role model to so many little girls. True enough she had her faults but which one of us don’t? We will miss you Whitney, we loved you, but God loved you more. Rest in Peace Diva!
Renee' Renee@diamonddivamag.com
Diamond Diva Magazine is published bi-monthly. Any reproduction of any part of this publication is prohibited without written permission from the publisher prior to doing so. Diamond Diva Magazine does not accept responsibility for statements made by individuals featured or advertisers. Comments concerning this publication should be submitted to the editor by email at info@diamonddivamag.com
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Saying Goodbye
To a Diva
Born August 9, 1963 in Newark, New Jersey to John and Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston almost seemed destined from birth to become a singer. Her mother Cissy Houston, cousin Dionne Warwick and godmother Aretha Franklin were all legendary figures in American Gospel and Soul music. Cissy Houston was the choir minister at New Hope Baptist Church, and it was there that a young Whitney got her start. Even as a child, Whitney was able to wow audiences; she later told interviewer Diane Sawyer that a rapturous response f r o m t h e congregation at New Hope had a powerful effect upon her: “I think I knew then that, my singing ability was an infectious thing that God had given me.” By the time she turned 15, Whitney was performing often with her mother and around the same time, she was discovered by a photographer who was awed by her natural beauty. She soon became an extremely sought after teenage model. Whitney became one of the -5-
first African-Amnerican women to appear on the cover of Seventeen magazine but music remained her true love. When she was 19, Whitney Houston was discovered in a nightclub by the renowned Clive Davis of Arista Records, who s i g n e d h e r immediately and took the helm of her career as she navigated from Gospel to Pop stardom. In 1983, Houston made her debut on national television , appearing on The Merv Griffin Show to sing “Home” from the musical The Wiz. She and Davis spent the next two years working on her debut album, finding the best producers and songwriters available to showcase her amazing vocal talent. In 1985, she released her debut album Whitney Houston and almost immediately became a smash pop sensation. Over the next year, her singles “Saving All My Love for You” and “How will I Know” helped the
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album reach the top of the charts, where it stayed for fourteen nonconsecutive weeks. Houston won a Grammy in 1986 for “Saving All My Love for You”; the award was presented to the singer by her cousin Dionne Warwick. Houston followed the monumental success of her first album with a second release, Whitney, in 1987. That record, too, went platinum many times over and won more Grammy Awards, leading to a successful world tour. During this time, the singer also appeared at a concert for Nelson Mandela’s birthday and founded the funds projects to help needy children over the world. By 1992, Whitney was on top pf the world. That year she married the R& B singer Bobby Brown, formerly of New Edition. A year later on March 4, 1993, Whitney gave birth to a daughter Bobbi Kristina. Whitney continued to progress in her career, crossing over successfully into acting in 1992 by starring opposite Kevin Costner in the wildly popular The Bodyguard. With this movie, she set a trend for her films to follow: in each film she also released a hit single, creating sensational records sales for the soundtracks. Her smash single from The Bodyguard, a cover of Dolly Parton’s 1974 “I Will Always Love You,” proved to be Houston’s biggest hit ever, spending a record-breaking fourteen weeks atop the U.S. Charts. The soundtrack album went on to win Houston three G r a m m y ’ s , including Album of the Year and Record of the Year.
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Later in the 1990s, Houston also starred in The Preacher’s Wife and Waiting to Exhale, both accompanied by hit soundtracks as well. In 1998, Houston released My Love Is Your Love, her first non-soundtrack studio album in many years, and it earned her another Grammy. Her collaboration with Mariah Carey which won an Academy Award. In 2002, Houston released her fifth album titled, Just Whitney. In 2009 Houston released a new album, I Look to You, which reached number one on the charts. Since then, she has been Honored by BET and the NAACP for her lifetime of achievement. On February 11, 2012, Whitney Houston departed this life and moved on to be with the Lord. She leaves behind to cherish memories and celebrate her life, her daughter Bobbi Kristina, her mother Cissy Houston and a host of family and friends. Her iconic voice will live on with her family, friends and over all her fans forever.
“The Holy Spirit would speak to me and it would guide me. And I wouldn’t know how I would get to this place or that place........
......Or how I did this or how I would go into the studio and sing again. But I did it.” -Whitney Houston
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cont. on page 13
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“Thoughts of a Black Woman” By: Theresa Walker
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July 2011
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