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Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, producer, and model. Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Houston started performing as a soloist in the junior gospel choir at the New Hope Baptist Church. After performing as a backing vocalist and modeling during her teenage years, she signed with Arista Records in 1983 and released her eponymous debut album in 1985. The album became the best-selling debut album by a woman in history and featured three Billboard Hot 100 number one singles, "Saving All My Love for You", "How Will I Know" and "Greatest Love of All". Houston's second album, Whitney (1987), which is the first album by a woman to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart and generated four number one singles including "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", making her the only artist to achieve seven consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 songs.

Houston made her screen acting debut in The Bodyguard (1992). She performed the lead single from the film's original soundtrack, "I Will Always Love You", which received the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became the best-selling single by a woman in music history. The soundtrack is the best-selling soundtrack of all time with estimated sales of 45 million copies worldwide and earned the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. And then, Houston made other high-profile film appearances and contributed to their soundtracks, including Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher's Wife (1996). The latter's soundtrack became the best-selling gospel album in history.

In 2009, Guinness World Records cited her as the most awarded female act of all-time. Houston is one of the best-selling music artists of all-time, with 200 million records sold worldwide. She released seven studio albums and two soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum, or gold certification. Houston's crossover appeal on the popular music charts, as well as her prominence on MTV, starting with her video for "How Will I Know", influenced several African American women artists who follow in her footsteps.

On February 11, 2012, Houston was found dead in her guest room at the Beverly Hilton, in Beverly Hills, California. The official coroner's report showed that she had accidentally drowned in the bathtub, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors. News of her death coincided with the 2012 Grammy Awards and featured prominently in American and international media.