Whitney Houston

One of the greatest pure singing voices in pop music, Whitney Houston dominated the second half of the '80s with seven #1 singles in succession, including the epic "Greatest Love of All" and her glorious era-defining party favourite, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." Following in the vocal traditions of her mother Cissy Houston and cousin Dionne Warwick, Whitney's voice seamlessly blended the gospel of her youth with an electric pop-soul excitement — and it ran through every note here, from the spine-tingling ecstasy of "How Will I Know" to her definitive game day version of "The Star Spangled Banner."

Whitney bridged the gap between box office and charts, in Next Steps.

With her poise, looks, and impeccable vocal technique, Whitney Houston had the world by the tail. In 1992, she made her big-screen debut in The Bodyguard, and followed that with Waiting to Exhale and The Preacher's Wife. All three films yielded awesome soundtracks, including some of her best work: "I Will Always Love You" (included in our Basics), "I Believe In You and Me," and "Queen of the Night." Her last full length studio offering of the 20th century, 1998's inventively produced My Love Is Your Love, spawned outstanding collaborations in "When You Believe" (with Mariah Carey) and "Heartbreak Hotel" (Faith Evans, Kelly Price).

Tab over to Deep Cuts to hear how Whitney was queen of multiple domains, from church to dance floor.

Throughout her career, Whitney Houston reached back to her gospel roots for inspiration, and that inspiration informed virtually all of her work, either explicitly or implicitly (as on her version of "You Light Up My Life"). Her training in church, coupled with her almost superhuman vocal talents, ensured that there was no note she could not nail, whether she was leading us to dancefloor nirvana (the Junior Vasquez Tribal X Beats mix of "Step by Step"), backing up ex-husband Bobby ("Something In Common"), or dialing it down with a creamy Deborah Cox duet ("Same Script, Different Cast").

In the mid-'80s, when she appeared with her self-titled debut, Whitney Houston raised the bar for all soul singers who would follow, courtesy of her pristine note-perfect voice, unbelievable range, and incredible power. With her looks, gospel background, excellent pedigree, and an ability to captivate audiences with a single note, Whitney secured her place as one of the industry's dominant artists, a superstar who sang her way to the very top, from first hit "You Give Good Love" to 2009's "I Look to You." Just look at the stats — she announced herself with the best-selling debut album by a female artist in history, and went on to deliver the biggest ever hit single at the time with 1992's "I Will Always Love You" from the soundtrack to The Bodyguard . . . and then there are those seven consecutive chart toppers. Even her Super Bowl rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" was a hit.