Whitney Houston, 48, and the 54th Grammy Awards

Intro Note: As I am writing this blog post in our eat-in kitchen table , I've been watching TV in our family room, with my wife (although she's on her laptop, too, doing her school-work.) The  TV show is about the 54th Grammy Awards, minus an icon in the music world, Whitney Houston. I learned that singer-actress Jennifer Hudson was scheduled to pay her a musical tribute. (Update about the 54th Grammy Awards: I had the premonition that Adele, the British singer-songwriter, would win with her song very popular "Rolling in the Deep" . And you betcha, I was right! She was the big winner, with six Grammy's trophies.)

Perhaps, we've all heard and learned about the unexpected (sudden) death yesterday of Whitney Houston (1963-2012), 48 year-old American artist-queen of pop music and the star of the 1992 movie The Bodyguard, co-starring Kevin Costner. All of us, I'm sure, have been familiar with her unforgettable rendition/interpretation of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," the movie's theme song that won Grammy's record of the year and made her (Houston) best female pop vocal.

Personally, I love listening to Whitney's songs, like other artist-divas of note, i.e., Barbara Streisand, Celine Dion. My wife and I have watched "The Bodyguard" long ago. I thought she performed excellently in that movie the fact that that was her debut film, to my knowledge. She was so natural as a singer-actress in that movie. She was truly the "star' in that movie, in the strictest sense of the word. That's her movie, I would safely say, although she also appeared in "Waiting to Exhale" and "The Preacher's Wife," 1995-1996.

We're glad to have, at home, "My Love is Your Love," one of Whitney's CDs that became another hit studio album she co-produced with her mentor and music producer Clive Davis in 1998. "When You Believe" (from the movie "The Prince of Egypt") is one of my favorites in this album. In this song, she sang duet with Mariah Carey. But of all the songs she has sung, my all-time favorite is "I Will Always Love You."
(Thanks YouTube and many thanks to the video uploader. No copyright infringement intended.)

Thank you, Whitney, for your gift of music you left us. Thank you for having shared us your life. May you rest in peace, Whitney! And to the bereaved family, our heartfelt condolence!-chris a. quilpa, 12February2012