R.I.P. Whitney

i don't generally feel much connection to celebrities, so i was surprised by how sad i felt when i found out whitney houston passed away over the weekend. she was 48. whitney was my gateway drug to pop music. "Greatest Love of All" came out when I was 8 years old and just starting to discover radio. hers was the female voice i most wanted to emulate as i belted out tunes alongside to my fisher price plastic radio until someone yelled at me to stop. and it wasn't just me: so many divas who followed her echoed her style too. though i couldn't have said as much as a kid, whitney's voice gave me my first taste of the power music could have over me- to consume me, inspire me + sustain me.


here is one my fave whitney songs. the lyrics are typically cheesy romantic, but the melody is gorgeous + the vocal artistry is classic whitney. from the movie, The Preacher's Wife: "I Believe in You and Me".