Little-known facts about Whitney...

As a teenager, Whitney sang lead on the title track of the Michael Zager Band's Life's A Party (1979). Zager offered her a recording contract, but Whitney's mother declined on her daughter's behalf.

When Whitney's second #1 single, "How Will I Know," reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100, it displaced Dionne Warwick's "That's What Friends Are For" -- only the third time in rock history that blood relatives had back-to-back chart-toppers.

George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, who collaborated to write "How Will I Know" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" met when they were hired as singers to perform at the wedding of Susan Boeing (of the airline family.) In the mid-Eighties they formed the band Boy Meets Girl and released an album; their single "Oh Girl" peaked at #39 in May 1985.

Whitney Houston made her film debut in 1992's The Bodyguard, starring Kevin Costner. The soundtrack sold 16 million copies and spent 20 weeks at US#1. The first single, a cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," was #1 for 14 weeks and sold 5 million copies, making it the bestselling single of all time.

In the late 80s, Robert DeNiro was in love with Whitney. "She's the sexiest woman I have ever seen. She is gorgeous. I want her by my side," he confided to an associate.

After being romantically linked with Eddie Murphy, Jermaine Jackson and pro football star Randall Cunningham, Whitney married R&B artist Bobby Brown, and the following year gave birth to a daughter, Bobbi Kristina.

In 1994 Whitney filed a restraining order against Charles Gilsberg, who claimed to be the father of Houston's daughter. A year later she had to file a restraining order against Steven J. Marriott, who claimed to be her brother.

Whitney's middle name (Elizabeth) is her grandmother's name. Whitney was named after a character on a 1960's U.S. soap opera.

Early in her career, Whitney appeared on such television shows as Silver Spoons, Gimme A Break and The Merv Griffin Show.

Whitney is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Red Cross - elected 1991.

Whitney Houston is the daughter of an acclaimed gospel and R&B singer, Emily "Cissy" Houston, and cousin to Dionne Warwick, and her godmother is Aretha Franklin.

Whitney sang in the New Hope Baptist Junior Choir; legend has it that at age eight she did a solo performance of "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah" that reduced the entire congregation to tears.

Cissy Houston is still the director of the choir at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, N.J.

As a teenager Whitney did backup work for Chaka Khan, Lou Rawls, the Neville Brothers, Janis Siegel and... Cissy Houston.

Before her solo career, Whitney also pursued a modeling career, appearing in such magazines as Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Seventeen, and she studied acting and dance.

"Saving All My Love For You", "All The Man That I Need", "Greatest Love Of All", and "I Will Always Love You" are covers. They were originally sung by Marilyn McCoo, Sister Sledge, George Benson, and Dolly Parton.

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