I am immediately brought back to a Philadelphia concert I attended of hers in 1994 (I believe).
She was singing Aretha's, and in a way, Cissy Houston's, "Ain't no way".
At the break of the song she started talking to the girl singing the high note section (her Mother's old part)..
"See..I can sing that note but I can't hold it", Whitney said to the girl, "How are you able to hold it?"
For the next 2 minutes, Whitney Houston proceeded to repeatedly hit the note (a high D above the soprano high C) as if we weren't even in the arena.
After Whitney sang Glorious High D after Glorious High D - she shrugged her shoulders and gave up - slightly annoyed that she couldn't sing it for more than a few beats. (It should be noted: most Verdi or Puccini opera roles do not require a soprano to sing high D's at all - never mind continuously)
Everything came so easily to this woman that she completely ignored the astonishing fact she could sing a high note some sopranos at the Metropolitan Opera House didn't even have .......and focused, instead, on the fact she couldn't hold it.
Without the jokes, the bad press, the awful performances, the sadness in her eyes.....she will take her place next to Judy Garland as the two greatest natural vocal talents this country ever produced.
Her legacy is intact. She's gone to the rock.
"There's no damn business like show business - you have to smile to keep from throwing up." - Billie Holiday
Updated On: 2/13/12 at 02:22 PM