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Home , Baby Tonight, Cissy Houston, Lou Rawls, Michael Zager, My Love Is Your Love

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2012

By: Senator(s) Jackson (11th), Jordan, To: Rules Butler (38th), Horhn, Simmons (12th), Turner, Dawkins, Simmons (13th), Jones, Butler (36th), Jackson (32nd), Fillingane, Frazier, Stone, Watson, Hill

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 585

1 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION TO COMMEMORATE THE LIFE AND 2 ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF WHITNEY ELIZABETH HOUSTON OVER THE PAST 48 3 YEARS AND EXPRESSING THE CONDOLENCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI 4 LEGISLATURE TO HER FAMILY UPON HER DEATH. 5 WHEREAS, Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born on August 9, 6 1963, in Newark, ; and 7 WHEREAS, was the youngest daughter to famed 8 singer and John Russell Houston, Jr., cousin of Dee 9 Dee and , and god-daughter of ; and

10 WHEREAS, Whitney Houston began following in her mother's 11 footsteps at the age of 11 by performing at her Church, New Hope 12 Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, and a short time later began 13 performing in shows alongside her mother in in the 14 and early 1980s; and 15 WHEREAS, as a teenager, Ms. Houston earned credits for 16 vocals with the Band, , , Herbie 17 Mann, the Neville Brothers, Bill Lawswell's Material, Jermaine

18 Jackson, and various other artists; and 19 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston began modeling in the 1980s and became 20 the first woman of color to grace the cover of Seventeen Magazine;

21 and 22 WHEREAS, at an early point in her concert career, Whitney 23 performed in the Mississippi Coliseum warming up for Luther 24 Vandross and stole the show; and 25 WHEREAS, as an accomplished model, Ms. Houston's striking

26 good looks and girl-next-door charm lead her to be a sought-after 27 model and featured in multiple layouts, including Glamour, 28 Cosmopolitan and Young Miss; and S. C. R. No. 585 *SS01/R1169* N1/2 12/SS01/R1169 PAGE 1 29 WHEREAS, upon seeing Ms. Houston perform in 1983, Arista 30 Records' founder and President, , immediately signed 31 her and, within a year after being signed, Ms. Houston had her 32 first top-5 R&B hit with , titled; "Hold Me"; and 33 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston's debut album, "Whitney Houston," was 34 released in 1985, was certified 13-times platinum (diamond) in the

35 , and sold 25,000,000 copies worldwide; and 36 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston's debut album earned her many 37 distinctions, including biggest selling debut album by a solo 38 artist, first female artist to debut an album with three Number 39 One hits, first female Artist to be "Artist of the Year" and 40 "Album of the Year" on Billboard charts, and first 41 African-American female artist to have consistent and heavy 42 rotation on MTV; and

43 WHEREAS, this early success and acceptance opened many doors 44 for other African-American women vocal artists; and 45 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston's second album, "Whitney," was released 46 in 1987 and debuted at Number One on the Billboard album chart, 47 marked the first time in music history that a female artist 48 debuted at Number One in both the United States and the United 49 Kingdom, gave her seven consecutive Number One hits, which broke 50 the record held by the Beatles and The Bee Gees, made her the

51 first female artist to generate four Number One hits from one 52 album, was certified nine-times platinum, and sold 20,000,000 53 copies worldwide; and 54 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston's third album, "I'm Your Baby Tonight," 55 was released in 1990, earned Ms. Houston back-to-back Number One 56 hits, peaked at Number Three on the Billboard album charts, and 57 was certified four-times platinum and sold 8,000,000 copies 58 worldwide; and 59 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston delivered the most stunning performance

60 of the National Anthem before the 1991 Super Bowl, and more than 61 20 years later, her performance is not only one of the most S. C. R. No. 585 *SS01/R1169* 12/SS01/R1169 PAGE 2 62 spectacular moments in American sports history, but is also the 63 gold standard for all Super Bowl performances; and 64 WHEREAS, in 1992, Ms. Houston made her movie debut in "The 65 Bodyguard" with Oscar-winning Actor and Director and 66 not only did the film break box office records worldwide, but the 67 soundtrack album, which featured six Whitney Houston songs, was

68 the biggest selling motion picture soundtrack of all time and 69 voted Grammy-winning "Album of the Year"; the soundtrack was 70 certified 17-times platinum and sold more than 42,000,000 copies 71 worldwide; and 72 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston continued to be a successful actress 73 with roles in "Waiting to ," "The Preacher's Wife," Rodgers 74 and Hammerstein's "Cinderella" and Ms. Houston's success as a 75 songstress continued with vocals on each soundtrack, leading them

76 to similar sales accomplishments as her solo ; and 77 WHEREAS, upon the release of "The Preacher's Wife" 78 soundtrack, Ms. Houston accomplished a lifelong dream with the 79 gospel-filled soundtrack, on which Ms. Houston sang lead vocals on 80 14 of the 15 songs and which became the biggest selling gospel 81 album in Billboard chart history and was certified three-times 82 platinum; and 83 WHEREAS, after an eight-year absence, Ms. Houston released

84 her fourth studio album, "," in 1998 and the 85 album had a string of gold and platinum chart hit singles 86 worldwide and featured vocals from her daughter, Bobbi Kristina 87 Brown; and 88 WHEREAS, as Ms. Houston celebrated her 15th anniversary as an 89 Arista recording artist, she released "Whitney: the Greatest Hits" 90 in 2000 and the album was certified three-times platinum and had 91 worldwide sales of 10,000,000; and 92 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston released her last studio album, "I Look

93 to You," in 2009, and the album entered the Billboard album chart

S. C. R. No. 585 *SS01/R1169* 12/SS01/R1169 PAGE 3 94 at Number One, Ms. Houston's best opening week sales, and has been 95 certified platinum; and 96 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston had sales of more than 170,000,000 97 combined album, singles, and videos worldwide during her career 98 with ; and 99 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston has established the benchmark for

100 stardom and has been named music's most awarded female artist of 101 all time, with an amazing tally of 411 awards (as of 2006), a 102 tally that is certainly topped by her two Emmy Awards, six Grammy 103 Awards, 16 , and 23 , 104 as well as MTV Video Music Awards in the United States and , 105 NAACP Image Awards, BET Awards, , Soul 106 Train's prestigious Quincy Jones Career Achievement Award in 1998, 107 and her induction into the Black Entertainment Television Walk Of

108 Fame in 1996; and 109 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston has won a worldwide following by 110 reaching deep within her soul and finding common threads with her 111 millions of fans; and 112 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston not only had the voice of an angel but a 113 heart of gold; Ms. Houston's humanitarian efforts are as 114 impressive as her accolades; and 115 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston raised funds for numerous causes,

116 including children around the world, from South Africa to Newark, 117 generating more than $300,000.00 for the Children's Defense Fund 118 as a result of a 1997 HBO concert; and 119 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston supported Nelson Mandela and the 120 antiapartheid movement, and while a model refused to work with any 121 agencies that did business with the then-apartheid South Africa; 122 and 123 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston participated in a benefit concert that 124 raised over $1,000,000.00 for charities while bringing awareness

125 to apartheid; and

S. C. R. No. 585 *SS01/R1169* 12/SS01/R1169 PAGE 4 126 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston worked tirelessly for St. Jude 127 Children's Hospital, the United Negro College Fund, and the 128 Children's Diabetes Foundation; and 129 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston founded the Whitney Houston Foundation 130 for the Children, which cares for such problems as homelessness, 131 children with cancer and AIDS, and issues of self-empowerment; and

132 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston's foundation was awarded a VHl honor for 133 its charitable work; and 134 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston founded the Whitney E. Houston Academy 135 of Creative and Performing Arts to provide expanded arts-focused 136 educational opportunities for its student body and the surrounding 137 community; and 138 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston served as a spokesperson for a youth 139 leadership conference; and

140 WHEREAS, out of the generosity of her heart, Ms. Houston 141 donated her portion of the proceeds from the release of the 142 National Anthem as a single to the American Red Cross Gulf Crisis 143 Fund and therefore was named to the American Red Cross Board of 144 Governors; and 145 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston supported, performed and visited many of 146 our service men and women fighting in the Persian Gulf War; and 147 WHEREAS, The Whitney Houston Foundation For Children, Inc.,

148 agreed to donate royalties and net proceeds from all single sales 149 of 'The Star Spangled Banner' together with 'America the 150 Beautiful' to the New York Firefighters 9-11 Disaster Relief Fund 151 and the New York Fraternal Order of Police; and 152 WHEREAS, Ms. Houston was a world-class entertainer and 153 humanitarian: 154 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF 155 MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That 156 we do hereby recognize Ms. Houston as a world icon and a

157 once-in-a-lifetime talent; honor Ms. Whitney Houston for her

S. C. R. No. 585 *SS01/R1169* 12/SS01/R1169 PAGE 5 158 charitable efforts and extend the deepest condolences of the 159 Legislature to the family of Ms. Whitney Houston. 160 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to 161 Whitney Houston's surviving family, and made available to the 162 Capitol Press Corps.

S. C. R. No. 585 *SS01/R1169* 12/SS01/R1169 ST: Commemorate the life and accomplishments of PAGE 6 Whitney Houston and express condolences of the Legislature.