# Whitney Houston Dies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 12, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569 "2012-02-12T01:04:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/101 "2012-02-12T04:01:06Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > So what? You expect me to believe that your freakish talking money is psychic or something? Every once and a while I wish we had a “like” button. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/102 "2012-02-12T04:02:22Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I’d like to critique the photographer at age 48 after a night out. She doesn’t look that bad to me in those pictures. I agree, there is basically nothing abnormal about her appearance except for the wild hair. Saying “worse for the wear” implies a hell of a lot more than just wild hair. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/103 "2012-02-12T04:02:37Z")
Actually, it’s not Whitney who’s to “blame” for melisma in pop music. I think Mariah Carey is the one carries that title. Whitney wasn’t a belter in the way that Mariah is. They have different styles, with the former being more in line with more conventional performing artists. I’d argue that MC has influenced pop singers more stylistically than WH did. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/104 "2012-02-12T04:04:44Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > If we’re going for the disturbing yet somehow appropriate thread title, the front runner right now on the net is “Whitney Houston beats Bobby Brown to death”. That’s [the headline FARK used](http://www.fark.com/comments/6936552/Whitney-Houston-beats-Bobby-Brown-to-death?startid=74913968). As for Whitney Houston, it’s always sad when someone dies too young (especially if that person’s in your age bracket). That being said, this really shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise. As for her music, I never really cared for her songs but, at her peak, she did have the chops. There’s no denying that. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/105 "2012-02-12T04:13:24Z")
> [@cfa3](#): > > The verb to “mourn” is properly used with no supporting preposition, you are correct, however even the dictionary recognized that it is “often used with ‘for’”, so we can mourn “for” someone. That is a common pairing FYI, although it may not be gramatically correct, it is common usage. You were absolutely correct in your first post in this thread: > [@cfa3](#): > > I just dont get it. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/106 "2012-02-12T04:15:13Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Actually, it’s not Whitney who’s to “blame” for melisma in pop music. I think Mariah Carey is the one carries that title. Whitney wasn’t a belter in the way that Mariah is. They have different styles, with the former being more in line with more conventional performing artists. I’d argue that MC has influenced pop singers more stylistically than WH did. I didn’t know that term, ‘melisma’. I appreciate learning it. From the description, it seems like Mariah Carey probably started this trend or popularized it. ---
**Author:** ![cfa3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@cfa3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cfa3)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/107 "2012-02-12T04:19:44Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > You were absolutely correct in your first post in this thread: Sheesh. Feel better now? ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/108 "2012-02-12T04:27:21Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > I didn’t know that term, ‘melisma’. > I appreciate learning it. > From the description, it seems like Mariah Carey probably started this trend or popularized it. It’s has been around since forever and is found in a variety of musical genres, but yeah, she popularized it. She does it very well. It’s grown tiresome only because many singers can’t do it well and it is extremely overdone. I’m actually trying to think of a WH song that features melisma, and I can’t think of one. She stretches out her notes, but that is not the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/109 "2012-02-12T04:39:55Z")
She was arguably the biggest star in the world after “The Bodyguard” and its soundtrack came out. Hard to understand how someone so talented could fall so far. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/110 "2012-02-12T04:57:46Z")
> [@brocks](#): > > She was arguably the biggest star in the world after “The Bodyguard” and its soundtrack came out. Hard to understand how someone so talented could fall so far. Look at the vast majority of music artists and they seem to run out of creative steam at some point. Some sooner than others. It’s not easy creating both your own sound and something different. Hell, Lady Gaga is already stealing songs from Madonna and she’s relatively new on the scene. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/111 "2012-02-12T04:59:53Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I’m actually trying to think of a WH song that features melisma, and I can’t think of one. She stretches out her notes, but that is not the same thing. [Star Spangled Banner, 1991](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS-R7SM_-M4) around 0:45. Still a stunning performance, but she really didn’t need to give it that technically adept but somewhat unmusical wobble. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/112 "2012-02-12T05:02:55Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I’d like to critique the photographer at age 48 after a night out. She doesn’t look that bad to me in those pictures. Who\* hasn’t\* stumbled out of a nightclub all sweaty and disheveled? (Granted, my sweaty and disheveled days were more at age 28, not 48.) ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/113 "2012-02-12T05:06:21Z")
> [@singular1](#): > > Can anyone explain these anagrams? > > Just last week I heard on the radio that she was dating somebody famous. Anybody else hear that? I can’t remember who it was… She was supposedly seeing Ray J., who she had dated at some point in the past. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/114 "2012-02-12T05:09:26Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > Who\* hasn’t\* stumbled out of a nightclub all sweaty and disheveled? (Granted, my sweaty and disheveled days were more at age 28, not 48.) I wish I could stumble out of a night club. I can’t get much past 2 drinks without paying for it. Gone are the days fish came to me for advise on fluids. I was expecting some horrid scraggly pictures of an old woman. If that’s how she looks on a bad day then damn. Wish I liked her music. She had a really good voice. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/115 "2012-02-12T05:21:47Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > It may completely untrue but there seems to be a perception that she was an innocent untill she hooked up with Bobby and he corrupted her. > [@monstro](#): > > Re Bobby Brown. People say he corrupted her, but you know what? Whitney was brought up in Newark, NJ. I don’t know how hard she was brought up, but there aren’t a lot of sheltered people from Newark. He might have influenced her, but there was a reason the two of them were together. > Crack certainly is wack. She was born in Newark but grew up in a middle class neighborhood in East Orange. Her mother was a noted gospel singer, Dionne Warwick was her cousin and Aretha Franklin was her godmother. Parts of East Orange are rough but she didn’t exactly grow up in the ghetto. Her mother seems like a classy lady. If you listen to Whitney Houston pre-Bobby and then post-Bobby you can see a big difference. It is not a big leap to say he was a bad influence. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/116 "2012-02-12T05:28:04Z")
What is “black love” per Houston and Brown? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/117 "2012-02-12T05:35:36Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > If you listen to Whitney Houston pre-Bobby and then post-Bobby you can see a big difference. It is not a big leap to say he was a bad influence. Well, you can listen to Elvis Costello pre-Cait and then post-Cait and see there was a big difference, and say she was a bad influence. Elvis somehow avoided dying due to the musical influence of his spouse. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/118 "2012-02-12T05:38:28Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Well, you can listen to Elvis Costello pre-Cait and then post-Cait and see there was a big difference, and say she was a bad influence. Elvis somehow avoided dying due to the musical influence of his spouse. I meant in interviews not musically. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/119 "2012-02-12T05:40:00Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I meant in interviews not musically. Ah. Well, that’s different. I’ll take your word for it then. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569/120 "2012-02-12T05:40:37Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > What is “black love” per Houston and Brown? I removed that because I couldn’t find the exact quote. It was from their reality show. It had something to do with digitally removing fecal matter from your constipated spouse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitney-houston-dies/612569.md?page=7)