So Emotional

Saturday was a sad day.  Any time someone dies suddenly - or least earlier than we might expect - it is tragic.  Whitney Houston was a spectacular talent.  She had a voice like no other - it was huge - it was bigger than any room that ever tried to hold her.  At least that is what it seemed to me having never seen her in concert.  I was never a big fan - but only because my music tastes were elsewhere.  I didn't want to hear how the "Children were the people" and how it was the "greatest love of all."  I was listening to Dire Straits, Glenn Frey, Phil Collins and other hits of the mid-80's.  (I never said I was cutting edge - just…different.)

I never personally knew Whitney Houston and wouldn't pretend that I did.  But I was fortunate to be invited to a record industry dinner in 1990 celebrating her release of "I'm Your Baby Tonight."  I went with a few people from the office and joined a room full of programmers and retail executives from Urban radio and local Chicago media.  Whitney went around to each table, took time to have a personal conversation and took pictures with everyone that attended.  I still laugh thinking about her reaction when she walked up to our table.  I was sitting at a table with Susan Stanley (now Susan Filer) as well with urban radio programmers from Indianapolis and Milwaukee.  Whitney very politely leaned in and asked how long Susan and I had been married.  The table erupted in laughter catching Whitney by surprise.  When she realized that Susan and I just worked together she was totally embarrassed and apologized several times.  It became a joke and we were then referred to "the married couple"  the rest of the evening.

I guess I am guilty of this too just by writing this story - but after listening to the news, media, "experts" and anyone else who has anything to say about her death over the past 36 hours, I have quickly come to realize that we all want to be associated with an icon like Whitney - we want to feel like we are a part of the story in some way.  How her music affected us, what Whitney song was played at prom, how her limo almost ran us over after her show or how Whitney thought I was married to my co-worker.  Whitney had a brilliant gift with her voice but she also was just like the rest of us.  She was human.  She had her demons.  Where there is talent,  there is expectation.  Where there is talent, people expect more from you,  revere you, even expect that you are different or better than everyone else.

Everyone has an opinion.  Some speak their opinion while others use present it as fact.  Speculation runs rampant.  And when there are no more facts available to us, people start speculating how she felt and what must have happened that caused her death.  Admittedly - this does not look good.  She had issues and was obviously working on taking steps to better herself.  But unless any of us has dealt with addiction or even the pressures those in the public spotlight experience on a daily basis - we should just keep our mouths shut.  If you have met Whitney, try to speak of the good things you remember.  If you just loved her music - talk about the feelings and experiences you had with Whitney as your soundtrack.  If you didn't like her music then maybe it is just a sad, unfortunate day for everyone that was influenced in some way by Whitney Houston. 

I pulled out Whitney's Greatest Hits while writing this and must say that as much as these songs drive me nuts (rock guy at heart here), her voice is just stunning and I have a great respect for her talent.  I am fortunate to have had had the chance to meet her and to have a small story to tell.  But at the end of the day, I won't pretend to make it more than it was or that she had some profound effect on my life.  I do however feel tremendously sad over her death.  It was sudden, unexpected and is still, on many levels, difficult to process.  We will wait to hear the cause of death in the next 2 - 8 weeks, but I don't think even time will change how we feel about her voice, her talent and her affect on music over the last 30 years. 

RIP Whitney - you will be missed…