Sometimes there is a song that just finds a place in your mind and stays there forever. Often there is a reason that the song collided with some other event that made it special. Whitney Houston’s song “I Will Always Love You” did that with me in a very moving period of my life. While I do not choose to share the reason, I have had that song in my list of favorites since 1994 on my computer and will play it at certain times.
When I was playing a video of it the other day, I saw that next to it was another entry that was Kevin Costner at Whitney’s funeral in 2012. I watched the whole 20 minutes and learned even more about that incredible woman. I would like to share a bit of that eulogy.
As many know, Kevin Costner was a well-recognized actor by 1992, when the movie “The Bodyguard” was being considered. Costner was assured of the part as the role of the bodyguard to a starlet singer. He had met and deeply cared for Whitney for several years and fought for her to receive the role of the singer in need of protection. It would be her first acting role.
The director and producer questioned the role being filled by a Black woman and even suggested a white woman would increase the success of the film. Then it turned out that Whitney was committed for a tour that would last the entire summer. Costner suggested that they hold production for a year to have Whitney available. Costner prevailed on both issues, and the movie was made a year later. He always tried to convince Whitney that her constant question, “Was I good enough?” was just a feared barrier, and she needed to put in work to get over it. Perhaps she never did completely.
I have watched that film several times, and in each sitting I discover another way that Whitney was trying to help end the racial division that she and so many other performers were facing. There were several movie critics that had panned the film primarily on the diversity that it portrayed.
But who was Whitney Houston, and what made Kevin Costner such a close friend for years? First, they were both raised in the Baptist Church. Both had minimal financial support as children. Both acted and sang in their churches for their early years. That was a lot of similarity despite being different colors.
Born in 1963, she received her first major singing role as a 17-year-old. One of her cousins was singer Dionne Warwick who helped her with her start. One of her biggest breakthroughs before The Bodyguard was singing The Star-Spangled Banner at the XXV Super Bowl in 1991. Fame was coming as she wowed the entire football public with the version.
Whitney won so many awards this column cannot come close to covering all of them, but here are a few highlights.
In 1992 she won the Grammy for Album of the Year.
In 1994 she was recognized as the best-selling female artist of an album in history.
In 1994 she again won Album of the Year.
In 2000 Her song “I Will Always Love You” became the longest-running single in the history in Billboard’s Top 100.
2023 After her passing, Rolling Stone ranked her second on their list of all-time greatest singers.
While the song “I Will Always Love You” was written and performed by Dolly Parton before being presented by Whitney, it is my understanding that no one has since recorded that song. How could someone hope to compete with her version?
Her private life was often a reflection of her insecurity, especially during her marriage to singer Bobby Brown. This tumultuous relationship involved physical abuse, including her arrest for battery. After the facts were investigated, however, she was released, and Brown was arrested for felony battery. It was during this time that Whitney found relief with cocaine. This addiction would follow her through the years.
Whitney was quite active in the various movements for equality as she spoke out about the position so many Black Americans faced. She donated thousands of dollars to various causes in those fields. She became known as America’s Sweetheart but was despised by some for her fight against segregation.
Whitney died by drowning in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 11, 2012. She was only 48. The cause of death was listed as a heart disease and cocaine.
I would invite you to go on Google or other sites and watch Kevin Costner as he addressed the congregation at her funeral. Toward the end of his speech, the camera angle widened, and who did I see in the front row? Jesse Jackson. What a tribute. Go listen to that song and see what those tender words mean to you.
· Dennis Marek can be contacted at llamalaw23@gmail.com.