This past weekend, six time GRAMMY award winner, Whitney Houston, died under circumstances which are still be investigated as I write this. She was an amazing talent who squandered her gifts with drug use and poor decisions. “Saving All My Love For You,” “The Greatest Love of All” and “I Will Always Love You” will always be her legacy songs, but I shall forever be impressed that she sold one million copies of her rendition of the National Anthem.
It was January 27, 1991. The United States was part an international coalition determined to drive Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, out of Kuwait, a country he’d invaded during August 1990. Operation Desert Storm had started 10 days earlier. Americans could see the dangers of war real-time on cable news. Patriotic fever was running rampant through this nation and two New York state professional football teams (the New York Giants & the Buffalo Bills) were meeting on the biggest of all stages – The Super Bowl. Whitney Houston’s rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” that day can still send chills down my spine more than 20 years later.
Her version was not classical like Robert Merrill or interpretive like Marvin Gaye’s, but hers was the one that set the standard by which I still judge all others. She was a large talent and her voice will be missed.
Yup. I just said it during the Super Bowl the other day that Whitney’s version can’t be topped. I still have the old CD from ’91. (Of course, I was a BIG fan of hers back in the day.) We were at the Smithsonian in December seeing the flag that inspired the National Anthem and they had a loop of various people singing the song, and hers was featured there — we stood and watched it.
As I said in my FB post, I’m not surprised at all that she’s dead, given the downward spiral she’s been in for years. I’m sad that she’s gone, but the outstanding perfomer we all knew and loved was lost a long time ago.
Thanks for the comment. 🙂 I was reflecting yesterday that I hadn’t purposely listened to her music in years, but I’ve listened to her rendition of the National Anthem over 8 times since she died. She will be missed.
WOW!!!..I have never seen nor heard this. It definitely is the best I have heard as well. I was only 11 in 1991, but watching the video i noticed i saw people singing the national anthem, I don’t really see that much now. I’m not saying we are not proud Americans today, I’m sure the more mature generations still are very much, but seeing that 20 years ago there were so many singing and waving the flags. Seeing the pride Whitney took in singing compared to “some” of the follow on singers who either forget the lyrics or tarnish the very words with how badly they sang, makes me wonder at times…
You completely right! She was great at some point, had her great moments but threw it away in her later years.
Thanks for reading. As I said in the post she set the standard as to how the song should be sung. She made bad choices and never recovered.