Another 80s Icon Leaves Us

The news came at an odd time, at least for me.

Not long before, I had been watching the news, awaiting the results of the Maine caucus. After receiving disappointing news on that front, I quickly moved the television away from the all news station in favor of something to be watched on DVD.

By the time I returned the television back to the cable news network, the news had been announced that 80s music icon Whitney Houston had died. It certainly was a shock, although in some ways it probably shouldn’t have been, considering all that she had been through.

When I first heard Whitney Houston sing all those years ago as her early songs blasted out of radios from coast to coast, I knew we were hearing someone special. With her strong voice and ability to deliver a song with great impact, Houston raced to the top of the charts in the mid-80s, doing so with strong crossover appeal. Hit song after hit song would follow and her name became a household one to anybody who turned on the radio.

She would eventually have a relationship with Bobby Brown, another 80s music icon, first with New Edition and then on his own.

However, the two mixed liked gas and fire. If ever there were two people who did not belong together, it was Houston and Brown.

They took a dangerous path, which neither would ever truly recover from. I remember seeing Brown on a “Behind the Music” episode about New Edition and could not believe how bad he looked and sounded.

Brown had reached the point, after years of heavy drug abuse, where he could barely talk. The expression on his face and the way he held his head caused you to feel sorry for him, even though his status was self-inflicted.

Houston and Brown became fixtures on the tabloids and even if one doesn’t buy those publications, it was impossible not to see them as you stood in line buying groceries. Further and further they both fell into the abyss, not strong enough to realize they did not need to be together under any circumstance.

Earlier this week, there was still speculation over Houston’s death. Various reports have surfaced but the official autopsy report will not be known for several weeks. Houston was 48, but her body had probably aged at least 20 additional years. Her more recent musical efforts did not meet with critical praise, but even under normal circumstances it would have been tough to top the success she enjoyed in the 80s and early 90s.

Music-wise, her legacy was not as great as Michael Jackson (few are), but when you say the words “Whitney Houston,” almost everyone knew her, even if they weren’t someone who went and bought her music.

Certainly a tragic end fell on her, but when you continue to push the limits, eventually fate will catch up with you. She and Jackson were the same in that manner. I would even put Elvis in the same category as someone who seemingly was living on borrowed time.

For me, Houston will always be a direct connection to a time when my greatest worry in life was hanging out with friends and figuring out what to do on a Saturday night. Much has changed for all of us since that time and that was certainly true for this musical icon.

She accomplished many great things in her life. It’s just too bad she wasn’t able to break free of her demons. It’s often hard or even impossible once those demons have you in a stranglehold.

Monticello native Chris Bridges is editor of the Barrow Journal in Winder. He welcomes feedback from readers of The Monticello News at cbridges@barrowjournal.com.