The Mad Professah Lectures

The Lifetime movie on the life of Whitney Houston directed by Angela Bassett and starring YYa Dacosta will apparently include a storyline about the long lesbian rumored relationship between Whitney and Robyn Crawford that was "more than just friendship."

The Daily Beast has an interview with the actress Yolonda Ross who plays Robyn in the film:

I have to confess, I had no idea that Whitney had a rumored gay lover before reading about your role in this movie. No clue!Really?! That’s funny. I was here in New York before she was with Bobby. So I knew of Robyn. It’s funny how many people don’t know of her because they’re younger or people who didn’t get on to Whitney until she was already with Bobby. But I already knew of her and of the whole situation. When you look back at it, it’s interesting how that part, which was a thing that was actually written in the press at one time, was squashed and brushed away when all the other stuff happened in her life later.[...]But because this movie doesn’t actually go out and say “they were lovers!”, how do you portray their relationship? Were you playing up or, on the flip side, shying away from portraying a romantic attraction?No, I wasn’t shying away from it. She’s a beautiful woman. And from what I knew of Robyn then, I don’t think she was in the closet. It’s a love and it’s an admiration. So that was played there. How much of it is a love that’s between two lovers is a different story, because that, then, would have called for there to be different kinds of scenes in the movie. I played it as love and longing. Ultimately, what’s happening with them is that the person who Robyn loves is leaving. No matter if you’re lovers or a best friend, when someone you love leaves to get married, your relationship is going to change. That’s what I played. And that’s what it was.

The movie debuts on the Lifetime network on January 17, 2015.

Clive Davis is a legendary music producer and famous recording industry impresario. He is most well-known for popularizing such musical legends such as Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin and Alicia Keys among many, many others.

In his new autobiography The Soundtrack To My Life, Davis discusses his relationships with men and declares himself to be bisexual:

Davis, 80, tells Couric about how the end of his marriage opened his mind to explore homosexuality and find the relationship he is in today.

He said in an interview airing Tuesday: “When the marriage failed– in the mid ’80s, I opened myself up to the possibility that I could have a relationship with a man as well as the two that I had with a woman. I felt it was private, number one, as far as my not revealing it. But I did immediately (LAUGH) reveal it to the people who count.”

He makes clear that he is bisexual, not gay: “I’m still attracted to women. So that it– you don’t have to be only one thing or another. For me, it’s the person. I’m in a monogamous relationship. I respect monogamy. And I hope that this is understood.”

It's never too late to come out of the closet! Go Clive!

*sigh* More than a month after the sad event, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office has finally released the report on the official cause of death Whitney Houston's untimely demise at age 48 the Beverly Hills on February 11 (the day before the 2012 Grammy Awards).

CNN reports:

Whitney Houston died from an accidental drowning in a hotel bathtub, but the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use" were contributing factors in her death, the Los Angeles County Coroner said in an initial autopsy report released Thursday.

Houston, 48, was "found submerged in bathtub filled with water" and "no trauma or foul play is suspected," the coroner said in a one-page release.

Her cocaine use appeared to have "in the time period just immediately prior to her collapse in the bathtub at the hotel," Assistant Chief Coroner Craig Harvey told reporters.

The 60% narrowing of her arteries "suggest a cardiac event complicated by the cocaine use" led to Houston slipping underwater, Harvey said.

"Something happened that caused her to go down and we know that when she slipped under the water she was still alive," he said. "We have evidence of drowning since there was water in the lungs."

The toxicology tests found other drugs in her body, including marijuana, the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, the muscle relaxant Flexeril and the allergy medicine Benadryl, the report said. But these drugs "did not contribute to the death," it said.

This is just sad, sad news, although not that surprising. Note that prescription drugs are not the culprit, but heart disease (presumably) due to (longtime) cocaine use.

Whitney Houston's will has become public, and unsurprisingly, her 19-year-old daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, is named as the main beneficiary.

As for the estate, all Houston's money, furniture, clothing, personal effects, jewelry and cars go to her only child. The money is to be put in a trust until the 19-year-old turns 21, with more coming to her at age 25 and the balance at age 30, according to "Inside Edition," which obtained the 19-page document.

Her mother's untimely death at age 48 on Saturday February 11th, the day before the Grammy Awards, shocked the world and sent Bobbi Kristina to the hospital for observation. The cause of Whitney Houston's death has still not been announced, although multiple pill bottles for prescription medications were found in the hotel room of the Beverly Hills Hilton where she died.

Bobbi Kristina and other close relatives of Whitney Houston will appear in an interview with Oprah Winfrey on OWN this Sunday March 11th discussing the aftermath of her mother's death.

Amber Riley from the hit Fox television show Glee covered Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" in Tuesday's show, in a serendipitous turn of events less than a week after the songstress untimely death in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Last night's tribute to Whitney Houston  at the Grammy Awards was too brief but it did feature this incredible rendition of Jennifer Hudson singing an abbreviated version of the classic "I Will Always Love You" with impeccable grace and amazing technique/

Whitney Houston has apparently died at the age of 48. The Grammy Awards are tomorrow. It's gonna be crazy!

She will always be remembered for her hits like I Will Always Love You, The Greatest Love of All and  many many more. Very sad news.

Whitney Houston returned to the top of the Billboard 200 Album charts with the debut of her latest release I Look To You at #1, her fourth album to do so.

"I Look To You" becomes Houston's fourth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 304,801 copies during the week ended September 6, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

It's by far Houston's best opening sales week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991.

"I Look To You" is also the singer's first chart-topper since the Houston-fueled "The Bodyguard" soundtrack spent 20 weeks at No. 1 in 1993. The albums are joined by Houston's two previous toppers: her self-titled set in 1986, and her 1987 sophomore set, "Whitney."

Early returns showed "I Look To You" also debuted at No. 1 in Canada, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, according to her Arista Records label.

Houston's previous album, "Just Whitney," debuted at No. 9 in 2002 with 205,000 copies.

Go, Whitney! I haven't bought the album yet, what do you all think of it?

The first single from Whitney Houston's comeback album, I Look To You, is called "Million Dollar Bill" and was written by Alicia Keys. The single will be released next Monday August 17th, the album comes out two weeks later on the 31st of August.
hat/tip to Wonder Man

Thanks to Maybe, it's me for the pic. Whitney houston's new album is called I Look To You and will be out in the fall (September).

Whitney Houston's latest album, The Wait Is Over, will be released on September 1, 2009. (Hat/tip OMG Blog)

First of all, how could they forget the recently deceased Yma Sumac?

Thursday's Los Angeles Times has an article in the California section about the 10-minute hearing before Orange County Superior Court judge Franz Miller in which Whitney Houston was granted a divorce (effective April 24, 2o07) from Bobby Brown as well as sole custody of their 14-year old daughter, Bobbi Christina. The couple were married in 1992 and Whitney filed for divorce in late 2006.