At the height of Whitney Houston's music career, she was one of the most successful singers in the world. Thanks to how popular Houston became, major companies loved working with her so much that fans don't realize how many Disney movies she made.
Sadly for Houston, however, the media loved reporting about any drama in her life like the time she pulled out of an interview last minute. Sadly, One piece of gossip that many people seemed to relish reporting upset Houston's mom, Cissy, that the pop star had gone broke.
How Successful Was Whitney Houston?
Throughout history, there have been many examples of celebrities who've gone on to be more celebrated after they passed away. As sad as that may be, it has been really frustrating to see what has happened to Whitney Houston's legacy after her passing.
When people talk about the most successful singers of all time, it often seems like Houston's name gets left out of the conversation. For anyone familiar with Houston's career, that fact should be infuriating since what she did in the music business is simply incredible.
Blessed with a voice that was so powerful it gave listeners chills, Houston's performances also were imbued with confidence and discipline. All of those admirable attributes helped Houston to become a groundbreaking talent.
In 2001, Houston signed a record deal with Arista that at the time was the most lucrative in the history of the business. That deal resulted in Houston getting a $25 million advance and called for her to receive $100 million in total.
Sadly, Houston didn't receive all of that money, partially due to her passing. Still, the fact that Houston had enough clout to demand a deal of that size says it all about how big of a deal she was.
Years before Houston's Arista deal garnered attention, something else she achieved blew fans away. In 1992, Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You" took the top slot in Billboard's Hot 100 chart for fourteen weeks in a row.
Another amazing fact about Houston's career stems from her time as an actor. When Houston agreed to star in The Preacher's Wife, the studio was so excited to work with her that she received $10 million.
How Rich Was Whitney Houston When She Died?
When Whitney Houston suddenly passed away in February 2012, the music world lost a true icon. Found unconscious submerged in one of the Beverly Hilton's bathtubs, paramedics couldn't save Houston's life.
Once news of Houston's passing broke, millions of devoted fans grieved the loss of the talented singer by listening to her many magnificent songs. Three days after Houston's passing, E! News published an article reporting on what the singer's finances looked like when she passed away.
To try to get a full picture of the state of Houston's accounts, the writers of that piece spoke to Zack O'Malley Greenburg from Forbes. When Greenburg addressed rumors that Houston was broke by the time her life tragically ended, he argued there were valid reasons to believe that.
"There were certainly rumors that Whitney Houston died broke and she didn't have any significant financial impact in the last couple years of her life. It's been a while since she has put out an album and been on tour, so one could see why towards the end of her life she would be running a bit low on cash."
Of course, reporting like that certainly feeds into the perception that Houston was in financial dire straits when she passed away. That said, there are other reasons why many people have come to believe that Houston had money problems.
Over the last several years, there has been a lot of reporting about stars who continue to make a fortune after they pass away. With that in mind and the fact that Houston is a legend, it certainly seems like her estate should be bringing in a lot of cash.
Sadly, according to Celebrity Net Worth, Houston's estate is still not in a good state at all more than a decade after her passing. As of the time of this writing, Celebrity Net Worth reports that Houston's estate is twenty million in debt.
In 2012, Forbes published an article looking at why Houston didn't appear on the publication's list of the "top-earning dead celebs". According to that piece, the reason why Houston's estate didn't rake in the dough after her passing is the massive record deal she once signed.
While nobody close to Arista or Houston spoke to Forbes for the piece, they went through the numbers to draw conclusions. If Forbes' reporting is accurate, it would take years at that point for Houston's earnings to surpass the massive advance she once got. Until that happened, Houston's estate wouldn't make any money.
Based on Forbes and Celebrity Net Worth's reputations, it seems very likely that their reporting has been meant in good faith. However, Houston and her mother Cissy Houston have taken great exception to the reporting about the pop singer's finances in the past.
In January 2012, Houston's representatives expressly denied the singer was broke on her behalf the same year she passed away. After labeling rumors Houston was broke "false and ridiculous", her reps pointed out she'd just cashed in from starring in a movie titled Sparkle.
After Houston passed away, her mother Cissy Houston took upon the baton of defending her daughter's finances. During an interview with My9's 10 O'Clock News, Cissy Houston called out the way the media handled her daughter's passing in general.
At one point in that interview, Cissy Houston expressed pride in what her daughter accomplished. Sadly, Cissy Houston then felt the need to defend the job she'd done as a mother.
"She accomplished a whole lot in the short time that she had here. I did the best I could. I don't blame myself."
More notably, Cissy Houston spoke about how the media was reporting about her daughter after she passed away. In no uncertain terms, Cissy Houston called out the press for reporting on things they don't know about. "These people don't know anything about her. The media doesn't know what they're talking about."
Cissy Houston went on to expressly deny reporting that Whitney Houston was out of money by the time she passed away. “Whitney did not die broke … she’s not broke. None of that crap.”
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