[Photo: Whitney Houston ] Whitney Elizabeth Houston (born August 9, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, film producer, arranger and former fashion model. Her crossover success opened doors for many other African American women to find success in pop music and movies.She is frequently referred to as "The Voice", and is known for her "powerful, penetrating pop-gospel voice". Many in the music industry including prolific music producers Babyface and Clive Davis often hail Houston as the greatest singer of all time." In 2004 at the World Music Awards in Las Vegas, USA, Clive Davis when introducing Houston to the crowd called her 'the best singer in the world' to the rapturous applause of the people. Houston has been credited as having a five-octave vocal range. In the 1...more >>980s, Houston was one the first African-American female artists to receive regular rotation on MTV in the network's early years during a white male rock dominated time. Her debut album became the biggest selling debut album of all time for a solo artist, her follow up album was the first album by a female artist to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200, and she holds a record seven consecutive #1 singles on theBillboard Hot 100 chart, beating a record of six held previously by both The Beatles and The Bee Gees.