Whitney Houston: Music world pays homage to fallen superstar

Whitney Houston, who won six Grammys in her lifetime, was on everybody's mind, it seemed, at the 54th Grammy Awards, held Sunday -- a day after the singer's unexpected death, at 48.

A musical tribute by Jennifer Hudson was added to the Grammy lineup after Houston was found in a hotel bathtub at the Beverly Hilton, where she was staying to attend Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy party Saturday night.

The bash went on without her, with Davis telling guests, "I have a very heavy heart, and I am personally devastated by the loss of someone who has meant so much to me."

Stopped on the red carpet Sunday as he made his entrance, actor/comedian/bluegrass star Steve Martin said it was "sad day." But he also noted, "If she was going to go, what a time -- when all these artists are here to honor her."

The first mention of Houston on the Grammy broadcast came when LL Cool J, this year's host, emerged after Bruce Springsteen opened the show with a raucous performance of "We Take Care of Our Own."

After making a reference to Springsteen always speaking to our times, the host said, "And tonight we ask ourselves, 'How do we speak to this time, to this day?' There is no way around this. We've had a death in our family and so, at least to me, the only thing that feels right is to open with a prayer."

In the course of the prayer, which made the most of his preacherly tone, he said, "Heavenly father, we thank you for sharing Whitney Houston with us. We remain truly blessed to have been touched by her beautiful spirit and to have her lasting legacy of music to cherish and share forever. Amen."

 

Then, he introduced a special Grammy moment, a clip of Houston turning in a breathtaking, soulful performance of her biggest-selling single, "I Will Always Love You," backed by an orchestra.

And nothing Cool J said could possibly have told you more about what made her such a Grammy icon than that classic clip.

As the action returned to the stage, the host said, "Whitney, we will always love you." And the weird thing is, it didn't feel the slightest bit cliched or trite, which it probably does on paper, thanks in large part to Cool J's delivery.

Bruno Mars was paying tribute to the late James Brown with a rousing performance of "Runaway Baby" when he took the opportunity to say, "Tonight, we celebrate the beautiful Whitney Houston, so get off your rich ass and let's have some fun."

And Alicia Keys prefaced the Etta James tribute she was set to do with Bonnie Raitt with, "When a truly great artist leaves us, their legacy lives on; we love Whitney Houston."

Rihanna put the shout in shout-out during "We Found Love," yelling, "Whitney! Make some noise for Whitney."

After a lull in Houston testimonials, Hudson turned in the show's most emotional tribute, clearly fighting back the tears on a cathartic reading of the singer's biggest single, "I Will Always Love You."

Trembling her way through the opening notes of the acappella section, which only added to the palpable emotion of it all, she dug in her heels and powered through a truly Houston-esque performance.

Hudson, of course, is a bit of a Houston disciple, and it's hard to picture anyone who could have done a better job of paying tribute to her legacy.

Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4495. Twitter: twitter.com/EdMasley.

Copyright 2012 The Arizona Republic|azcentral.com. All rights reserved.
For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

Posted

Advertisement

Most Popular E-mail Newsletter

Sign up to get:

Top viewed stories, photo galleries and community posts of the day

  • Most popular right now: