Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown | The TURBULENT Relationship | Inside the Music

[Music] one of my goals is just to stay a good human being I don't know just get married and have some kids you know do something different Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown to all intents and purposes this should have been a match made in heaven both young attractive successful recording artist seemingly with the world at their feet how and why did it all go wrong this perfect love story went sour and the world was a gas Petty jealousies long- held resentment the mismatch between fantasy and reality all played their [Music] part for Bobby career Envy reared its ugly head and played out in totally unacceptable behaviors for Whitney substance abuse to deal with the pressure she was under as a wife mother and singing star led to the unthinkable but arguably the real loser in this story was their child Bobby Christina this is the story of Bobby and [Music] Whitney Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born on August 9th 1963 she grew up in Newark New Jersey and thanks to her Father John R Houston being head of central planning in the mayor's office the family enjoyed life in a large house in a middle class neighborhood with Whitney attending a private Catholic School Whitney Houston from a musical point of view had the up bringing we can only dream about surrounded by some of the greatest talents of our time her mother houon was a great vocalist with a group the Sweet Inspirations who had a hit called sweet inspiration who backed Elvis Presley and as a a backing singer she backed Dara Franklin most famously on a song called ain't no way if you just take time out to listen to that and hear those high notes you will know where Whitney came from that when it was a new record just floored [Music] me can I give you all the things I [Music] can if you're tying both of my head oh way born Robert barisford Brown on February 5th 1969 Bobby Brown grew up in Boston Massachusetts the seventh of eight children with his father Herbert Brown a construction worker and his mother Carol a school teacher Bobby St in life was more modest like Whitney who sang at her local church many times a week Bobby joined a church choir where his talent was recognized and he developed his singing abilities seeing the potential in her daughter put her all into making sure she would succeed teaching her how to sing from the mind the body and most importantly the heart the first song that Whitney ever performed was guide me all thy great Jehovah and she performed that at the age of 11 when she was a pupil at a Catholic girl school and the last song she ever sang was Jesus loves me so her her life was framed either side by two songs both of them devotional Bobby was left more to his own devices and at the age of 12 formed a singing group with his friends Ricky Bell Michael Biven Ralph Tresvant and Ronnie devvo calling themselves new addition they rehearsed with a focus and discipline very rare for a group of pre-teen boys after winning several talent shows new addition was discovered by producer and talent scout Maurice star who landed them a recording contract with a small label called StreetWise the early days of her working life saw Whitney modeling to earn a living and she was the first African-American to Grace the cover of 17 magazines however Whitney had bigger plans seeing herself not as a fashion clothed horse but as a singer Bobby was heading towards stardom too 1983 so New Edition released their first studio album candy girl a pop collection of songs that made the grp group an overnight sensation with teenage girls the title track candy girl was highly reminiscent of the Jackson 5's ABC and reached number one in the UK chart it so sweet there a special treat Cy go and I want to say when you're with me running up my day oh I know with you make Whitney's Big Break came in 1983 as well when the legendary producer and executive of Arista records Clive Davis saw Whitney perform at a New York nightclub immediately recognizing her immense Talent he signed her on the spot later that same year the Young singer made her National Television debut on the very popular MV Griffin show a [Music] of [Music] like [Music] [Applause] new addition we're going from strength to strength with their self-titled second album despite the departure of their manager producer Maurice star after the group accused him of stealing their earnings from their Platinum debut thanks to more targeted promotion and music tailored for more of a mainstream audience New Edition won new fans upon the release of this album The first two singles cool it now and Mr Telephone Man both became top 20 pop hits and reached number one on the R&B singles chart although she had been signed by a major record label Houston did not begin work on an album immediately as Arista records executive Clive Davis knew he had someone very special on his books and wanted to ensure he had the right material and top producers for her debut album eventually bringing to the studio Talent such as Germaine Jackson narata Michael Walden Teddy Pendergrass and Kashif those who had muttered about her singing being linked to her mother's Connections in the industry were silenced by the quality of the record and its phenomenal success I would like to think that um what um I have what's been God given to me would have gotten me into it you know anyway it's it's one thing for having um your mom and and your cousin being so successful in the business but it's something that you have to do on your own you know you have to uh establish your own abilities I mean it's great to have them as my family and you know got me a lot of places but um I'd like to think I could do it on my own Whitney Houston was a pop producer's dream now we're used to Manufactured girls boys coming out who look perfect and we kind know that they won't be able to sing very well Whitney Houston had the face the body the charm that Wayward she was so charismatic she filled the room but the first song that Drew Drew my attention to Whitney was saving all my love for [Music] you all right we'll be love the whole night so I'm saving all my love yeah I'm saving all my love yes I'm saing all my love for [Music] you her voice was just more pop but it didn't lose the soul she still had soul in it but it was a pop voice and and so she had this kind of ethereal pure sound with her voice and it was very very different it was very refreshing things were not going so well for Bobby Brown in New Edition in fact in 1986 he left new addition to pursue a solo career remarking that the most I saw for all the tours and all the records were sold was $500 in a VCR he felt that being young and naive the group had been treated like little Slaves by people who were only interested in money and power and not the welfare of new addition in December of that same year Brown released his first solo album king of State while the album sold modestly and scored one major hit the ballad girlfriend it failed to generate the level of excitement and a claim which Brown had hoped for after the success of new addition and the group's adoring fans with the new medium of MTV which arrived in 1981 becoming essential in terms of promoting singles artists were Keen to be featured on the playlist early on MTV was for the most part playing specifically white rock bands Michael Jackson famously was unable to get on MTV for a very long time how will I know which was Whitney's thirdd us single went to number one and was really the first time that a young African-American woman was all over MTV that video was massively successful it was on constantly and it really cemented Whitney's presence in mainstream America really loves me I say a pray with every heartbeat I Fall In Love whenever with me I'm asking you you know about these things how will I know if he thinking of me I to fall but I'm tooy falling in love it's this love is why do I feel we [Music] Bobby Brown also saw his waning stardom now on the ascendancy seeking to reinvent himself as an adult artist Brown spent the next two years working closely with the acclaimed R&B songwriters and producers Teddy Riley LA Reid and baby face the result of their collaboration released in the summer of 1988 8 was a radically new R&B album called Don't Be Cruel that took the Music World by storm selling 7 million copies and becoming the bestselling album of the Year Brown's high-powered sexually charged music and live performances earned him comparisons to his childhood Idol Michael Jackson This Album spawned five top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 including the number one single that was pinned by BR my [Music] prerogative It's the way that I want to live I can do [Music] at this point Whitney was a dazzling Award winner too with American Music Awards gramys and an MTV video music award in her trophy cabinet following her breakthrough doors were opened for other African-American women such as Janet Jackson and Anita Baker to find deserved success for their music the challenge for Whitney now was to follow up her first album and she did this with style in 1987 with her second simply titled Whitney which debuted at number one on the billboard chart the first album by a female artist to do so but with I want to dance with somebody this was a new Whitney Houston this was a pop singer I remember the video well it was on MTV all the time no small feet she was the first black female to Beyond MTV pretty much constantly it really was a defining moment in the 1980s full of optimism neon colors and a lot of positivity Whitney Houston in that song did more than just do a great performance she kind of summed up a [Music] decade who Lov me I Dan with the first four singles from the album All peing at number one a continuation of her previous three number one singles Whitney became the only artist ever to have seven consecutive chart toppers surpassing records previously set by the legendary Beatles and the bgs she was America's sweetheart who sang like an angel and campaigned against the parth seemingly Bobby Brown had it all too at last the chart topping records the fame and agulation yet success led to Temptation and just as brown reached the height of his popularity in the late 1980s his personal life began to spiral out of control towards the latter stages of his tour he invited criticism from his suggestive and crude acts and tabloid newspapers and magazines were quick to report on Brown's hard partying [Music] lifestyle perhaps it's Whitney's rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at the 1991 Super Bowl final that cement Ed her place in American Hearts every single other person that's come and sung it I I don't remember except her one she completely nailed it this was and is now still one of the greatest moments in NFL history at the time America was in the Gulf War a lot of people had Sons and Daughters overseas it was a time of great patriotism and at the same time you know any time you're at War there's a deep insecurity and fear and she rocked up a little Bower hair attracts Su or jumpsuits never before had a national anthem been released and zoomed into the top five it was a huge achievement and no wonder and again Americans just kept loving her more that was their song this was their girl to this day I cry every time I hear it the most beautiful rendition of the Stars Bengal Banner that has ever been done before or since it was a defining moment in Britney's career she was America's beloved daughter for doing doing such an extraordinary job on such a significant song at such an important [Music] time for the and the [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I I knew Bobby and we used to hang out in London this is just before he met Whitney you know Bobby was sort of coming down from prerogative and new addition and all of that was kind of going down a bit at that time but he was still very very popular and we used to hang out in London and he was great and Bobby's a right character he's a he's a Nutter contrary to all the stor as you hear about people he's a really nice guy we had fun and he was very grounded and we we took him around Brixton and stuff he wanted to hang with the homies and we had fun you know and then I remember when he came back to London again he had just met Whitney and he was going on and on about how amazing she is and you know he's really in love with her and he was really really he really fell for her hard Whitney was America's princess America's sweetheart she hadn't put her foot wrong and she was seen as very clean living she'd been linked with Eddie Murphy Randall Cunningham a famous football player and these were pretty good guys but when she got together with Bobby Brown the headlines were kind of like what what are these people doing together he was a bit of a ladies man a real bad boy who already had kids lots of exes and I think people worried although on paper it doesn't work Bobby Brown and Whitney got on so well because he treated her like a normal girl and she said that many guys were just so scared of her and wanted to be overly nice that she was massively attracted to the this guy who was gentlemanly but had nothing to prove and she says that all he knew she needed was love there was chemistry full stop of course it shouldn't have worked but how many girls know they shouldn't have gone out with a bad guy but can't help that feeling that gut feeling that you're just for some reason attracted to him that you want to be with him she was magnetized to him he was a total laughter he was funny you know he was really funny I mean I brought him back to my house to meet my mom and stuff like that and my mom cooked him Jamaican food and the bodyguards and we had a right laugh he was lovely there was no two ways about it they were good people and I thought it was great that he was starting to date her I thought it was fine that you didn't think it was a a strange thing at all outside of the media I'm talking okay to everyone else it was like God what's that about why are they together but you know he made he's funny so I can imagine that Whitney who's who always been around the gowns and all of that life and stuff like that he he must have been a right laugh for her do you know she was like oh yeah I'm going to have fun now this is great there was some amazing footage that my co-director Rudy dartel shot of her backstage you know playing around with Bobby Brown or so they're really just like you know teenagers together and they're acting bits from different movies you know I Cantina Turner or scenes from Natural Born Killers and they're so funny together you just see that this is a wonderful funloving person who kind of I think got pushed into this position that she didn't really want I think she loved singing but she never wanted the fame she never wanted the incredible disapproval that came when she was with people that the press or the public disapproved of there was an invasion of her privacy I think an invasion of this funloving person who found it increasingly hard probably to be who she was one of the Avenues that Whitney Houston had began to tentatively explore in the early 1990s was film acting when she was approached to be the lead in a movie called The Bodyguard The Bodyguard cemented Whitney's role really as an iconic legend you know she'd already kind of been hailed as this extraordinary voice and Beauty but with The Bodyguard she was a movie star she was great in the movie she's not a natural actress but she did everything well enough she was intelligent enough to read the lines in a believable way she had great chemistry with Kevin who really fought for Whitney in the role he said in fact he said at her funeral a lot of guys could have played my part but only one person could have been Rachel Maron the soundtrack itself was just Whitney Houston's biggest hit of her entire career which was saying something because her first album sold 13 million copies now I will always love you it's such an interesting song because it was written by Dolly Parton not as a love song as we know romantic or sexual love it was a farewell to her singing and business partner Porter Wagner with whom she made her first hits funnily enough it nearly wasn't to be they had another song in mind which had been released a few months earlier so decided to go with I will always love you because it hadn't been released for years it was number one for 20 consecutive weeks in America Dolly Parton says Thank You Whitney for making this a Far More Beautiful song than I could ever have hoped [Music] and love you will love you will love [Music] you love [Applause] [Music] [Music] the film's success led to Whitney becoming even more adored by the public this however was not conducive to a happy marriage although Bobby was still making Rel atively successful records and winning Awards but could not come close to the kind of Fame and agulation his wife was experiencing alcohol and drugs were Bobby's crutch but the abuse of these substances led to multiple arrests involving violence and an incident never reported to police when Brown was kidnapped by a New York gang over a drug debt and Whitney Houston paid a reported $400,000 Ransom with ego knocked by being called Mr Houston Bobby was obviously jealous but could not admit to this knowing emotion you know in Whitney's very gut-wrenching interview with Oprah Winfrey she talks about the fact that it there's something that happens to a man when a woman has so much more Fame than he does you know she said that she used to tell people don't call me Whitney Houston I'm Mrs Brown to try and make him feel more comfortable I guess you could really view it as a modern-day cautionary tale I mean even before the reality show there was all sorts of rumors of domestic violence drug abuse Wendy Houston started showing up late for performances she would cancel interviews cancel concerts show up hours late it was just for our times possibly the most tumultuous marriage that stayed together in pop culture and the more it became impossible for her to be herself I think she retreated more and more in into her own little private thing which was drugs she had all sorts of problems with with addiction and so did he and and they both had you know very troubled upbringings and they both to a greater or lesser degree had had issues around self-esteem neither of them were really strong or indeed very powerful or indeed very congruent people people were easy with themselves and they created what is no doubt a kind of codependency and then when she became more and more criticized and and judged for doing that I think it just made things so much worse now the thing about codependency is it it locks two people together into this world where each one of them thinks the other person is the only person that truly understands them the only person that truly loves them the only person that truly sees them for who they are but in reality it just sustains life full of denial and full of refusing to accept the truth about who and what they are so whereas it seems to relieve the pain for a short while it actually deepens it because it's actually living a lie and that's one of the things of their relationship their relationship was about so to the point where Whitney actually said he was my drug and then about sums it up and she says even when we're fighting she she said it's love you know when we fight it's love Gary brother who was an NBA star but then lost his place in the team because of drug taking who went into a spiral of depression and started taking more and more and more drugs and who is still addicted and I asked him what is it why do you keep going back to it and he said to that it was about things that happened in his childhood that just played over and over again in his mind and he sought some sort of escape from that suspect that's what it was with Whitney as well I think she was running away from something you don't have three siblings who are all such self-destructive addicts without there being something behind it there was definitely a a power struggle there cuz if you remember in the early days you know Bobby was huge it must have been incredibly hard for him no longer to be as big as he was but he's with the biggest star in the world I'm sure that impacted the relationship that couldn't have been easy that's tough the song I have nothing is a is a typical example of the power of Whitney Houston's voice you know when she sang it was undeniable like you couldn't look away it was compelling what's interesting about that song is the words are I have nothing I have nothing without you and I think it really was how Whitney felt about Bobby Brown at that time I mean you know Whitney had the world at her feet but yet she constantly submitted herself to him they became kind of codependent linked in a very destructive way but I don't think anything you know the fame the talent the money meant anything to her nearly close as much as it did you know to be loved by [Music] [Applause] him I don't want to hurt anymore stay in my arms you [Music] there you there don't walk away from me I have nothing nothing nothing I [Music] don't despite their problems the couple brought a new life into the world when their daughter Bobby Christina was born on March 13th 1993 having a baby you know I'm looking forward to that raising a child you know hearing mommy you know that's what's foremost in my head right now you know I I I can't the movie's done you know the soundtrack's done um thinking about doing a gospel album you know so you know I'm just kind of like you know going with the flow Whitney has achieved her dream of marriage and motherhood and was determined that her precious daughter would accompany her everywhere being on tour or on film set was no life for a child and Bobby Christina spent most of the time with Whitney's mother or the crew it certainly could not be considered a normal childhood and the little girl witnessed things she should never have seen which perhaps impacted upon her mental health as she grew up more than anyone realized Brown's bad behavior was escalating it almost seemed that if his musical career was on the Wayne he was intent on being in the Limelight for reason Seasons other than music becoming involved in a number of incidents that included a club braw an assault and battery charge that led to probation a drunk driving accident and a stint at the Betty Ford Clinic salvation beckoned when Brown was asked to record with the fully reunited New Edition whose comeback album home again entered the charts at number one in September 1996 any way you want morning [Music] girl with Flav me Dan [Music] Baby Brown tour with with the group but believing in his ability to be a solo star he left the group on a high from the success with new addition Brown released his fourth solo album forever in 1997 due to lack of promotion and Brown's desire to break from previous partners and write and produce most of the tracks himself the album did not sell well at all and the album's only single feeling inside was not a hit around this time whitne was also promoting her first studio album in 7even years this came after a lot of kind of train wreck personal life stuff with drug issues fights and the marriage with her and Bobby all kinds of trouble she came out of that recording this album originally it was going to be a greatest hits album with a couple of new songs but actually once they got in the studio she had great collaborators on this including Missy Elliott some great songs it turned into an album all by itself My Love Is Your Love Without Really compromising sound too much you know it wasn't her just trying to get on like on a hardcore hip-hop track a Timberland beat or anything like that it really just kind of showed that she was able to translate her voice into something that had a little more Edge to it but without really alienating any of her uh prior fan base the song My Love Is Your Love was amazing on so many fronts because an awful lot of critics had you know dismissed Whitney as a thing of the past past and I guess her fans were turning their back looking at new music and when this song came out it was awesome because it had a slight reggy feel it was a million miles from the pop you might associate her with W Cliff John Lauren Hill from the Fuji were the sound of the moment they were working with her on this song so all of a sudden she didn't just please her old fans but a Young Generation sat up and thought this is a cool sound [Music] it would take eternity to break us and the of Hold Us is my Your Love ET [Music] break having been perceived by the record buying public as a good girl with a Perfect Image in the 1980s and early 1990s Whitney's Behavior had changed dramatically by the end of the decade even though Whitney had had critical and Commercial Success with her latest album the foundations underpinning her success had begun to crumble rumors had started to circulate about Whitney's sexual orientation back in the 1980s after moving in with her school friend Robin Crawford widely known in Show Business that Whitney and Robin were together and this was not some kind of scandalous pickup they'd known each other from high school they were best friends you know all the way through adolescence and there were all kinds of rumors about a relationship between Whitney and Robin in fact Robin was actually working for Whitney for a time she was like an assistant and they were together Bobby alluded to this himself when he looked back on the marriage kind of implying that one of the reasons Whitney married him was to combat these lesbian rumors because it wouldn't do at that time for America's sweetheart to be gay most of the rumors in Whitney Houston's case have been confirmed by very close sources such as her bodyguard family members I mean as hard as it was for Whitney Houston to be a black woman you know taking American mainstream by storm imagine if she was a black lesbian woman it certainly at that time particularly would have been very difficult if not impossible to win over you know the very reactionary Middle America so if you were saying like Whitney did that I am a good girl I'm an honest girl I'm an All-American Girl I am who I say I am I'm a heterosexual girl when you're saying all those things to the world and the truth might be slightly different that creates all kinds of problems particularly when you have a religious upbringing like she did because what it means is she's not just being dishonest to other people and dishonest to herself she's also being dishonest to God and you know there have been theories about Whitney's drug use including you know some gay activists who have said that if Whitney had been allowed to live as a lesbian woman she wouldn't have had all these drug demons this was probably the most positive relationship in her life Robin was like the guardian an angel whether she was gay or not is the secondary question yes I think they had a romantic life together but you know there was a kind of Witch Hunt which is like you know who has the right to harass somebody in that way and she had to put up with all that stuff I think it only makes what happened in her death and her addiction and her marriage that much more sad unfortunately the power struggle between Robin and Bobby intensified resulting in an ultimatum knowing that Bobby was a seriously bad influence on Whitney and that their behavior and practices would destroy her Robin gave her friend a choice it's going to be me or Bobby when Whitney replied tell her I accept her resignation they did not speak for years and her Ally was gone from her life when arguably she needed her most you know BBY bran said if Robin had been around at the end of her life she'd probably still be with us you know the American public felt they owned her and how dare she have a relationship with a woman how dare she have a relationship with Bobby Brown it was like it was like she didn't have control of her life anymore you know I think that was obviously outrageous without Robin's stabilizing voice of reason and following a self-destructive path of drug codependency with her husband Whitney had become increasingly unreliable canceling five shows during her 1999 tour including a soldout Arena event in her hometown of Newark just 15 minutes before Showtime jeopardizing her career she arrived late for photo shoots and was reportedly fired from a planned Oscar ceremony appearance due to a poor rehearsal performance the speculation was that her drug use was causing her voice to suffer what was astonishing in heartbreaking was to listen to her voice because it had gone in part she sounded like she was really struggling to speak it was sore and of course we know now that it was because she smoked crack cocaine of all the drugs she could have taken of all the ways she could have taken them injecting taking orally she decided to do the thing that would take away her voice her gift the voice was a mechanism was put her in front of the world and put this person before the world who wasn't really the person that the world thought they were looking at and so by destroying the voice she actually breaks that illusion that's you know well documented with people who find themselves in the public eye as someone or something they can't actually reconcile with who they really are they want to sabotage that and they want it all to end I think she was uncomfortable with having such a huge gift that eclipsed him and this was her way of messing it all up taking it all away so she could kind of say to Bobby to please his insecurities look come just like you now I love for kids Whitney loves and believes children fans were worried about Whitney's Health when she made an appearance on Michael Jackson 30th Anniversary Special when her extremely thin frame further spurred rumors of drug [Applause] use don't have a baby and don't think BBE if you can't be your baby you be [Applause] always although her publicist claim that Whitney has been under stress due to family matters and when she is under stress she does doesn't eat surprisingly these Family Matters was hitting at the fact that Whitney's Father John had been stealing huge sums of money from her after the breakdown of her association with Robin Crawford Whitney's father gained full control over managing her career and business Affairs and I think at a certain point she just wanted to stop but her family and this Entourage who were living off her you know apparently she was supporting over 50 people buying their car cars their houses sending their kids to school paying their medical bills which in America is something so there was a massive pressure on her shortly after finding out about her father's disloyalty she gave an arrestingly honest TV interview with Diane Sawyer the Diane Sawyer interview was absolutely astonishing you had Whitney come in sit down very regally as you'd expect trying to keep herself together and you thought okay maybe she's all right here when down saw went for the jugular and asked her the tricky questions as a good journalist should did you take crack she was you could tell very angry and trying to suppress that it's not just thin no what is it Diane tell me do you know it's scary then Whitney dying crack rehab fails first of all let's get one thing straight crack is cheap I make too much money to ever smoke crack let's get that straight okay we don't do crack we don't do that she crack is whack and she came across as very disjointed jumpy if she hadn't taken anything any drugs then then she certainly had quite recently before as later came to to be the truth but she was very emotional and fragile and it's hard to watch because now we know just how much of a lie she was living drug abuse in the marriage did not Abate and as a consequence in December 2003 Bobby Brown was charged with battery following an altercation during which he threatened to beat Houston and then assaulted her with police reporting that Houston had visible injuries to her face this did not stop Bravo network commissioning in early 2004 the reality TV program being Bobby Brown rather than ask what went wrong with the marriage when you saw them on TV and the documentary following Bobby Br but Whitney is very much involved the question really was what's right with that marriage the executives at the channel would not even consider the show unless Whitney agreed to appear Bobby was desperate to get some Fame on his own apart from his wife so he persuaded her to be on the show when Whitney agreed to be filmed the show got the green light but it was one of the worst decisions she ever made for the the rest of you know film history we can watch these scenes of a deteriorating Whitney talking about bowel movements talking about being drunk uh clearly under the influence of all kinds of drugs all right if I don't have it I'm not demand you're freaking hallucinating I want things I like things I am things and the other I don't want I love cars and I don't need money cars and I don't need cars I have love you could see him trying to drag his power back from Whitney like when he said one day when she came into the room you know Jack be nimble Jack be quick bring the ass in here quick and I'm going to show you what I'm going to do with it that's a man who's trying to sit down and say don't think she's the boss I am it is train wreck television you would see Bobby Brown just you know delusions of grander ego out of control drinking during the day and Whitney Houston during the same it broke me too because I know that something must have just gone wrong there cuz they weren't like that in the early '90s okay when you saw the two of them together and they were out it was fun a man like Bobby Brown doesn't want to be Mr Houston he wants his wife to be Mrs Brown and because that could never happen the implications for their marriage were severe and damaging so sometimes two energies come together and they can destroy each other it's not about blame you can't blame anyone there sometimes two people are toxic together sometimes that can happen and um I think that's what happened there and it's it's sad she did it for her husband she did it to help him and it was very typical of their relationship that everything she did to help him just brought her down can't take a picture with you no no ma'am I'm eating I'm you see me eating I'll take a picture with you jealous it's all right she's a sister I don't want to miss her see I don't understand see me I got into the business for people but not my wife man she got into it to sing so you want a picture with me cool you want a picture with her I doubt it eventually the couple filed for divorce in September 2006 you filming don't do that uhoh damn damn damn better get makeup just want a real life Lord I just want I be a real person prise God praise [Music] God Houston gave her first interview in 7 years in September 2009 appearing on Oprah Winfrey season premiere the interview was build as the most anticipated music interview of the decade Houston d detailed the issues and breakdown of the marriage and told Winfrey that brown had been abusive during their marriage and had spat on her on one occasion so when we got back to the house he going to hate I said pleas spit on me he spit on me he actually spit on me and my daughter was coming down the stairs and she saw it and um that was pretty intense how did you feel I I was horrified he spit on me in my face after the divorce was finalized Houston was granted custody of Bobby Christina neglected as a child she was very unhappy although Whitney tried very hard to always have her daughter by her side ironically that was the worst thing for an impressionable and vulnerable young person and let's spare a thought for Bobby Christina this is a girl who's grown up with parents both of whom are addicts this is a child who whose Role Models parental role models are models of denial models of addiction and models of people who are living lives which are destructive and and addictive and in later years Whitney has alleged to have partied with Bobby Christina as if they were this buddy to do drugs with determined to be free of her addictions and become the mother figure for her daughter that she had always wanted to be Whitney entered a 14-week drug rehabilitation program unable to complete this rehab due to a surprising lack of funds Whitney decided that to save herself and her daughter her only course of action was to record new music and go on tour with her Inner Circle advising against this Whitney felt there there was no other option at this point and so released a new album I Look to You in August 2009 I think at that point her public life the idea of Whitney Houston as you know a drug casualty as a reality TV casualty really overshadowed her music career and I I look to you it kind of came and went at that point Whitney Houston kind of ceased to be a a pop singer Whitney's Infamous 2010 comeback tour which was around Europe and the UK uh drew a lot of fans who were ultimately very disappointed with what they heard almost universally the tour was ravaged by fans and critics alike Whitney was erratic her voice was totally not on form and all kinds of videos leaked on YouTube about her forgetting words forgetting what she was supposed to say and seemingly intoxicated the world really saw it up close when she performed on the UK show The X Factor her dress was literally coming down on stage and she didn't [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] notice up down oh say oh if it makes you feel good if it makes you feel [Music] good you know that tour it was kind of a disaster the voice was still there you can get glimpses of it but nonetheless you could just tell that this was a person in poor health and she had no real career momentum at that point Brown kept a pretty low profile in the years after the reality show and his divorce he contributed to Damen Marley's 2006 song Beautiful in 2010 he dueted with Macy Gray on Real Love new addition members reunited to perform Jackson 5 hits as a tribute to the late Michael Jackson at the 2009 BET Awards they formally reunited the next year and embarked on a 30th anniversary tour although no one knew it February 9th 2012 was to be Houston's very last public performance for the most part Whitney stayed away from La she spent a lot of time in Atlanta where she lived in a big house didn't really do much didn't really work just kind of hung around coming out to LA for the Grammys was a big deal for her the last song that Whitney publicly sang was Jesus loves me it was an impromptu performance for her friend the singer Kelly Price who the next day was going to be receiving a Grammy award and it was heartbreaking because that was going to be the final song then how poignant that she's talking to Jesus that religion means so much to her and she wasn't to know that the next day should be [Music] gone [Music] tragically 2 days later on February 11th Houston was found unconscious in Suite 434 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel submerged in the bathtub I literally just got off stage and I got a text message from the BBC please urgent call so I rang back he said Misha this is a stand from the BBC which Houston has just we've just found out that she's died and I'm was like I I mean I let out this scream I just couldn't believe it I was like what are you talking about it's just no it's a mistake it can't be right but then I thought well for him to be calling me at 12:00 at night you know it must be [Music] real a report issued by the Los Angeles County coroner's office stated that the official cause of death was an accidental drowning with heart disease and cocaine in her system contributing factors Whitney's untimely death sent shock waves around the world an invitation only memorial service was held for Whitney Houston on Saturday February 18th 2012 at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark New Jersey Bobby Brown's Behavior at the funeral was nothing short of odd and disrespectful in many ways many would say that they wouldn't have expected him even to be invited it is no secret that Whitney's family despises him and to a great degree blame a lot of Whitney's problems with substance abuse on her marriage and her relationship to Bobby however Whitney's family went on the record and said no he is invited to the funeral and Bobby was invited to bring two guests along with him now on the day of the funeral Here Comes Bobby Brown with an Entourage of nine because they' been asked to move not Bobby but some of the people he' brought he became irate he became very angry Al Sharpton who was at the funeral actually tweeted I'm trying to calm down Bobby Brown today is not about him today is about Whitney no matter how he was feeling that day was not about him that whole thing was just like a media circus you know trying to interpret what it might have meant that Bobby Brown left early is it because he car too much is it because he doesn't care enough even in these tragic circumstances it seemed to the world that Bobby wanted the spotlight although with his mother and father both dying within the previous 12 months his emotional state and agitation at yet another funeral might be somewhat forgiven tragedy struck again in July 2015 when Bobby Christina was found unconscious in a filled bathtub in her home chillingly mirroring her mother's death Bobby was in a medically induced coma for 6 months before dying from pneumonia aged just 22 years old there'll never be another Whitney there's only one Whitney Houston do you know there'll never be another one I think she was a real real kind of a real Survivor and I think when you see the number of movies and albums and tours that she did over such a short space of time I just don't know how she she must have had no time to herself at all and I think at a certain point she just wanted to stop for me it's sad because she didn't get that personal fulfillment it seems in her personal life Whitney Houston's death really did reverberate around the world you know sometimes I think you don't realize what an iconic figure someone is until they're gone well I think one of the really fascinating but infuriating things about Whitney is that I don't think she ever knew who she was she was always struggling to find herself there's two great lines from from from Whitney one she said I Am My Own Worst Enemy and in one of her most famous and moving songs really which is I have nothing she said I can't I can't hide from myself I can't run from from uh from myself the only time I feel that she ever felt comfortable the only time she ever felt sure of who she was was when she was on stage and she was singing and those moments are you know the real her we'll just remember the genius that took her to the top of the world and in posterity will make sure she stays there I think the thing with Bobby the sense I get of him from the footage of him over the years is that he's someone who's always putting on a front you know he had this tough guy image but actually I think he was not ever a tough guy he was kind of a bit pathetic he's a kind of closed person in some ways you know he's I don't think he's reached the stage of his life where he's ready to open up and to talk openly about this maybe he never will reach that stage sometimes people not answering and seeing how they not don't answer a question is almost more revealing than actually having them say something and I think this is one of those [Music] cases [Music]

Channel: Inside The Music

Views: 702,690

Keywords: Inside the music, Music Docs, Music Interviews, Prince interview, The ventures, beatles, behind the music, bowie, concerts, cover band, cover songs, covers, docos, documentary, greatest hits, inside the music, live concerts, mtv, music, music docos, music documentaries, rock, rockumentary, slash, taylor swift, taylor swift documentary, vh1, whitney houston, bobby brown, bobbi kristina, whitney, whitney houtson lesbian, whitney houston gay, bobby brown dv, whitney life, lesbian

Id: 9Yn8PfpXWzs

Length: 58min 6sec (3486 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 30 2023