Singer, model, and actress Whitney Houston net worthis - $20,000,000 when she passed away in 2009.
Even though Houston had signed a $100 million deal and sold over 200 million records in her career, she effectively died penniless due to years of excessive spending and general financial mismanagement.
When she went suddenly in February 2012, she owed her record company Sony around $20 million.
Whitney's estate made tens of millions of dollars in the years after her death through increased record sales, streaming royalties, and other licensing agreements.
Date of Birth | Aug 9, 1963 - Feb 11, 2012 |
Place of Birth | Newark |
Gender | Female |
Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.727 m) |
Profession | Record producer, Singer, Model, Songwriter, Film Producer, Actor, Musician, Artist, Music artist |
Nationality | United States of America |
Net Worth | -$20 Million |
Houston, who was born and reared in New Jersey, comes from a musically accomplished family that includes her grandmother Aretha Franklin, cousin Dionne Warwick, and her mother, gospel artist Cissy Houston.
At a young age, Houston started singing in a junior gospel choir and sang backup vocals for a number of singers, including her mother, the Michael Zager Band, and the Grammy-winning Chaka Khan. Houston's modeling career took off, and she started to feature in publications like Seventeen, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan.
Her self-titled first album was certified diamond by the RIAA and reached the top spot on the US Billboard chart.
Five more studio albums, all of which have received at least platinum certification from the RIAA and three of which (Whitney, I'm Your Baby Tonight, and I Look To You) peaked in the top five on the US Billboard, round out her amazing catalog.
She has generated eleven number-one singles in the USA alone from these albums and the two soundtracks, including You Give Good Love (Whitney Houston, 1985), I Will Always Love You (The Bodyguard soundtrack), and So Emotional (Whitney, 1987).
Six Grammys and 22 American Music Awards are among her honors. Her acting accomplishments also include cameo appearances on television series including Gimme a Break!, Silver Spoons, and Boston Public, as well as the movie The Bodyguard (which earned $410.9 million worldwide), Waiting to Exhale, and The Preacher's Wife.
Whitney Hustonn singing on stage Whitney Houston died on February 11, 2012, in a Beverly Hills, California, hotel room.
Whitney had a successful career, earning over 200 million records sold, two Emmys, six Grammys, 30 Billboard Music Awards, and 22 AMAs.
The latter years of her life saw a sharp drop in her net worth. She had little money until she secured a $100 million recording deal with Sony/Arista in 2001.
Given that Whitney was able to make up to $30 million a year from touring alone at the height of her fame, this statistic is all the more startling.
A musician who gets a record deal for $100 million does not get the money all at once. Each step of an artist's compensation is effectively a loan depending on the success of subsequent albums.
Despite signing a $100 million deal, Whitney only made $40 million, and sadly, her music did not do well on the charts.
She ultimately owed the record company close to $20 million as a result. Whitney's back catalog is owned by Sony/Arista and has lately achieved astronomical sales, but Bobbi Kristina Brown, Whitney's daughter, won't get any money until 5 million new records have been sold and the $20 million has been repaid.
The estate of Whitney Houston made an estimated $40 million in the nine months after her death.
This windfall's biggest contributor was the sharp increase in Whitney's record and single sales.
The success of the film "Sparkle," in which Whitney starred and executive produced, was also beneficial to her estate.
Most of Whitney's bills were paid off by her executors, who also put aside a staggering $20 million for her daughter Bobbi Kristina.
Despite signing a $100 million contract and selling over 200 million albums throughout her career, Houston essentially passed away destitute as a result of years of extravagant spending and general financial mismanagement.
Whitney Houston, the musician's first album, was published in 1985, and it almost instantly became a blockbuster pop success.
Her top-charting singles "How Will I Know" and "Saving All My Love for You" helped the album top the charts throughout the next year, where it remained for 14 non-consecutive weeks.
- On August 9, 1963, Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born.
- She has two elder brothers, Gary and Michael, and is the youngest of three children.
- She comes from a musical aristocracy: Aretha Franklin is her godmother, and Dionne Warwick is her second cousin.
Gary Catona, the sad singer's vocal trainer and friend, said that the degradation of her voice from smoking and drug usage before she was discovered accidentally drowned at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in February had altered her whole demeanor.
American singer, actor, and fashion model Whitney Houston. She is well-known for both her popular songs and for playing herself in the film The Bodyguard.
Her majority of studio and sound albums have received gold, diamond, platinum, and multi-platinum certifications. She is regarded as one of the world's most well-known and prosperous record artists.