15 years ago today, Whitney Houston released her final studio album

I think that by the time she released this album, Whitney's public image was seriously damaged and she hadn't really been relevant in music in 10 years. Had it not been for reality TV and the fact that she was both tabloid fodder and the butt of countless jokes, her presence in the media would have been practically inexistent after 2000. Moreover, if the take into account that her lessened reputation was paired with a destroyed voice that most of the time barely sounded like her at all without considerable studio wizardry, it's not surprising that this album was moderately successful and didn't receive any nominations. Also, let's not forget that ILTY is boring as hell.

It would have been interesting to see what Whitney could have achieved if she had continued working with logopedic therapists and managed to stay sober (doubtful, given how she had been taken considerable amounts of drugs in the hours before her death), but it's evident that we shall never know. Whitney's professional and personal evolution is extremely sad, as she was a great talent who squandered her enormous potential and was plunged into hardcore drug-addiction by that useless parasite Bobby Brown. Still, it's likely that she would have ended up in the same position all by herself, since she was a habitual drug user since her mid-teens.

Anyway, thank you for bringing this up, OP. It's nice to remember the greats from time to time.

That's a very insightful post, R1.

I have to add - I think she truly believed sitting down for a 2 hour "Oprah" interview, where she confessed (as best she could) to her problems since the early 90s, she would somehow be 'redeemed' to her former glory, and the past would be forgotten. I really think she believed she was going to reset the clock to the late 1980s and have a do-over of the past 20 years. It just doesn't work that way. Not even Oprah could help her at this point in time.

And as you say - for such a highly anticipated 'comeback' album, it was a bore. I hardly remember any of the songs except for the dull title track which plays like a dirge. And the album cover photo did her no justice - looks nothing like her (and they chose this ugly photo for her gravestone).

I remember the irony of her singing “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength” with a weak, unstable voice that was a sad shadow of what it had been 20 years earlier.

A couple years later when she drowned in the hotel bathtub, she didn’t have much going on career wise and had blown (somewhat literally) through most of her $$$ fortune.

That daughter of theirs never had a chance. She grew up around addicts and parasites, seemed low IQ, and didn’t inherit Whitney’s good looks or vocal talent. I still wonder if she drowned accidentally or decided to follow her mother — or was murdered.

ILTY is actually incredibly poignant, especially in light of her diminished vocals, which they actually made a decision not to hide. But it was a song that was only imbued with meaning after her death

The tour she did for this album was a disaster.

She was a recreational drug user for years (it WAS the 80s, after all) but when she hooked up with Bobby she went from being a "party" user to a full-on druggie. "Useless parasite" is right. He was the worst thing that ever happened to her. He really dragged her down to the gutter.

Her voice was ruined by the time of ILTY. Ravaged by smoking, drinking, and drug use. I bought the album and was so disappointed.

R5 I remember the horrible reviews, and the reports that she was booed off the stage at some venues. I don't think she even made it stateside - didn't she cut her European tour short, and then canceled it before it was to launch in America ?

I should add, critics and fans complained that during her concert tour she didn't even sing the lyrics - she was 'reading' the lyrics. This is why she was booed off stage in some cities - fans didn't go for her to do a poetry reading.

In the UK Million Dollar Bill was big in the gay clubs when I started going to them in uni. Fond memories

People were booing and walking out of shows on the 2010 tour. Whitney was a cracked out mess.

The last ten or so years of her life were one long decline, she was constantly high.

Fucked up singing I Will Always Love You in London

The problem with the album was that they were still looking for her to sing these bombastic power ballads like it was the 80's and 90's. And her voice simply couldn't. Add to that the ballads weren't well written.

Million Dollar Bill is a good song. and had it been the lead single, the album would have fared somewhat better alongside more R and B, dance type of jams and smooth jazzy ballads that didn't require vocal gymnastics.

It really should have been a more adult styled album suited to her current voice instead of a blatant attempt to try and capture the glory days. And that tour should have never happened either.

‘Million Dollar Bill’ will be top 5 legacy songs for her.

Glad they propped up Nippy for this album.

I remember that album roll out well. Her two part Oprah interview was frustrating. You could tell that Oprah and her team wanted Whitney to be in better form, and I remember her grasp on sobriety and the truth of her past was tenuous. Her performance on the show was meh but Oprah was really selling it. It wasn’t as dismal as her Central Park performance on GMA, but poor Whitney was a pale shadow of her former self.

I love the Frankie Knuckles mix of Million Dollar Bill

IMO, Bobby is not to blame for Whitney's slow slide downwards.

If you watch Being Bobby Brown (yes, ha ha), it's apparent that she was the boss of the relationship as she had the money.

Bobby seemed more like a plain old drunkard.

Also, Whitney's own brother admitted to introducing her to drugs. That would pre-date W's relationship with Bobby.

Whitney's drug use escalated greatly when Bobby came into the picture. They enabled each other. She was only a party user before then, and was functional.

R12 Lawd. That shit sad yo. Goddam tragedy. I will never forgive her homophobic mom. I don’t understand why she was so homophobic being that Dionne Warwick had been in the industry for years. They had to have been exposed to gays.

The worst thing was putting Bobby Kristina in that reality show right after Whitney died. Cissy, W's brother, and the brother's wife seemed like they needed the income.

Bobby Brown is the father, though, and should have put his foot down on that reality show.

R19 Dionne's sister Dee Dee was a lesbian. They threw her ass under the bus in one of the Whitney documentaries implying that Whitney was into women because she was molested at a young age by Dee Dee. I'm stunned that Dionne didn't come out and read their asses for filth, given that her sister had passed a few years prior and wasn't around to defend herself.