kind of puts in perspective how young she really was...

"Luther Vandross called me up one day in 1983 and said, "I'm picking you up, you have to hear Cissy Houston and her daughter. They're singing together at Sweetwater's" (a supper club on Amsterdam Ave. in NY).

He sat me right in front of the stage. Cissy and her daughter, Whitney, started singing and blew me away. They would sing in perfect unison, then break into two part harmony for one ridiculously high note. It was truly breathtaking. Luther was having as much fun watching my reaction as he was enjoying the show.

After they finished, he told me, "Clive Davis just signed her and he's gonna make her huge!"...and that's exactly what happened. I would always think about that 19 year old on that small stage at Sweetwater's when, over the years, I would hear her glorious voice on the radio. She was a true gift - she carried the lineage of her mom, her cousin Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin who her mom sang backup for.

My favorite song of hers was "I Will Always Love You" which Dolly Parton wrote. Can you imagine Dolly's face when she heard her song performed like that? She was probably grinning from ear to ear..

Life has it's highs and lows. I truly hope Whitney's soaring voice is what will remain in our memories...

RIP Nippy"

real talk man...
between her and Don Cornelius I keep seeing the world I entered fade away, too damn soon

it always seems to be some sort of tragedy in stories like these