Whitney Houston Net Worth - Pulptastic

Publish date: 2024-05-04

What was Whitney Houston’s net worth?

Whitney Houston, the late singer, model, and actress, had a net worth of negative $20 million at the time of her death. Despite her financial struggles, she was one of the bestselling and most celebrated music artists of all time, known for hits like “Saving All My Love for You” and “I Will Always Love You.”

However, Whitney’s personal life was notoriously troubled, with issues related to drugs and alcohol beginning to derail her career in the late-90s. Despite her talent, she struggled to focus on moving her career forward and capitalizing on her past success. A reality series about her then husband, musician Bobby Brown, only served to highlight the problems in her life.

Tragically, Whitney Houston died in 2012 at the age of 48, after accidentally drowning in a hotel bathtub.

Whitney Houston’s Financial Struggles

Whitney Houston was a highly successful artist, selling over 200 million albums and winning numerous awards throughout her career. However, she spent her money faster than she earned it and was reportedly broke in 2001 before signing a $100 million recording contract with Sony/Arista.

Despite earning up to $30 million a year from touring, Whitney only ever earned $40 million of her $100 million contract. This was because her records did not sell well, and each payment from the contract was essentially a loan based on the success of future albums. As a result, she ended up owing the record label nearly $20 million. Sony/Arista now owns the rights to Whitney’s back catalog.

Whitney Houston’s Financial Status: From $6 Million Net Worth to Bankruptcy

When Whitney Houston divorced Bobby Brown in 2007, she reported having $10 million in assets and $4 million in debts, giving her a net worth of $6 million. However, at the time of her death, Houston was broke and rumored to be asking for handouts. Her New Jersey home was close to foreclosure, and her Atlanta townhouse had already been repossessed. Houston’s mentor Clive Davis had loaned her $1.2 million to pay off debts and get clean from drugs after her divorce from Bobby. Sadly, Houston was never able to make a comeback, and she passed away in 2012.

After her death, Whitney Houston’s estate generated tens of millions of dollars through album sales, streaming royalties, and licensing deals.

Whitney Houston Estate Earns $40 Million in Nine Months

Whitney Houston’s estate earned an estimated $40 million in the nine months following her death, with the majority of the earnings coming from record and single sales. The release of the movie “Sparkle”, in which Houston acted and executive produced, also contributed to the estate’s windfall. Her executors were able to pay off most of her debts and set aside $20 million for her daughter Bobbi Kristina.

Early Life of Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1963 to gospel singer Cissy Houston and city administrator John. She grew up singing in the church choir and learned to play piano. After the 1967 Newark riots, Houston’s family moved to East Orange, New Jersey, where she continued to perform and became a soloist for her junior gospel choir by the age of 11. She attended Franklin Elementary School and graduated from Mount Saint Dominic Academy in 1981.

Whitney Houston’s Early Career

As a young teenager, Houston started singing in the background for her mother at cabaret clubs in New York City. She also contributed background vocals to her mother’s album “Think it Over.”

Houston’s mother encouraged her to take the lead on a few songs, leading to Houston’s debut at Manhattan’s Town Hall. Subsequently, she began drawing the attention of record producers, particularly Michael Zager and Paul Jabara.

Houston was spotted by a photographer during a performance at Carnegie Hall for the United Negro College Fund and was soon introduced to the industry of fashion modeling. She went on to model for several publications, such as Cosmopolitan and Glamour. Houston also graced the cover of Seventeen, making her one of the first women of color to appear on the cover of a fashion magazine.

In early 1983, Houston attracted the attention of Arista Records representative Gerry Griffith while performing with her mother in New York. Consequently, Griffith urged Arista’s head Clive Davis to come see her perform. Davis was so impressed that he immediately offered Houston a global record deal, which she eventually signed. She went on to make her national television debut alongside Davis on “The Merv Griffin Show.”

Houston had her first commercial music success the next year with the release of the song “Hold Me,” a duet with Teddy Pendergrass.

Whitney Houston’s Rise to Fame

Whitney Houston became an international sensation after the release of her self-titled debut album in 1985. The album eventually topped the Billboard 200 for 14 weeks in 1986 and included the hit singles “Saving All My Love for You,” “How Will I Know,” and “Greatest Love of All.” Her second album, “Whitney,” debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in 1987, making her the first woman to achieve this feat. It spawned four number-one singles: “Didn’t We Almost Have it All,” “So Emotional,” “Where Do Broken Hearts Go,” and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me).” Houston won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me).” Houston continued her success with her smash Moment of Truth World Tour.

Whitney Houston’s Music Career

In 1990, Houston released her third studio album, “I’m Your Baby Tonight,” which produced hit singles such as “All the Man That I Need” and the title track. She returned to the music scene in 1998 with her fourth album, “My Love is Your Love,” featuring popular songs like “Heartbreak Hotel” and “I Learned from the Best.”

Houston’s fifth studio album, “Just Whitney,” received mixed reviews when it was released in 2002. The following year, she released her first Christmas album, “One Wish: The Holiday Album.” In 2009, Houston achieved her first number-one studio album since 1987 with “I Look to You,” which would also be her final studio album before her death.

Whitney Houston’s Film Career and Successful Soundtracks

In 1992, Houston starred in and recorded six songs for the original soundtrack of “The Bodyguard,” which became the bestselling soundtrack album of all time. Her cover of “I Will Always Love You” won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became the bestselling single of all time by a solo female artist. Houston’s second film, “Waiting to Exhale,” also featured her on the soundtrack, with her single “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” debuting at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Her final film was the 2012 remake of the musical “Sparkle.”

Notable Performances

Whitney Houston’s famous performance at Super Bowl XXV in 1991, where she sang the US national anthem before the game, earned praise and became a charting single. Her vocals were prerecorded. She also performed three concerts in the newly unified South Africa in 1994 and was part of the charity concert special “Classic Whitney: Live from Washington, D.C.” broadcast on HBO in 1997.

Whitney Houston’s Tragic Personal Life

Throughout the 80s, Whitney Houston dated Jermaine Jackson, Eddie Murphy, and Randall Cunningham before marrying singer Bobby Brown in 1992. Brown had a history of legal troubles due to drunk driving, battery, and drug possession. They had a daughter together in 1993.

By the late 90s, Houston’s behavior became erratic, and rumors of drug abuse with her husband were rampant. In 2002, she admitted to using cocaine in an interview with Diane Sawyer and went to rehab multiple times over the next decade.

On February 11, 2012, Houston was found unconscious in the bathtub of her hotel room and was later determined to have accidentally drowned with cocaine and other drugs in her system.

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