LIFE Whitney 1963 - 2012 by The Editors of LIFE Magazine
When Whitney Houston died shockingly young at 48 years old this February, headlines around the world lamented the passing of The Queen of Pop - a title never bestowed, but one obviously referring to Michael Jackson and his too-young fate. Those headlines weren't wrong. In the 1980s and into the '90s, Whitney ruled the pop world - her songs were the soundtrack of our lives. More: Her own life was extraordinary, and in the end extraordinarily tragic. In this new commemorative, Life Books seeks to celebrate - and try to explain - Whitney Houston. What a singer. What a life.