Whitney Houston is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Here's what her rise to stardom really looked like.

When Whitney Houston was a little girl, her mother taught her how to sing. They would spend hours together playing the piano, bonding over a love for all things gospel and soul music.

Little did either of them know the musical future that awaited young Houston – a legacy characterised by extraordinary talent and stage presence.

And it's this incredible life behind the microphone that is being featured in the new must-watch film Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody.

Detailing the untold story behind Houston's rise to fame, the film is a musical celebration of her life – with audiences now able to watch the film from the comfort of their home with early access on digital. 

To celebrate the digital release of Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody, what better time to look back on one of the greatest singers of all time.

Whitney Houston at 17 at a modelling photoshoot in New York. Image: Getty.

Music was undoubtedly in the Houston family's blood.

Houston's mother, Emily 'Cissy' Houston, was a talented soul and gospel singer, once performing as a backup vocalist for Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin (who happened to be Whitney Houston's godmother).

Houston's two siblings also had talent: her brother Michael being a songwriter and half-brother Gary, a former professional basketball player and singer. 

As Houston's talent became clear, her family helped push her towards a career in performing. By age 11, she was a soloist in her church choir in New Jersey. In her teenage years, she was often touring nightclubs alongside her mum. 

Then in high school, Houston became a backup vocalist, working for artists such as The Michael Zager Band and the one and only Chaka Khan. She was even offered an opportunity to sign with a recording company. And it was something Houston desperately wanted. But her mother said no.

"John [Houston's father] and Cissy asked me to talk to her," family friend Rev DeForest Soaries reflected to People Magazine.

"Whitney and I sat down at McDonald's. The disco movement was hot, and she felt her parents were slowing down her emergence as an artist. They wanted her to finish high school."

But Houston needn't have worried. At 17, during an appearance at the famed Carnegie Hall alongside her mother, she was scouted by a modelling agent. 

Soon after she booked covers such as Glamour and Cosmopolitan magazines. She even made history as the first Black model to appear on the cover of Seventeen Magazine.

Her first passion, though, would always be singing.

"Whitney used to tell me 'Mummy, I'm going to be a star.' I'm going to take care of you, and you're never going to have to work again!' I said, 'Sure!' But, it's funny how profound children's statements can be sometimes," Cissy said to The Daily Beast.

In 1983, Clive Davis head of record company, Arista Records, heard Houston singing in New York with her mum. And it took his breath away. So much so, that he offered her a recording contract – and since she had finished high school and was an adult, Houston grasped it with both hands and never looked back.

Whitney Houston at the Songwriters Hall of Fame 32nd Annual Awards in New York City in 2001. Image: Getty.

Two years later, she released her first record album, which included the iconic hits 'Saving All My Love for You' and 'How Will I Know'. And it stayed in the number one position on Billboard magazine's Top Two Hundred Albums chart for fourteen weeks.

Over her lifetime, Houston's accolades would skyrocket, winning 415 awards throughout her career, including two Emmys, six Grammys, 16 Billboard Music Awards and 22 American Music Awards.

And who could possibly forget The Bodyguard, where she starred alongside Kevin Costner? The film made more than $400 million dollars in ticket sales worldwide – not to mention the sell-out accompanying album.

"She was our little songbird," Kevin Costner said about his co-star.

Her second album made her the first female artist to enter the Billboard Top Two Hundred at number one. Around this same time, she met her soon-to-be husband, R&B singer Bobby Brown. 

Amidst her career, it's been well reported the challenges Houston faced. One such story not as well known however, is when Houston was embroiled in a legal dispute with Kevin Skinner – her own father's right-hand man.

Skinner used to be partners with Houston's father, John Houston. And he says that in 2000, the star asked them to help shift her career in a new, fresh direction. But it didn't end well. Houston's father's company ended up filing a $100 million dollar lawsuit claiming Houston didn't pay him and his business partner for their services.

It was a stressful time in Houston's life, coupled with the fact she was a new mum, with her only child – daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown.

A judge went on to dismiss the lawsuit in early 2004, mostly due to the fact Skinner had reportedly not provided enough relevant information. And also because while suing his own daughter, John Houston passed away in 2003.

"I love my dad, and I knew he was sickly. People were trying to get money from him. Distract me from him," she said on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

"There were years we didn't speak at all, but when he got sickly, I went to the hospital and I said, 'let's end this right now'."

Family was always at the heart of Houston's life. So was love. 

One of the most influential people in Houston's life was a woman named Robyn Crawford. They met as teenagers, developing a deep friendship before things took a romantic turn.

Whitney Houston and Robyn Crawford. Image: Getty.

"We could be naked. We could be bare and didn't have to hide. We could trust each other with our secrets, our feelings, and who we were. We were friends. We were lovers. We were everything to each other," Robyn wrote about Houston.

Sadly, disapproval at the time from Houston's father took a toll on their relationship, along with Houston's singing career, amid fears Houston's sexuality would have a negative impact on public perception.

Their relationship wasn't confirmed until Crawford herself wrote a memoir in 2019, A Song For You: My Life With Whitney Houston, where she details the love they had for one another.

So instead of making things official with Crawford, Houston stepped away. 

A few years later, she married Bobby Brown. Then in 2007 when they divorced, Houston gained full custody of their daughter Bobbi.

"She's my best friend. It wasn't easy, but she never let go of my hand, and I never let go of hers," Houston said of her daughter. It was her mother's kindness that Bobbi said she loved most about Houston. And plenty of examples come to mind.

During the Gulf War, Houston sang 'The Star Spangled Banner' at the Super Bowl in 1991. She donated the proceeds to the Red Cross. In that same year, she put together a Welcome Home Heroes concert with HBO for soldiers and their families.

And she also formed The Whitney Houston Foundation for Children in 1989, helping sick and homeless children, working toward the prevention of child abuse.

Whitney Houston in her later years. Image: Getty.

It was a massive rise for a woman who had gone through so much in her life. But her musical legacy certainly stood the test of time.

"The public always tried to tell her who she should be," said Naomi Ackie to The Independent, the star playing the one and only Houston in Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody.

"It's absolutely terrifying to think your life can become a conversation point between people who have no idea who you really are. That's the thing that scares me most about fame. But I found my voice after playing Houston. I'm not scared anymore to ask for things."

And that's exactly what Houston emulated – because despite it all, she knew who she was and what she wanted. 

As Houston said to Molly Meldrum in 2009: "We all have our times, our moments when you're going through something – adversity, a tribulation or another. 

"And there's always one song or a time when you hear something and go 'that I can get strength from'. I was taught to be an entertainer. When things go wrong, you have to outperform it – keep moving and get stronger from it. I am truly grateful and humble. Singing is joy." 

Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody is now available to buy or rent on digital. 

Feature Image: Getty/Mamamia.