In her new memoir, “Phases,” the singer Brandy opens up about one among her most well-known allegiances in Hollywood, her mentor, the late Whitney Houston.
The 2, who famously starred collectively within the 1997 TV musical remake of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Cinderella,” maintained an endearing fairy godmother-like bond through the years, proper up till the day Houston died. Writing about her in “Phases,” Brandy, 47, who recollects falling in love along with her voice for the primary time when she was 7 years previous, after listening to Houston carry out “Biggest Love of All,” described the her expertise and the various classes the late icon, who died on February 11, 2012, on the age of 48, left her with.
“We had been two kindred spirits navigating the identical tumultuous waters of fame,” she writes, per an excerpt printed in The Minimize.
Whereas many have heard how they first met in particular person on the 1995 Youngsters’ Selection Awards, Norwood recollects the primary time she actually met her idol on the age of 12. The aspiring singer attended a taping of “The Tonight Present” when BeBe and CeCe Winans had been the scheduled musical act and mustered up the braveness to sing her method backstage to fulfill them. Upon assembly them, she requested if they might cellphone Houston. Blissful to oblige inside minutes, her biggest inspiration was on the opposite line.
From teenhood until her 30s, Houston remained a supportive determine in her life, not not like a fairy godmother. Beneath, we break down their endearing bond proper up till the top.
Assembly on the 1995 Youngsters’ Selection Awards
The 2 singers met in particular person for the primary time in 1995 backstage throughout the Nickolodeon Child’s Selection Awards. Brandy, then 16, was reportedly so overcome with emotion on the prospect of assembly an idol of hers who had been within the trade and dominating for over a decade by then that she initially ran away and burst into tears. Brandy, who had simply launched her debut album, was invited to attend whereas Houston, then 31, was that 12 months’s host.
“Cinderella”
Simply two years after their first assembly, Houston handpicked Norwood to star alongside her in “Cinderella.” Norwood stepped into the position of Cinderella whereas Houston, additionally an government producer, performed her fairy godmother. This model additionally starred Whoopi Goldberg, Victor Garber, Paolo Montalban, Bernadette Peters, and Natalie Desselle (who died in 2020), in a various, vibrant reimaging of the traditional Disney fairytale.
The movie, beloved by followers to this present day, gave the tradition a uncommon imagining of a Black princess and the timeless hit, “Unimaginable,” which Houston and Norwood memorably carried out collectively when the fairy godmother first visits Cinderella.
Whereas some critics had been divided on the time over among the fashionable selections made with the difference, the movie was an on the spot success amongst viewers and scores and ultimately went on to obtain approval for its groundbreaking “color-blind” casting that includes a Black princess, Filipino prince, and multicultural royal household, and obtained seven Emmy Award nomintions together with a win for Excellent Artwork Route. It was additionally the formal begin to a fairy godmother-and-fairy goddaughter-like dynamic between Houston and Norwood.
How their relationship advanced by the years
All through Brandy’s continued rise as an R&B star and actress, Houston was somebody she might flip to for recommendation, a shoulder to cry on, mentorship, and inspiration. They stored in contact by cellphone for years, with Houston checking in often to see how she was adjusting and to go with her on her performances. By the point the movie “Ready to Exhale” arrived, Houston tapped Norwood for the soundtrack, resulting in the hits “Sittin’ Up in My Room.”
“What Whitney had given me was greater than a handshake or a photograph alternative. It was a real funding in my future. And she or he stored investing,” Norwood writes in her memoir.
Houston’s most enduring piece of recommendation
Houston was discovered useless in a tub in her resort room on the Beverly Hills Lodge following an unintentional drowning made sophisticated by substance abuse. Days prior, she handed Norwood a handwritten word, the contents of which Norwood has by no means totally shared. Nevertheless, of the various items of knowledge Houston imparted on Norwood through the years, there may be one piece of recommendation the “I Wanna Be Down” singer by no means forgot. The evening earlier than Houston’s loss of life, which occurred on Norwood’s thirty third birthday, the veteran star and Norwood spoke on the cellphone for almost three hours. Throughout the cellphone name, based on Norwood, Houston implored her to stay genuine above all else.
“She went into depth about me staying true to who I’m. She made me promise her that,” she recalled in 2021 whereas speaking to Billboard. “In order that has at all times been what I’ve vowed to do. I dwell my life daily being increasingly more myself. That may work in any space of your life … Being true to who you might be simply units you free on each degree.”
