Whitney Elizabeth Houston is Whitney Houston's full name.¹⁾

On August 9, 1963, she was born in Newark, New Jersey.²⁾

Her parents were Newark city administrator John Russell Houston Jr. and Grammy-winning gospel vocalist Emily Drinkard.³⁾

Houston's father served in the Army during WWII.⁴⁾

Darlene Love, lead vocalist of the 1960 girl group The Blossoms, was her godmother.⁵⁾

Houston is Dionne Warwick's and Dee Dee Warwick's cousin.⁶⁾

Nippy Inc., Houston's management business, was called after a childhood nickname. When she was a newborn, her father dubbed her “Nippy”.⁷⁾

After the 1967 Newark riots, Houston's family relocated to adjacent East Orange, NJ. She was just four at the time.⁸⁾

Houston met Aretha Franklin in a recording studio in the early 1970s when she was just 9 or 10 years old. Their families' friendship got stronger.⁹⁾

Houston made her first solo musical performance when she was 11 years old, in 1973. She performed “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey.¹⁰⁾

Houston's parents divorced in 1991 after formally separating in 1977.¹¹⁾

Houston had the opportunity to perform backup vocals on Chaka Khan's classic 1978 single “I'm Every Woman” when she was just 15 years old. Houston later covered the song as an adult.¹²⁾

Houston also did backup vocals on recordings by Jermaine Jackson and Lou Rawls when she was a teenager.¹³⁾

Houston attended Mount Saint Dominic Academy, a Catholic girls' high school in Caldwell, NJ, from 1978 to 1981.¹⁴⁾

Houston met her best friend, Robyn Crawford. The two were housemates and secret lovers, but Houston halted the relationship because she was afraid of how others would respond. The two remained close, and Crawford went on to become Houston's greatest friend and personal assistant.¹⁵⁾