RIP WHITNEY HOUSTON

A pop music superstar whose fame was once nearly as big as her once-in-a-generation voice, Whitney Houston died today at the age of 48. Police are investigating the cause of death, though there are no obvious signs of criminal intent. Houston died in a Beverly Hills hotel room, where she was staying while in town to perform at a musical tribute for her mentor, music executive Clive Davis, which still went on as scheduled this evening. Also moving forward is tomorrow’s Grammy telecast, a show Houston once owned and once again will overshadow, only this time for horribly shocking reasons.

Even with Houston’s successful comeback release, 2009’s I Look To You (which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart with sales of 305,000 copies, her best opening-week tally ever), and the planned remake of 1976’s Sparkle she was to star in with Jordin Sparks and Mike Epps, the dark clouds that hung over the back-half of her career never parted completely. Just last month, it was reported that Houston was broke, and financially supported by her record label as she worked on a new album.

Still, Houston had survived so much—gaining and losing tremendous stardom, a troubled (to put it lightly) marriage to Bobby Brown that later became fodder for a bottom-feeding reality show, and countless public humiliations that somehow never prevented people from inviting her to sing at the next award show or music-industry party—that her death at a still-young age can hardly be seen as predictable. Houston had been such a huge star, and her talents as a vocalist still seemed so singular and titanic, that a triumphant return to her former vaunted status always seemed right around the corner. Sadly, that’s all over now.

Houston will inevitably be compared with Amy Winehouse, another prodigiously talented singer whose history with drug abuse first made her a tabloid punchline in the later years of her life, and then a martyr after her untimely demise. But Winehouse’s career lasted only last a few years; Houston in her prime was the most popular female pop singer who ever lived. Statistics tell part of the story: More than 55 million albums sold in the U.S. alone (and more than 100 million more around the world), a record seven consecutive No. 1 singles, and one of the biggest selling songs ever, the lung-busting tear-jerker “I Will Always Love You,” from the mega-selling soundtrack to The Bodyguard. But Houston’s reach can be most plainly heard in the voices of aspiring singers all over the globe. Whether it’s on American Idol or The Voice, or the karaoke night at your neighborhood bar, there are tens of millions people (consciously or not) actively trying to be Whitney Houston. Her loss leaves an Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson-sized hole in popular music.

As much as this can be said about any celebrity, everybody seemed to love Whitney Houston at one time. Even Osama Bin Laden put aside his seething hatred of Western culture for Whitney, obsessing about the day when he might finally meet her. The cover of her 1985 self-titled debut helps to explain why: The 21-year-old Houston is so exotically beautiful that she hardly seems real; the same could be said of her voice, a stunning multi-octave instrument that she wielded like a virtuoso. Just as Eddie Van Halen influenced a generation of guitarists to play faster and flashier then previously seemed humanly possible, Houston inspired legions of pop singers to try and match the awe-inspiring vocal pyrotechnics that gracefully leapt out her larynx.

But like that young woman on the Whitney Houston album cover, the voice was untouchable, even as it seduced millions of listeners. While some singers (most notably Mariah Carey) could match Houston’s notes, nobody could ever quite approach the quality of her tone or the purity of its expression.

Ford Mustang

The Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was initially based on the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car.[1] Introduced early on April 17, 1964,[2] dubbed as a "1964½" model by Mustang fans, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A.[3] The model is Ford's third oldest nameplate in production[citation needed] and has undergone several transformations to its current fifth generation.

The Mustang created the "pony car" class of American automobiles—sports car-like coupes with long hoods and short rear decks[4]—and gave rise to competitors such as GM's Chevrolet Camaro,[5] AMC's Javelin,[6] and Chrysler's revamped Plymouth Barracuda.[7] It also inspired coupés such as the Toyota Celica and Ford Capri, which were exported to the United States


The Ford Mustang was brought out five months before the normal start of the 1965 production year. The earliest versions are often referred to as 1964½ models, but VIN coded by Ford and titled as 1965 models[8] with production beginning in Dearborn, Michigan on March 9, 1964[9] and the new car was introduced to the public on April 17, 1964[10] at the New York World's Fair.[11]

Executive stylist John Najjar, who was a fan of the World War II P-51 Mustang fighter plane, is credited by Ford to have suggested the name.[12] He was involved in design work on the prototype Ford Mustang I. An alternative view was that Robert J. Eggert, Ford Division market research manager, first suggested the Mustang name. Eggert, a breeder of quarterhorses, received a birthday present from his wife of the book, The Mustangs by J. Frank Dobie in 1960. Later, the book’s title gave him the idea of adding the “Mustang” name for Ford’s new concept car. The designer preferred Cougar or Torino (and an advertising campaign using the Torino name was actually prepared), while Henry Ford II wanted T-bird II.[13] As the person responsible for Ford’s research on potential names, Eggert added “Mustang” to the list to be tested by focus groups; “Mustang,” by a wide margin, came out on top under the heading: “Suitability as Name for the Special Car.”[14][15] The name could not be used in Germany,[16] however, because it was owned by Krupp, which had manufactured trucks between 1951 and 1964 with the name Mustang. Ford refused to buy the name for about US$10,000 from Krupp at the time. Kreidler, a manufacturer of mopeds, also used the name, so Mustang was sold in Germany as the "T-5" until December 1978.

Mustangs grew larger and heavier with each model year until, in response to the 1971–1973 models, Ford returned the car to its original size and concept for 1974. It has since seen several platform generations and designs. Although some other pony cars have seen a revival, the Mustang is the only original pony car to remain in uninterrupted production over five decades of development and revision.