After facing battles with drug addiction and other challenges in her personal life, Whitney Houston released what would be her last album in 2009. Her lead off single from that record was “I Look To You”, written for her by R Kelly. Most are well aware of the controversies surrounding R. Kelly’s personal life, and although I don’t wish to minimize any of that, I’m going to leave that for a separate conversation. Focusing on the song itself, the lyrics here are deeply personal and powerful, and Houston delivers them with a raw honesty of overwhelming quality:
As I lay me down
Heaven here me now
I’m lost without a cause
After giving it my all
Winter storms have come
And darkened my sun
After all that I’ve been through
Who on earth can I turn to?
The Gospel-inspired chord progression has a hymn-like quality, as the arrangement slowly builds its power into the bridge, where the background vocals enter. This is the nexus point in what is a challengingly slow tempo for musicians and vocalists to deal with. Most singers do not know what to do with this space. For Houston, this is second nature. Her timing and feel are impeccable. Those are musical qualities she had that deserve as much credit as she gets for her range.
This album, and this song in particular, did feel like a curtain call for Whitney. Unfortunately that turned out to be true. There is a desperate quality to her live performances during this time. She is not just singing about the fight of her life, she is in it. Her voice is in the fight, her body, her spirit. Although she was struggling with her voice during that final tour, her courage to get up on stage and sing with her heart, to give everything that she had left to give, is remarkably moving. Although she may have lost some range, her voice had a darker and wiser quality to its timbre, and was capable of carrying greater emotional weight.
There is no question about Houston’s place as a hall of fame vocalist. A voice like hers has no equal. Her talent was undeniable, and no young star out there has dared to even try to walk in her footsteps. Shows like: American Idol, in its 17th season; and The Voice is in its 16th — have gone around the world, looking for star vocalists, without much to show for it.
Whitney was truly one of a kind, the type of performer that the music industry no longer has. She gave everything she had, right down to the final curtain. Although she had a undoubtedly long and successful career, it still feels like that curtain fell far too soon.
