Whitney Houston’s family have given their blessing to an “unvarnished” documentary about the late star.
The Whitney Houston project, the first to be officially authorised by the singer’s estate since her death aged 48 in 2012, will be helmed by Academy Award-winning Scottish director Kevin Macdonald.
Like recent Oscar-winning documentary Amy (Winehouse), the Whitney film is set to examine the highs and lows of the singer’s dramatic career.
Macdonald, who won an Oscar in 2000 for One Day in September, previously directed critically acclaimed documentary Marley, about late reggae icon Bob Marley.
“The story that is never told about Whitney is just how brilliant she was as an artist; by many measures she had the greatest voice of the last 50 years,” Macdonald explained to The Hollywood Reporter. “I want audiences to walk out of the cinema and feel positive about Whitney and her music… I want to reveal a woman that even her most die-hard fans never knew; and a woman those new to her life and music will never forget,” he added.
Music executive Clive Davis, the man who groomed the singer for stardom, as well as Whitney’s friends, family and collaborators will help to build a picture of a woman “both blessed and cursed”.
Exclusive footage, rare performances and audio archive will also help chart her rise from her church’s gospel choir to superstardom, and then her untimely death.
Whitney influenced a generation of female performers but she also weathered drug addiction and a turbulent marriage to singer Bobby Brown.
One of the world’s best-selling singers, she was found dead in her guest room at The Beverly Hilton, California in 2012, the night before the Grammy Awards. The official coroner’s report stated she had accidentally drowned in the bathtub, listing heart disease and cocaine use as contributing factors.
She sold an estimated 200 million records worldwide and enjoyed seven consecutive No.1 Billboard Hot 100 hits, a record she shares with Madonna.
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