Whitney Houston

The daughter of the great gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, the god-daughter of Aretha Franklin... with that sort of pedigree Whitney Houston could hardly fail to be a star. She grew up singing in gospel choirs, appeared in New York clubs with her mother and, at 15, sang back-up vocals on Chaka Khan's I'm Every Woman. Her 1985 self-titled album was a huge seller, yet she eclipsed it in 1992 after landing the starring role in the movie The Bodyguard when the theme song - her dramatic cover of Dolly Parton's I Will Always Love You - became one of the biggest-selling singles in history. Houston's musical style broadened and she made more movies, but her career stalled amid health issues and a bitter divorce from husband Bobby Brown. However, she returned as a major force with the 2009 album I Look To You and with over 170 million records sold, is one of the world's biggest-selling artists.