Whitney Elizabeth Houston [born August 9th 1963 in Newark, New Jersey] is an American recording artist, actress, and former fashion model. A relative to several prominent soul singers, including her mother Cissy Houston, cousins Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick, and godmother Aretha Franklin, Houston began singing at her New Jersey church as a member of a junior gospel choir at age eleven. After she began performing alongside her mother at night clubs in the New York City area, she was discovered by Arista Records label head Clive Davis. Houston released her debut album 'Whitney Houston' in 1985, which became the best-selling debut album by a female artist.
'I Look To You' is the seventh album by American R&B and pop singer Whitney Houston. It was first released on August 28th 2009 Europe, August 31st 2009 in the US, and October 19th 2009 United Kingdom. The album contains a mixture of R&B, soft ballads and dance music. Writing and production from the album includes contributions from Swizz Beatz, Johnta Austin, Alicia Keys, R. Kelly, Danja, as well as Houston herself, who is accredited as co-writing two songs. Akon also has production credits on two of the album's songs as well as being the only featured artist. Upon its release, the album debuted on the Billboard 200 at No.1 with sales of 305,000, beating her previous career best of 205,000 with 'Just Whitney' in 2002. This also gave her a fourth chart-topping album and extending her lead as the female artist with the most cumulative weeks at the No.1 position. It has topped the charts in over ten countries worldwide. The title song 'I Look To You' was released as the first single in July 2009 giving Houston her first top 20 hit on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in nearly a decade. The second single 'Million Dollar Bill' is currently making its impact as the worldwide lead single.