rafi-dangelo

Divas have a reputation of being a little snooty, not really wanting to share the spotlight or work with anyone else. When they do decide to record a duet, the result is usually pretty amazing, but they’re so few and far between. You could almost fit every duet recorded by Janet, Mariah, Beyonce, and Madonna onto one album.

Not Whitney. Before she was made it big, she seemingly spent all her time recording duets with Jermaine Jackson, and over the course of her career, she released duets fairly regularly. Whitney wasn’t just the best singer of our time because she had a great voice—she had great ears too. You can’t add vocal flourishes without being able the hear the chords, and you can’t sing a great duet without being able to hear your partner.

So, let’s countdown Whitney Houston’s greatest duets!

** “Impossible/It’s Possible” with Brandy

I’m gonna drop this in as an honorable mention because that whole Cinderella experience was huge. Brandy was working with her idol, Whitney was executive producing, ABC got it’s highest movie ratings of all time, and it was a multi-ethnic cast retelling classic Disney.

10. “Something in Common” with Bobby Brown

If I didn’t have such conflicting emotions about their relationship, I’d actually rate this song higher. It’s actually a pretty good production from LA Reid and Whitney & Bobby sound good together on a record.

9. ”We Didn’t Know” with Stevie Wonder

This mid-tempo jam is everything I love about the early 90s: casio keyboard, epic 5-minute length, major/minor keychanges, and Whitney Houston.

8. “It Isn’t, It Wasn’t, It Ain’t Never Gonna Be” with Aretha Franklin

This sassy duet with the Queen of Soul in the late 80s didn’t burn up the charts like Whitney’s earlier releases, but it’s a welcome, upbeat addition to both of their catalogs.

Aretha Franklin is engaged.

Well go head, Ms Franklin, with your Billy-Dee-lookin fiancee. I don’t know if she bagged herself a Young & Tender or if he just looks good for his age, but the two of them were on the cover of Jet in 1987, so he’s been around for a good hot minute.

Aretha Franklin is engaged to marry longtime friend and confidant William “Willie” Wilkerson, with a Miami Beach wedding likely in the summer.

“No, I’m not pregnant,” the 69-year-old “Respect” singer joked Monday in a statement announcing the engagement, which happened over the holidays.

The Queen of Soul has bounced back nicely after a health scare (she had extreme pain in her side) that included surgery in December 2010 and a number of canceled shows. “I had superb doctors and nurses who were blessed by all the prayers of the city and the country,” she said at the time.

At one point erroneous reports of pancreatic cancer circulated, but Franklin set the record straight last January: No cancer, no she’s not telling exactly what happened, but yes, the surgery added 15 to 20 years to her life.

Now that she’s lost 85 pounds and feels “fabulous,” according to People, it’s time to bring on the wedding gown. She said she’s considering Vera Wang, Valentino and Donna Karan to design the dress.

It will be Franklin’s third marriage.

(source)

Why are we still speculating on what kind of surgery Aretha Franklin had???

4:00 pm • 4 January 2012 • Let's talk about what you think.
| aretha franklin| star jones| celebrities|