A new documentary, titled "Can I Be Me", looks at how
Houston, who graduated from child performer to become one of the
most-famous female singers of all time, subsequently struggled
with drug and alcohol issues before her death in 2012.
"She didn't know what she was going into, she was so beautiful
and you can see she is just having fun," filmmaker Nick
Broomfield told Reuters.
"She was portrayed as, you know, the American princess. So,
actually she was from Newark. She was 'nippy' from Newark, the
ghetto, worst race riots next to Los Angeles in the whole of
America."
Broomfield spent two years going through archives and speaking
with people close to Houston, who began singing in a gospel
choir in New Jersey at the age of 11 and was discovered in a
nightclub in the 1980s by record producer Clive Davis who guided
her career.
She found global fame following smash hits such as "I Will
Always Love You" - the theme song of what was her film acting
debut in "The Bodyguard" opposite Kevin Costner in 1992 - and
"The Greatest Love of All."
Houston won six Grammys and more than 400 other awards in a
25-year career that was marred by drug and alcohol problems and
a turbulent marriage to singer Bobby Brown. She died in 2012
after drowning in a hotel bathtub. She was 48.
"She just couldn't deal with all that, she was looking after so
many people and she was always being criticized and I think she
just became more and more you know she withdrew into drugs. I
think that's really what happened," Broomfield said.
(Reporting by Sarah Mills. Writing by Patrick Johnston Editing
by Jeremy Gaunt)
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