Originally posted on October 12, 2020 @ 6:37 pm
Whitney Houston was a world-famous American singer and actress hailed for being one of the best-selling artists of her generation. Houston came from a musical background. She had started singing in church as a child.
When Whitney was in high school, she started singing as a background vocalist, and it wasn’t long before she got signed by Arista Records. Whitney was 19 years at the time she joined the record label.
It wasn’t long after that she started churning out some of the greatest hits the world will ever know. Her first and second studio albums became number one on the Billboard 200. Sadly, Whitney passed away tragically in February of 2012 in her apartment.
To find out more about her net worth, and lifestyle, read through our insightful article.
Net Worth and Income Sources
Whitney had one of the most successful music careers of any artist ever. As such, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to know that she was a multimillionaire at some point.
With a contract from Arista/Sony Records worth $100 million which Whitney signed in 2001, it is surprising to learn that she died bankrupt. She received $40 million of the contract amount as a loan that would be paid from her future music releases.
However, this is not the only money Houston received in her career, at some point, she got $30 million a year from touring alone. Unfortunately, her lifestyle which involved drug abuse and extravagance would exhaust almost all her wealth.
At the time of her death, Whitney owed Sony $20 million. However, after her death, her estate made a whopping $40 million which offset her debt and left $20 million in surplus.
House, Cars, Properties, and Lifestyle
When Whitney was alive, she owned two properties worth $6.5 million and the other $1.2 million. The former was located in New Jersey and had a $3.3 million mortgage.
The other one was located in Atlanta and has a $1.05 million mortgage. Whitney also owned jewelry and art worth $2million.
Career Highlights
When Whitney got signed by Sony Records at 19, she would shortly get her big break when her first two albums hit number one in the Billboard 200.
With great hits like Where Do Broken Hearts Go and I Will Always Love You, she would become one of the highest-selling artists to walk the earth.
In 1990 she got greater control of her music. That year she released her third album which gave her two singles that became number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The album went quintuple platinum.
Over her music career, all of Whitney’s seven studio albums would go either diamond, platinum, multi-platinum, or gold. In 1992, Houston tried out acting for the first time in the 1992 movie, The Bodyguard.
Moreover, she did the movie’s 6 soundtracks. One of the singles of the movie, I Will Always Love You, went to become the highest-selling single by a female artist ever.
In 1998 Whitney released her song, My Love Is Your Love, which went to become one of her greatest hits. Following its success, Sony renewed her contract for $100 million and she was paid an advance of $40 million.
However, her future songs didn’t sell as expected and she ended up being in debt. Fortunately, after her death, her estate brought in enough money to pay off her debt.