19 bright shots from the biography of Whitney Houston

Today the great singer Whitney Houston would have turned 53 years old. Her sudden death in February 2012 shocked many fans around the world. One of the most commercially successful female performers in the history of world music, Whitney was known for her musical accomplishments and superb vocal abilities, as well as her scandalous personal life.

We offer to remember her life and career in photographs.

(Total 19 photos)

1. Whitney Houston won the 2009 International Favorite Artist Award in Los Angeles. Whitney was born into a musical family - her mother Cissy Houston was a Grammy winner, Dionne Warwick was her cousin, and Aretha Franklin was her godmother. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images file)

2. Producer Clive Davis and Houston on stage at the pre-Grammy Awards Gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 12, 2011 in Beverly Hills. Almost exactly one year later, Houston is found dead in the same hotel. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

3. Houston in concert at the O2 Arena in London April 25, 2010. (Samir Hussein/Getty Images)

4. Houston, her cousin Dionne Warwick and Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown arrived at the pre-Grammy gala in 2011. (Larry Busacca/Getty Images For The Recording A)

5. Houston on stage during the 51st Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in 2009. During her career, she received six Grammy statuettes. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

6. Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston and Natalie Cole perform at a concert as part of a tour in Germany in 2009. This was the first time all three performed together. (Joerg Koch/AFP/Getty Images)

7. Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston during a tour of Israel in 2003. In this photo, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sheron hosts them at his home. (Quique Kierszenbaum/Getty Images)

8. Brown and Houston perform during the VH1 Divas duo show in Las Vegas in 2003. They married in 1992, she had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, and they divorced in 2007. (Joe Cavaretta/AP)

9. Houston and Mary J. Blige at a concert in Las Vegas in 2002. (Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)

10. Houston with one of her Grammy awards for best rhythm and blues singer for the song "It's Not Right But It's Okay" in 2000. (Vince Bucci/AFP/Getty Images)

11. Houston and Brown in a courtroom in Georgia in 2002. He was arrested for drunk driving. (Getty Images/Getty Images)

12. Houston and Brown with daughter Bobbi Kristina in 1998. Three years after Whitney's death, Bobbi Kristina was found unconscious in the bathroom. The singer's 22-year-old daughter died a few months later. (Lucy Nicholson/AFP/Getty Images)

13. Houston has also starred in many films, such as The Priest's Wife in 1996. (Getty Images/Getty Images)

14. Houston with the Grammy award in 1994, which she received for the song "I Will Always Love You" from the movie "The Bodyguard". (Pool/AFP/Getty Images)

15. In the 1992 film The Bodyguard, Kevin Costner plays the character's bodyguard, played by Houston, also a singer. (ZUMA Press/Newscom)

16. Houston performs the national anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl. Her version of the anthem is considered one of the best. It was even released as a Top 20 single. (George Rose/Getty Images)

17. Houston and Mariah Carey record "When You Believe" in 1998. When Mariah Carey became popular, her early sound was so similar to Houston that many people confused the two singers. (Getty Images/Getty Images)

18. Houston performing in 1988. (Dave Hogan/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

19. Houston performing the song in 1986. Before becoming a singer, Houston was a model and appeared on the cover of Seventeen magazine more than once. She was one of the first black girls to appear on the cover of a magazine. (Elise Amendola/AP)