Early Career Photos

Whitney Houston performs at the Sanremo Music Festival, in Sanremo, Italy, on February 8, 1987.

Whitney Houston in a recording studio.

Whitney Houston and Jermaine Jackson on the set of the soap opera As The World Turns. They appeared as themselves in the episode “Cinderella Concert,” where they performed the duet “Nobody Loves Me Like You Do.” The episode aired August 1, 1984.

Whitney Houston and Clive Davis photographed at the signing of her contract with Arista Records at the Arista Studio in New York, on April 10, 1983.

Whitney Houston and Clive Davis photographed at the signing of her contract with Arista Records at the Arista Studio in New York, on April 10, 1983.

Whitney Houston, Cissy Houston and Narada Michael Walden in the studio to record Whitney’s debut album.

Whitney Houston in the studio to record her debut album.

Whitney Houston and her first manager, Gene Harvey, in the early 1980s.

Whitney Houston sings onstage during a show at Sweetwater’s in New York, NY, in the early 1980s.

Whitney and Cissy Houston on stage at Sweetwater’s in New York, NY, in the early 1980s.

Whitney and Cissy Houston backstage after a show at Sweetwater’s in New York, NY, in the early 1980s.