John Legend Remembers Whitney Houston

John Legend Remembers Whitney Houston

Leon Morris/Lester Cohen/WireImage

I first heard Whitney as a young child on her debut album.  I knew "Saving All My Love" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." I knew as a kid who loved music and particularly loved singing that she was one of the best singers I knew of at the time. Her voice was so pure and powerful. She had so much control and range and expressive ability. She was amazing.

I was so sad when I heard she passed. I was sad for her family. I was sad for Clive [Davis], because I know he took so much pride in his efforts to help her come back. And I was sad for the fans and the music community because we really lost one of the greatest singers we'll ever hear.  She was that good. 

I've had family members go through problems with addiction and struggle to come back. You always hope they will pull through and come out healthy on the other side. In the past couple years, we got the sense that Whitney was doing better and may be able to return to good health and success.  It's so tragic that it had to end this way.  But the beautiful thing about music is it never dies.  We'll always have Whitney because we'll always have her beautiful music.

As told to Rolling Stone

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Song Stories

“All Along the Watchtower”

The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 1968

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."

More Song Stories entries »

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