Black History Month tribute: Monica remembers the late Whitney HoustonBlack History Month tribute: Monica remembers the late Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston at the American Music Awards in 1986; Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Monica was one of the late Whitney Houston‘s closest friends, and for Entertainment Tonight‘s Black History Month spotlight, the Grammy winner remembered one of the greatest female artists of all time.
“The fact is no voice has come close, no one sacrificed as much as she did,” Monica told ET co-host Kevin Frazier.
February 11 marked the tenth anniversary of the day Houston passed away in 2012 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles at the age of 48.
“She and I had just spoken, not even an hour, it hadn’t been a hour, so I was really in a great deal of shock,” says Monica, who was also in the hotel.
Two days before, the “Boy Is Mine” singer was rehearsing with Brandy for Clive Davis‘ annual pre-Grammy party. “Whitney was in and out of our rehearsals,” the 41-year-old singer recalls. “She kept touching my face, saying, ‘You got it. Don’t worry about it. You’re the greatest of the great.'”
Monica also remembers that during her greatest crisis, Houston was there.
“When I was 18, I lost by grandmother. I witnessed a suicide. i lost my cousin. Whitney didn’t call on the phone. Three black trucks pulled up in the hood and she jumped out,” Monica recollects. “Its forever etched in my mind and my heart.”
Monica says the public never fully appreciated how unselfishly giving Whitney was to others.
“There were multiple times she was self sacrificing for our entertainment,” she says about the “Greatest Love of All” singer. “You can’t disrespect a woman who gives that much.”
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