[rajacat]

I have zero sympathy for her. She was a wealthy woman on drugs, poor her. If people cared so much for her why didn't they do something to stop her? With that kind of money and influence, her being addicted to drugs just tells me she lacked any kind of creativity and passion. Because a creative person or someone with a lot of passion in a subject will always find something better to do... drugs would always be a secondary thing, even for an addict.

So you think that addiction is a defect in character not a disease? In other words, if you have an addiction to cigarettes, booze or various other drugs you're just a weak person with little will. " her being addicted to drugs just tells me she lacked any kind of creativity and passion. "

So you're saying that Coltrane, Stan Getz, Jerry Garcia. Sigmund Freud, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Elvis Presley, Billie Holiday, etc., etc, etc..... were lacking in creativity and passion?

Don't you think you judge too harshly?

[Delta Wave]

So you think that addiction is a defect in character not a disease? In other words, if you have an addiction to cigarettes, booze or various other drugs you're just a weak person with little will. " her being addicted to drugs just tells me she lacked any kind of creativity and passion. "

So you're saying that Coltrane, Stan Getz, Jerry Garcia. Sigmund Freud, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Elvis Presley, Billie Holiday, etc., etc, etc..... were lacking in creativity and passion?

Don't you think you judge too harshly?

Nope, a lot of those you mentioned just lived a life of excess... there's a difference. Whitney was just a soul-less crack head, she was never creative... She was just a outlet for money hungry record labels and producers. Her music lacked any kind of artistic merit, she was the pop du jour when she was at her peak.

[rpf]

Nasty.

[kgturner]

too soon?

[rpf]

I have zero sympathy for her. She was a wealthy woman on drugs, poor her. If people cared so much for her why didn't they do something to stop her? With that kind of money and influence, her being addicted to drugs just tells me she lacked any kind of creativity and passion. Because a creative person or someone with a lot of passion in a subject will always find something better to do... drugs would always be a secondary thing, even for an addict.

Drugs are never secondary for an addict.

Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendricks, Miles Davis just lived lives of excess? Drugs killed off their artistic quality and production as well as took their lives also (eventually in Miles case). Along with many others.

Yes, her music is pop but not totally lacking artistic merit unless you ascribe to the high art/no art dichotomy. Souless? You can see into the soul of someone whom you never knew?

I'm really tired of the nastiness in this thread.

[rpf]

too soon?

Much.

[soundbitten1]

I'm hoping to reach the same point in my life (sooner rather than later)

I just KNOW I'd make a great, filthy RICH, retired person 

Same here but this thread isn't about me. 

[Delta Wave]

Drugs are never secondary for an addict.

Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendricks, Miles Davis just lived lives of excess? Drugs killed off their artistic quality and production as well as took their lives also (eventually in Miles case). Along with many others.

Yes, her music is pop but not totally lacking artistic merit unless you ascribe to the high art/no art dichotomy. Souless? You can see into the soul of someone whom you never knew?

I'm really tired of the nastiness in this thread.

Lack of sympathy for a deceased celebrity drug addict is not nastiness. I've personally known very talented, good people that have died from excessive drug use... where is their montage?

[rpf]

Lack of sympathy for a deceased celebrity drug addict is not nastiness. I've personally known very talented, good people that have died from excessive drug use... where is their montage?

Perhaps not but broadcasting it is tasteless.

And so have I. Wherever their family and friends have placed it.

[Delta Wave]

Perhaps not but broadcasting it is tasteless.

Kind of like sensationalizing it? On TV perhaps?

[rpf]

Mass media has, as we all know, been tasteless for some time.

[rajacat]

Perhaps not but broadcasting it is tasteless.

I agree. Speaking in such a manner about the recently deceased is tasteless. I guess that celebrities are fair game; commenting about them as though you actually know them and their personal life  is vulgar (I suppose we all do it at times) and surely a symptom of too much immersion in pop culture and a lack of potty training.

 

[Tyson]

I have zero sympathy for her. She was a wealthy woman on drugs, poor her. If people cared so much for her why didn't they do something to stop her? With that kind of money and influence, her being addicted to drugs just tells me she lacked any kind of creativity and passion. Because a creative person or someone with a lot of passion in a subject will always find something better to do... drugs would always be a secondary thing, even for an addict.

Is it morally worse to be addicted to drugs or alcohol than to cigarettes?  Or to food?  I would posit that they are all the same and anyone smoking or sitting on their fat asses stuffing their faces are all worthless people. 

Well, see how repugnant that is?  That's why it's a bad idea to ascribe addiction to character flaws.  Jerk.

[jimdgoulding]

Drugs are never secondary for an addict.

Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendricks, Miles Davis just lived lives of excess? Drugs killed off their artistic quality and production as well as took their lives also (eventually in Miles case). Along with many others.

Yes, her music is pop but not totally lacking artistic merit unless you ascribe to the high art/no art dichotomy. Souless? You can see into the soul of someone whom you never knew?

I'm really tired of the nastiness in this thread.

Dude.

[lonewolfny42]

Clive Davis said something to the fact that "once Whitney had enough money she was no longer interested in her career."

Speaking of money....Death is profitable....for some.

So, should the real question be how much does Houston stand to make in death? Michael Jackson's financial debacles were tabloid fodder for years before his shocking demise, and now his estate is seemingly flush with posthumous earnings.

Sony Music, which owns the rights to Houston's vast catalog , including the Bodyguard soundtrack, is understandably planning an aggressive marketing campaign to broaden awareness of Houston's repertoire among new generations of download-happy fans. (Shortly after her death, the label upped the basic track price on her iTunes songs from 99 cents to $1.29. Regardless, fans have been grabbing her tracks in huge numbers.)

The label did the same thing when Jackson died, posthumously selling more than 35 million albums worldwide.

That sounds promising for Houston's estate, doesn't it?

Well, unlike Jackson, Houston did not write her biggest hits and does not have a share of the publishing, exponentially decreasing her cut of any sales revenue.

In fact, Dolly Parton, who wrote "I Will Always Love You," owns the song and, if the cover shooting to the top of the iTunes singles chart just hours after Houston's death is any indicator, she stands poised to cash in all over again. (Fun fact: Elvis Presley wanted to record the ballad late in his career, but his people wanted to buy it and Parton wasn't sellin'.)

"When Whitney did it, I got all the money for the publishing and for the writing, and I bought a lot of cheap wigs," Parton quipped to CNN's Anderson Cooper in an interview last month.

Sony chief creative officer Clive Davis, who pretty much discovered Houston when she was a teenager, also stands to profit mightily should her music go on a selling spree, as he executive-produced her first three mega-hit albums— Whitney Houston, Whitney and I'm Your Baby Tonight—as well as her final effort, 2009's I Look To You. He is also credited as a producer on 1998's My Love Is Your Love.

Of course, Forbes' Greenburg notes, "selling 200 million records, [even] for someone without any publishing royalties, that is still at least a quarter of a billion dollars in earnings."

[Rclark]

profitable... and timely 

[OzarkTom]

The police found several bottles of prescription drugs in Whitney's hotel room, now the Coroner is claiming she died from drowning in cocaine. There was never a word of cocaine ever being found by the police.

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2012/02/drugs-whitney-houston-hotel-room-valium-lorazepam

It looks like another cover-up from the pharmaceutical companies.

[Wayner]

Is it morally worse to be addicted to drugs or alcohol than to cigarettes?  Or to food?  I would posit that they are all the same and anyone smoking or sitting on their fat asses stuffing their faces are all worthless people. 

Well, see how repugnant that is?  That's why it's a bad idea to ascribe addiction to character flaws.  Jerk.

More likely to commit a crime on drugs or alcohol, as Big Macs or Marlboro's have not been linked to crime sprees.

W

[ctviggen]

More likely to commit a crime on drugs or alcohol, as Big Macs or Marlboro's have not been linked to crime sprees.

W

How is this relevant to Whitney Houston's death?  She committed no "crime spree".

[Diamond Dog]

Earlier in the thread, she was alleged to have killed soul music and is suspected in the demise of polka. Clearly a serial-killer.
 
Clearly.

D.D.