Forbes: Reasons Why Whitney Houston Won’t Be as Successful After Death as Michael Jackson
Yesterday, Whitney Houston was laid to rest. Her funeral was held with family members and a number of artists, including Kevin Costner, her co-star in The Bodyguard.
Instead of holding a memorial service in the way it was held for the King of Pop on July 7, 2009, Whitney’s farewell took place in a simple ceremony at a church in Newark, New Jersey, her hometown.
Michael Jackson’s memorial service was broadcast live around the world via satellite networks and the internet, and news agencies including the BBC announced that 1 billion people worldwide watched it live. As one of the successful figures in American Black music, Whitney Houston had contributed her share to eliminating racial discrimination. After her death, many people around the world mourned her. Her life, like Michael’s, had many ups and downs and faced media interference in her personal life and the judgment of others. After marrying Bobby Brown, she fell into addiction and became a victim of domestic violence.
Michael Jackson’s death and Whitney Houston’s death have similarities. Although Michael’s doctor was taken to court for involuntary manslaughter, and no suspicious report has been made about Whitney’s death, the cause of death for both of these artists was legal medical drugs.
Michael Jackson, as a result of being rendered unconscious by propofol — an anesthetic drug used in operating rooms — suffered suffocation and cardiac arrest. The drug was injected into him by Dr. Murray. It is said that Whitney also became unconscious due to excessive use of prescribed drugs and drowned in the bathtub.
The deaths of both happened at a young age, in circumstances the world was, in a way, anticipating. Michael said goodbye to life only a few days before the start of his This Is It concerts in London, and Whitney Houston was supposed to be honored at the Clive Davis ceremony only a few hours later. Also, a few months from then, a film in which she would act and produce was set to hit theaters.
Despite the similarities in their lives and the way they died, the success of these two after death will be very different.
In an article, Forbes examined the reasons why Whitney Houston will not be as successful after her death as Michael Jackson. Forbes referred to the two as the “king and queen” and wrote that the throne belongs to only one of them.
In the two years after his death, the Michael Jackson Foundation earned nearly half a billion dollars, and industry experts say it’s impossible for Whitney Houston to reach the King of Pop’s level in this regard.
The first reason is that after Michael’s death, a huge amount of unreleased material remained from him, but unfortunately Whitney left no such legacy behind. Beyond that, one of the most important differences between Michael and Whitney is that Michael was the creator of his works, while Whitney was the singer of her own songs. Michael Jackson wrote, produced, and/or contributed to the creation of many of the songs he performed, but the creators of Whitney Houston’s songs are other people. So obviously, the revenue from the sale of her songs must be divided among the producers, writers, composers, the company, and finally Whitney.
Within 6 months after Michael’s death, he sold more than 8 million albums in the U.S. and another 20 to 30 million around the world. If Houston had half of those sales, her foundation would earn at least $10 million from her albums. On the day she died, the number of Greatest Hits album sales in the United States reached 64,000 copies, which is a good start for her.
One expert says that the Whitney Houston Foundation will benefit from the increase in sales of her albums right now, but this trend won’t last longer than the spring season. And this profit will be limited only to the singer’s rights.
Another source of income for the Houston Foundation is her unreleased film, Sparkl, which is a restored version of the 1976 film. In this film, Whitney worked as both an actress and a producer. It is expected that Sparkl will do well at the box office, but experts say that the success of Michael Jackson’s film This Is It will not be repeated.
This Is It, made using at least 100 hours of rehearsals recorded from Michael on stage, sold more than $250 million and became the most successful film in the musical documentary genre. In addition, the Michael Jackson Foundation sold the rights to produce and distribute the film to Sony for $60 million.
Another difference between these two artists is their fan bases. Of course, this is the most obvious distinguishing factor between Michael and any other artist. No other artist has the kind of devoted fan base Michael Jackson has. His fan army includes people from every place, race, age, and gender. Although Houston doesn’t have such a base worldwide, the impact of this great singer on music and the generations after her will still be felt. As this year’s Grammy Awards ceremony showed, young artists paid tribute to her.
Source: eMJey.com / Forbes