Book Excerpt: Whitney Houston’s Sexuality Explored in ‘Didn’t We Almost Have It All’ (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Gerrick Kennedy Feb. 11 marks 10 years since Whitney Houston died, her accidental drowning in a Beverly Hilton hotel bathtub especially tragic as it occurred just hours before the annual Clive Davis pre-Grammy gala was due to start in a ballroom on the ground floor.

Davis discovered Houston when she was barely 20 years old and would mentor her through the decades, but behind the scenes, one of Houston’s longest and closest relationships was with childhood friend-turned-lover Robyn Crawford, as journalist Gerrick Kennedy describes in his forthcoming book, “Didn’t We Almost Have It All: In Defense of Whitney Houston” (out Feb.

1). In an exclusive excerpt, the author explores the singer’s sexuality. In the 1980s, if you were queer and navigating Hollywood or the music industry, a shot at mainstream success often came at the expense of hiding parts of yourself.

Going into the shadows of the closet, for many, was the only option. Even the Village People shied away from their queer origins when they hit it big with their deliciously gay anthem “YMCA.” Whitney and Robyn were on the precipice of adulthood when their lives intertwined that summer in 1980.