But when Houston started dating Jermaine Jackson in the mid-1980s, then Eddie Murphy, and rap star Bobby Brown, whom she married, Crawford admits it was tremendously difficult.

Long after the two were married and had children, however, Crawford was still in danger of being sucked back in. My take away from this book was deep down whitney didn't feel worthy of better relationships and sobriety. I've acted out my life on stages with ten thousand people watching," go the lyrics, "but we're alone, yeah, and I'm singing this song for you. Subconsciously this is what she wanted, because let’s face it, Whitney never wanted genuine love from a man. The warping effect of denial isn’t easily shrugged off and there is an overwhelming sense, both in the book and in person, of someone running a gamut of internal barriers.

In an extraordinary scene in the book, she then went to Crawford’s house, handed her a Bible and told her they had to quit having sex, “because it would make our journey even more difficult”. Immediately following the wedding the couple became tabloid fodder with their very public fights and drama, and Houston's use of substance escalated. In 1980, when they met, it was already clear Houston was heading for stardom: her cousin, Dionne Warwick, was a veteran star; her mother, Cissy, a successful backing singer; and Whitney had caught the eye of record executives in New York.

I am a similar age and many of her songs became part of the soundtrack of my life and to me, she had it all - a staggering beauty, elegance, success, financial security and a peerless voice. For Houston, that meant coming of age in the church, as the daughter of pop gospel great Cissy Houston.Nevertheless, she never stopped being loyal to Whitney or their connection only speaking out now long after her death. Nippy" was Whitney Houston's nickname since childhood, and the company was the business that handled her affairs as one of the biggest music stars of her generation.