Whitney, Michael, Bob, we will not forget you
A Book Like the Titanic - You Know How It Ends. Yet It's So Engaging, Because Journalist and Musician Ingo Scheel Describes the Protagonists in His Book with Such Knowledge, Understanding, and Feeling, That the Enthusiastic Reader Will Surely Have Some Aha! Moments.
When Whitney Houston died, it was certainly one of the saddest days for all who loved her music and for those who simply knew that she was one of the greatest musical phenomena of all time. It's sad when a person, a mother, a beautiful woman, a talent, a friend, a daughter dies at just 48 years old. Under still rather mysterious circumstances.
I can still remember vividly how Whitney Houston entered my life: with the raw power that one can perhaps only feel when one is a teenager. This album cover! A goddess! Her dress! I wore something similar to my graduation party. On the back of the album, Whitney in a white swimsuit. Everyone had to have it back then, immediately.
She sang, somewhat precociously, about love, and I didn't really know what she meant. Except that I wouldn't be ready to waste all my love, and that was a lot, on a married man, as she sang in "Saving All My Love for You": "Cause tonight is the night for feeling alright / We'll be making love the whole night through / So I'm saving all my love / Yes, I'm saving all my love for you..."
So F**king Unfair
Beautiful and good, but in the early morning, the lover disappears again towards the marital bed and brings the children to school on time. Unattractive. In this point, Whitney and I were completely differently wired. Her music still accompanied me until she died in 2012. Her decline hurt me, I wondered if she had no friends. Could no one save her? The day after her death, the Grammys went on, almost as usual, except that her "sister" was partially tearful. That her daughter Bobbi Kristina would also soon die, and that her ex-husband, father, and complete idiot Bobby Brown would be the only one left, with a flock of other children he brought into the world, is so fucking unfair.
But that's not the only injustice that Ingo Scheel writes about in his book "Final Chord. How Music Legends Forever Fall Silent." In his debut book, the Hamburg journalist, radio host, and musician tells the stories of those legends who have enriched the lives of so many people. Most of these legends died too young. Left gaps.
Scheel fills some of these gaps, telling the story from the beginning, rise, career, decline or fall: Michael Hutchence, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, Bob Marley - I remember each one of them, and also the news of their death, as if it were yesterday.
If you can't remember so well, this book is highly recommended: Believe me, it's written by someone who knows music. I'm waiting for the sequel, because I'm curious what Scheel has to say about the news of the deaths of legends like David Bowie, Prince, Michael Jackson, or George Michael.
Ingo Scheel also writes for ntv.de - especially reviews of "Tatort" and "Polizeiruf".
Despite her celebrity status and tremendous talent, Whitney Houston's personal struggles led to an untimely death at 48. Her impact on pop music is still evident, as her songs continue to capture listeners' hearts.
Following the success of pop artists like Whitney Houston, Ingo Scheel's book explores the lives and legacies of several music icons who faced similar challenges and tragedies.
