The breadth of Whitney Houston's importance and influence can be seen in the admittedly rough measure of 79, the number of CDs, scores and other materials we have by her in our collection.
It can also be seen in the Grammy award for Best New Artist. Regardless of who wins tonight (or who did win if you are reading this subsequently), who qualifies for the award is a result of Houston and her self-titled debut (CD 5315). Although the album had sold 2 million copies and spawned 3 Top Ten Singles at the time 28th Grammy Awards in 1986, Houston had dueted with Teddy Pendergrass on his album two years earlier, thus disqualifying her as a new artist by Grammy rules at that time. Outrage over her exclusion resulted in the rule change that defined "new" more liberally, which is why the category now regularly includes artists who are several albums into their careers.
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