180 InSTYLE NOVEMBER 2019
I remember the first time I ever
heard a Whitney Houston song.
It was the ’80s and I was a little
youngin’ sitting in the back seat
of my mom’s car in Chicago
listening to “Greatest Love of
All” on the radio. I had no idea
who she was because there was
no Internet back then, but when
I heard her voice I thought,
“Wow.” Then I saw the cover of her second album,
Whitney, and I thought, “Who is this woman? What
is the deal here?” She was the most carefree,
beautiful black woman I’d ever seen. And so
from that point on I became obsessed.
When her movie The Bodyguard
came out, I was way too young
to see it, but my mom took
me anyway because she knew
I’d probably try to sneak in. I’ll
always be grateful to my girl
Whitney because she got me into
my first R-rated movie! In 1999 I saw
her in concert for the My Love Is Your Love
tour that kicked off in Chicago. I was so excited
that when I walked in, I tried to go right up to the
front, and they were like, “Bitch, your seat is in the
back. Where are you going?!” But let me tell you,
it was still an out-of-body experience. Her energy
was amazing that night. My one regret was that I
didn’t get a T-shirt from that show. In the years
since then I’ve been collecting vintage Whitney
Houston shirts from all the different eras of her
career. I have about six that I wear regularly around
the house and to work, usually with gray sweatpants,
sneakers, and a snapback. My wife, Alana [Mayo], likes
to tease me and say that I have a Whitney shirt for
every day of the week. And I’m like, “Yeah, I do.”
And I’m totally fine with wearing the same ones again
and again. I love hearing stories from my friends like
[singers] Monica and Brandy about how Whitney was
so warm and kind to them. She was really a Jersey
girl through and through. And if she had lived longer
I know our paths would’ve crossed. I’m still pissed
that she’s gone, but I’m also so glad that she was
here. I know I’ll see her on the other side.Why I LoveMY WHITNEYH O US TO N T-S H I RTSby L E N A WA I T H EWaithe is a co-writer and producer of
Queen & Slim, in theaters November 27.