Holding Lightning - by Emily Lordi (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"A top-notch biography of a generational talent." - Kirkus Reviews (starred)

A showstopping portrait of Whitney Houston as we've never seen her before--a woman in her full power, a musician who knew the impact of her gift, and a fulcrum of Black celebrity--in this first major biography of the artist who became an icon.

We remember Whitney Houston for her soaring voice on songs that defined a generation and kicked open the door to Black women in pop music. Her trademark stance was a picture of elegance and power: head thrown back, arms flung straight out. Then there was her sound. One producer recalled Whitney's otherworldly ability to hold notes, comparing it to "holding lightning in your hand, holding lightning in your throat." She tried to hold the lightning as she bathed us all in the glow.

But since her death in 2012, the woman known as "The Voice" has been reduced to just that. Whitney's critics have slotted her memory into a tired genre of famous doomed women whose success owed more to their labels and their producers than to any agency of their own. Yet a closer look reveals a serious artist and woman of conviction striving to be who she was. She said it best: "There would be no 'Whitney Houston' without Whitney Houston."

In Holding Lightning, leading cultural critic and professor Emily Lordi has gained unique access to Houston's innermost circle to show us the Whitney we've been unwilling to see--her fluid sexuality, her unapologetic love of her own talent, her insistence that she be the architect of her own career. And, crucially, Lordi positions Houston's pivotal life in the long history of Black celebrity. Before "rooting for everybody Black" became the norm, Whitney worked as a relentless advocate for Black female talent across the entertainment industry.

Now, finally, in Holding Lightning, we have the essential, up-close portrait of the icon we thought we knew.

Review Quotes

"Holding Lightning takes on the challenge of adding to the already robust legacy of one of our greatest artists, and it massively succeeds due to Emily Lordi's gift of close attention, of narrative world-building, and of immense care not only for Whitney Houston, but for the entire universe that was touched by her presence." - Hanif Abdurraqib, National Book Award-winning author of There's Always This Year and A Little Devil in America

"America put Whitney Houston on a pedestal that turned out to be a cage. In this lyrical, scrupulous biography, Emily Lordi makes a new space for understanding this great artist, where her artistry and her humanity are fully honored. The depth of Lordi's analysis demands that we see Houston as the fully capable genius and self-directed career woman that she was, while her compassion does away with the fetishization and demonization that reduced Houston and allows us to grasp the singer's full humanity." - Ann Powers, author of Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell

"'Michael sought domination. Prince pursued evolution. Madonna provocation. Luther elevation. Whitney ... wanted freedom.' In Holding Lightning, Lordi builds for us a Whitney who exemplifies Black excellence, yet she respects Whitney's humanity by seamlessly including the truth of her complexes and complexities. Whitney has agency. She has creative control. She has passion. She has details and demons. Rather than giving her her flowers, Lordi lavishly gives Whitney Houston her layers and wings. This is a rendering all Black girl geniuses deserve." - Michaela angela Davis, author of Tenderheaded and cowriter of The Meaning of Mariah Carey

"Not only is Emily Lordi's Holding Lightning a reclamation of Whitney Houston's sound and genius; it restores Houston to her rightful place as an architect of modern pop." - Danyel Smith, author of Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop

"Excellent.... Well-researched.... Lordi convincingly makes the argument that Houston didn't fit into the archetype of 'the famous doomed woman whose only agency appears to be the power to self-destruct.' Rather, she writes, Houston was savvy and smart but had burned herself out after years of hard work, giving her all to her art: 'She could tend to her own light, or she could fire it up for us, but she could no longer do both.' A top-notch biography of a generational talent." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"[An] excellent biography.... Along the way, Lordi also spotlights Houston's support for other Black female artists, and frankly discusses Houston's thornier experiences with addiction and her chaotic marriage to singer Bobby Brown, extending her the grace frequently withheld by the tabloids by highlighting the complicated tides of trauma, passion, abuse, power, and love that characterized the partnership. The result is a humanizing and wonderfully nuanced reexamination of a misunderstood musical icon." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Delve[s] into Houston's life, career, and legacy, compiling years of research, interviews with Houston's inner circle, and examination of her music and her insights.... Lordi dispels the reduction of Houston's exceptional life to the notion that it was all tragedy and that her talent was all one-note.... A vivid biography of a luminous talent." - Booklist (starred review)

"[Holding Lightning] is the story of the whole person, milestones and missteps alike.... Lordi's winning combination of research, pop culture knowledge, and respectful storytelling allows readers to both envy and sympathize with a musical legend." - Library Journal