Whitney Houston comes to 'LIFE' in new book with rare photos (SLIDESHOW)

theGRIO REPORT - the editors of LIFE magazine have released the book 'LIFE Whitney 1963-2012: A Tribute', which chronicles the legacy of iconic Grammy Award singer...

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

For decades, Whitney Houston amazed the world with her voice and beauty, leaving her fans devastated when she died from accidental drowning at age of 48 last month. Today, the editors of LIFE magazine have released LIFE: Whitney 1963-2012, a book which chronicles the legacy of the iconic Grammy Award winning singer.

Throughout the 1980s and into the ‘90s, Whitney ruled the world of pop, her music dominating the charts and becoming the soundtrack for a generation. Houston is remembered as one of the world’s best-selling music artists, having sold more than 200 million albums and singles worldwide. In 2009, the Guinness Book of World Records cited the “I Will Always Love You” singer as the most awarded female artist of all time, with 6 Grammy Awards, 2 Emmy Awards, and 22 American Music Awards.

According to LIFE, “Her own life was extraordinary, and in the end extraordinarily tragic. In this new commemorative, LIFE Books seeks to celebrate and try to explain Whitney Houston. What a singer. What a life.”

The book includes several never-before-seen and extremely rare photos, and unique insight into the singer’s life. A lot of the photos will be a surprise to even the biggest Houston fans.

Whitney now joins the ranks of other iconic figures that LIFE Books has celebrated in the past including Princess Diana, Elizabeth Taylor, and Pope John Paul II.

LIFE: Whitney 1963-2012 is on sale today.

Follow Chris Witherspoon on Twitter at @WitherspoonC

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