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Aretha Franklin thought Whitney Houston ‘had conquered the challenges that were ahead of her’

Jeff Poor Media Reporter
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Motown legend Aretha Franklin told CNN Sunday that she thought her goddaughter Whitney Houston had conquered her addiction problems before Houston’s sudden death at a Beverly Hills hotel Saturday afternoon.

“Well, we were all aware of her challenges, but I felt she was overcoming them,” Franklin said in a phone interview from Charlotte, N.C.

“She looked really great in the movie ‘Sparkle.’ I saw some of the previews and a lot of the scenes as a matter of fact were done in Detroit. So, I thought she really, really looked good, and I was just mentioning it to her people had they seen it and how well she looked. And I thought at that point she had kind of conquered the challenges that were ahead of her.”

Franklin also discussed Houston’s “overnight” success in the music industry, as well as her 2004 European tour with Natalie Cole and Dionne Warwick.

“However, looking — thinking about rather, looking back — thinking about something that Natalie Cole said once was how difficult it is sometimes when you have overnight success and the kind of success that Whitney did,” Franklin said.

“She had phenomenal overnight success, and that can sometimes and particularly to a young performer being as young as she was, that can be very, very overwhelming sometimes. And I think that possibly may have played a part in things, and I know that she did a European tour and Natalie [Cole] and Dionne [Warwick] accompanied her to support her on her first European tour and then her second one came up.”

But Franklin said the European tour was tough for the pop singer.

“She had some very challenging nights with different audiences who were not very kind and not being able to sing what one wants to sing had to have been very, very disheartening to her,” Franklin explained.

“And I think that it was very trying for her. However, she stood up. She stood up night after night to the challenge and she stood with the heart of a champion. And so that — for that I’m sure that her mother and I know I was very proud of her and wished her well. I was rooting for her and hoped things turned out for the best.”

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