Whitney Hits Hawaii "High" Note
The Daily Probe - January 19, 2000
The context for this and other Daily Probe articles is provided here.
KAHLUA KOVE, HI (DPI) - Singer Whitney Houston's voice usually
gives pleasure and earns applause. Today it helped her to commit
a drug crime--namely, possession of 15.2 grams of marijuana.
The illegal stash was found in her purse by private security
guards who were just looking in there out of curiosity, not
really expecting the pop diva to have anything, but enjoying
the sensation of rummaging through her mink-lined celebrity
clutch purse. They were very surprised to find a bag -- almost
a loaf -- of Maui Wowie ensconced in the stylish leather tote.
"She didn't try to hide it at all," said one guard. "I think she
may have been 'partaking' before she got to the airport, if you
know what I mean." Just in case we didn't know what he meant,
he mimed the typical actions of someone puffing a doobie.
The guards, who do not have arrest powers, told her to sit right
there while they called the real police. Ms. Houston then
proceeded to roll a large joint using her entire supply of weed,
and to smoke it right there at the guard station. When the police
arrived, the burning hemp was still large enough to constitute
felony possession but it was disappearing fast, so the men in blue
brandished their handcuffs and started their Miranda duet.
Suddenly, the enlightened songstress gave forth a long, high
bellow -- the self-same note that she uses to mar many of her
otherwise perfect recordings. You can hear this note in the loud
screaming parts of her "I Will Always Love You," for instance,
and a couple of times in her rendition of our own National Anthem.
Live, with no sound-shielding equipment, the piercing honk brought
the police and distant pedestrians to their knees in agony.
As people writhed around her like dazed zombies, Ms. Houston was
able to smoke down her roach until not even ashes were left.
She then boarded her waiting plane with a flirtatious flip of her
hair and a triumphant smirk at the eardrum-bleeding lawmen.
- Reported by Chris Jones
-30-