Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Editor's Picks
Editor's PicksEntertainmentMusicVideo

Jordin Sparks Pays Tribute To Whitney Houston In ‘Sparkle’ Video

Posted byBy ABS Contributor | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

The death of Whitney Houston in February forced myriad adjustments around the release of the upcoming movie, “Sparkle,” and its soundtrack and music videos. One song’s video, “Celebrate”, was feature a cameo by Houston with Jordin Sparks. But without Houston,  a new clip shows that Sparks pays homage to the fallen star.

In the video, Sparks throws a house party attended by her “Sparkle” cast mates, minus the late singer. Houston is in the video, however, via  film footage. And Sparks sports a Whitney Houston T-shirt. The video is capped off with a message that reads “In loving memory of Whitney Houston.”

“When we did the song,” Sparks said to BET, “we planned on it being Whitney and me. But she’s not here, so we wanted to make it a tribute to her. So it’s fun, upbeat and exciting — there are clips from the movie and the main cast is in the video too.

“It’s me, Tika Sumpter, Carmen Ejogo, Derek Luke, Omari Hardwick … Goapele is in it and Mike Epps. We’re all just having a good time [and the premise is] they all come over to my house singing along to Whitney’s music. And we’re missing her and celebrating her as well. It’s actually pretty simple, but when you watch it and hear her voice along with it, it makes it so much more.”

Still independent.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top