Back when Tamar Braxton was a “doo-wop pop” girl, singing background for her sister Toni Braxton, the legendary Whitney Houston spotted her onstage and made a point to praise her as an “amazing” singer.
Despite this and being regarded as one of the greatest voices of all time, Braxton places the “I Will Always Love You” singer third on her list of great singers.
The “Love & War” soprano set it off after a resurfaced clip captured her choosing Mariah over Whitney during a live taping in 2022 for the “State of Black Music” Podcast with hosts Phil Thornton, Claude Kelly, Chuck Harmony, and Tamone Bacon at the National Museum of African American Music.
Braxton was prompted after an hour interview to answer a series of “this or that” questions. Initially, she was asked to choose between Monica or Brandy, and then the panel posed the question for her to choose between Xscape or Destiny’s Child. Then she offered to choose between Houston and her music mentee, Mariah Carey.
“I’ve never been a huge Whitney fan like that,” Braxton said, noting that Carey reigns supreme as the best singer of all time over Houston.
“I don’t want you guys to take it out of context here. I’m not saying that I don’t like her music. I’m not saying that she wasn’t a phenomenal singer. I’m not saying her songs wasn’t amazing. But for me, because you asked me a personal question, my personal preference will always be Mariah Carey,” she continued.
Fans on the X platform were outraged about Braxton’s “personal preference,” suggesting it was disrespectful towards the late “I Have Nothing” singer, who died in 2012.
“And your personal preference is wrong,” one post read on X. “The way this sound byte started off let me know I was about to be ticked.”
Another user wrote, “Whitney is the blueprint and you can’t sit on them people stage and try to convince me that you like Mariah over her!”
Many reminded Braxton of the “When You Believe” collaborator’s close relationship. Houston entered the music industry in the 1980s as a teen, while Carey made her debut in the 1990s.
“There is no Whitney or Mariah there’s no Whitney or nothing. Now there can be a Whitney and Mariah. Or just Whitney!” one person wrote.
Not everyone was upset. Many expressed they agreed with her and that it is wrong to not allow her to like who she wants to like.
“How are you going to force somebody to say something the way you want them to say it? That’s her business if she doesn’t prefer Whitney Houston music I get it. Musically Whitney doesn’t have the diverse catalog as Mariah even though she’s one of the greatest. It’s her preference,” a fan wrote in her defense.
Another fan posted a clip of the “Changed” singer on Nick Cannon’s radio show in June 2020, declaring her love for his ex-wife and the mother of his first set of twins.
— black american women are the standard (@readabook2024) May 2, 2024
When asked to name her top 5 singers of all time, Braxton said, “You baby mother is it! Your baby mama got the voice of the voices. She could be #1 through 4 if you ask me,” she said before giving her list. “Uhm… Aretha [Franklin], Whitney, Fantasia and Brandy.”
“No Toni?” asked one fan, referring to her sister. Another said, “You just lost me here love We are through.”
Braxton has also gone on record to share how Whitney showed her love early on in her career. As she promoted her music on various television shows, she fondly spoke about “Nippy” giving her the platinum-voice seal of approval.
One of the earliest times she spoke about the “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” singer was on “The Arsenio Hall Show” in 2013.
“I remember we was on stage, she kept pointing. Then when we went backstage, she came up to me and she was like ‘I couldn’t stop listening to you. You sound amazing. I heard you through the whole band,'” Braxton told Hall.
According to the mother of one, Whitney told her that one day she would be a star.
“Unfortunately, my single came out after she passed,” she continued before sharing, “And it just really would have meant a lot to me if she was here but I know she looking down.”
She explained in detail exactly how and when she met Houston for the first time on “The Meredith Vieira Show” in 2016.
“I met her when I was very young singing doo-wop pop behind my sister and she was like, ‘Who is that girl?’” the reality star recalled. “She noticed me, and when I met her backstage, she was just like ‘Wow you’re amazing. You can really, really sing.’”
Braxton then imitated Houston, who she says is just as “animated” as Braxton, when she allegedly said to her, “That girl got some pipes.”
It appears that Whitney was right, as she has enjoyed a great career because of her voice and personality and earned four Grammy nominations.
Though the vocalist said she is not the biggest Whitney fan, she has tapped into the Newark magic to craft one of her latest singles. Braxton released her single “Crazy Kind of Love” in March 2020, and on this song, her producer Hitmaker actually did an interpolation of Whitney’s 1985’s “Saving All My Love For You” smash.
Her love might be overflowing for Mariah, but she’s never sampled any of her work.
