The Winans family is revered as gospel royalty, pioneering a unique sound in sacred music during the 1980s that seamlessly blended traditional church melodies with R&B aesthetics. It’s no surprise that the second generation, BeBe and CeCe Winans, formed a close bond with singer Whitney Houston, who also emerged in the industry around the same era.
Their shared roots in church music, coupled with the late singer’s familial connection to Cissy Houston, a revered figure in the music scene and a bridge to Detroit’s musical luminaries like Aretha Franklin, created a natural connection.
However, despite their shared musical backgrounds, their upbringings differed significantly. As BeBe expressed on “Sway’s Universe,” posted on YouTube on Saturday, May 11, Whitney was straight up from “Jersey,” signifying she was hood. He and his sister, though they loved the “I Wanna Dance” singer like a sister, were not, growing up sheltered in the church even though they were raised in the Motor City.
The “Stand” singer shared one of his favorite stories about Whitney with hosts Sway Calloway, Heather B and the rest of the crew.
“As you know, she [Whitney] was a Jersey girl. I don’t care how many gowns you put on her, she was ‘Jersey,’” Bebe began the memory. “Well, we were at a movie … CeCe and Whitney were sitting together and me and Robyn was sitting together behind them.”
The six-time Grammy winner recalled how they all entered after the lights were dimmed, aiming not to disrupt the film. Little did he know his dear friend was about to be far more disruptive than he could have imagined.
“During the movie, Whitney was talking to CeCe … about the movie,” he explained, saying she was speaking loud but whispering things like “I don’t believe that girl’s gonna do that.”
He continued, “There was a couple white couple in front of them. The lady kept on turning back and forth because she was annoyed at them talking … which I understood.”
He said things “boiled over” as the woman, who was wearing a ponytail, turned around and told Houston to “shut up.”
“I just went to praying,” the former 700 Club performer said. “’Oh, oh Jesus!’ ’Cause I know New Jersey is present. I thought my prayers that went through, ’cause Whitney sat back and didn’t say nothing. After about 30 seconds, Whitney leaned up and grabbed the ponytail and jerked it back. [She] said, ‘Don’t you ever talk to me that way,’ and threw her head up to the front.”
The white man who accompanied the women stood up to defend her, which required Bebe to get up also. He said he had to “get ready to fight,” even though it was something that he was not used to.
Robyn, the superstar singer’s then-best friend and assistant, told him to hurry up and get Whitney out of the potential melee and into their car, suggesting an incident like that could have been fodder for the media and shed a bad light on the chart-topper.
“I took her and we run,” BeBe said. “I mean my heart is beating … because this is not my life. … We get outside and we jump in the car. … I can’t hardly breathe. Whitney looks at me and says, ‘Wasn’t that fun?’”
A clip from the interview was posted by a BobbyxWhitney fan page on Instagram, and fans were tickled by the story.
“Whitney did not play lol I’m so glad she called Wendy Williams instead of going to the station cause it would have been a different interview haha,” one person wrote referencing the classic radio moment.
Another wrote, “Straight gangster & she loved the Lord. don’t get better than that #FullPackage.”
“I love when folks tell Whitney stories. I know there is a treasure trove of it,” a third comment read. “These are the folks who need to be making these movies with some real facts and not some truncated mess and lies.”
BeBe was so close to the famed singer that he sang and was one of the featured speakers at Whitney’s funeral in 2012. His tears sometimes tripped him up, but he valiantly trudged on and gave a moving eulogy to the pop star.
“We spent a lot of time together and we talk about her voice and we talk about her talent, which was a beautiful thing, but what I’m going to miss is crazy Whitney,” BeBe said. “We were getting ready to [start] our first major headline tour and Whitney told us we had to come over.”
He said when he and his sister came over to her house, the “I’m Your Baby Tonight” singer went on to say that she took it upon herself to get clothes for the tour for them, the background singers and for herself.
“BeBe, I got you a suit, a cream suit, and CeCe, I got you a melon dress made, and I got me a green one,” he claims Houston told him.
“She made her a green one,” BeBe said before the mourners. “Clive, I know it made Clive so mad, but she decided at the height of her career she was going to come sing background with BeBe and CeCe!”
Whitney Houston passed away on Feb. 11, 2012, the eve of the Grammy Awards. Her death was determined to be an accidental drowning, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors in the 42-page coroner’s report.
