With more than 140 million albums sold worldwide, icon Whitney Houston is the most awarded woman in music history. Her powerful presence filled the screen in The Bodyguard, which made more than $400 million worldwide. The film’s soundtrack remains the best-selling of all time. But behind her megastar success, Whitney hid the intense personal pain of her tumultuous 14-year marriage to R&B star Bobby Brown and a battle with drug abuse.
Whitney retreated from the spotlight after a controversial 2002 interview with Diane Sawyer. In 2003, she faced more media attention after calling 911 to report that her husband hit her. The police report said Whitney had a bruised cheek and a cut inside her upper lip. Still, she refused to press charges. He was not convicted and has publicly denied ever hitting her. The couple went public once again in 2005 on Bravo’s reality show Being Bobby Brown.

Whitney has stayed silent about it all—until now. Back with her first album in seven years, I Look to You, she’s sitting down with Oprah and opening up like never before about her past, present and bright future.

It’s been seven years since the world heard music icon Whitney Houston’s voice. Now, she’s back—and talking only to Oprah about the private struggles she tried to hide from public view. In Part 1 of their interview, Whitney opened up about her marriage to R&B star Bobby Brown, her drug abuse and why she retreated from the spotlight. Here, in the conclusion of their interview, Whitney opens up about the day she left Bobby Brown, the death of Michael Jackson and her new album.

Download the transcript here (right click and save as).