Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown's Relationship: A Look Back

Mar. 15, 2025

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After getting married in July 1992, the pair’s union was a roller coaster. Over the course of their 14-year marriage, they welcomed a child,Bobbi Kristina Brown, and continued to succeed in their careers — but they also dealt with addiction, alcoholism and marital strife. In 2012, Houston died afteraccidentally drowningin a hotel bathtub at just 48 years old. Atoxicology reportfound both prescription medications and cocaine in her system.

Beyond their similar backgrounds, the pair also n recalled Houston’s influence in his 2016 memoirEvery Little Step. “She taught mehow to use my voice, how to blend my notes, how to chop my voice when I needed,” he wrote.

Brown said, in turn, he taught her how to dance: “At first, she was uncomfortable with dancing. Admittedly she didn’t have much rhythm. But she had a certain flair. … With the two of us working together, sharing our strengths, I think we made each other better entertainers.”

Friends recalled that the couple were incredibly close. “They had this sort ofBonnie and Clydementality where it’sthem against the world,” a family friend told PEOPLE.

Both Houston and Brown had faced addiction before their marriage, but over the years their challenges escalated: Brown wasarrested for chargesrelated to drunk driving and possession, while Houstonsought treatment in rehabmultiple times. “We would still be together if it wasn’t for, you know, drugs. Drugs just got the best of us,” Brown said in a 2022 documentary, per theNew York Post.

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Brown’s surly reaction intrigued Houston. “I always get curious when somebody doesn’t like me. I want to know why,” she added. Her brother,Michael Houston, later insinuated that Brown may have appealed to her rebellious streak: “He was the type my motheralways kept awayfrom her.”

In 2016, Brownrecalled their introductionon20/20. “She kept bumping me. I asked her why, and she was like, ‘Because I want to,’ " he said. “And that attitude — that whole thing right there — that’s the way it started.” He also said that it was “love at first sight,” adding, “There was something about her eyes that made me melt inside.”

Though theBodyguardstar was seeing someone else at the time — she described that relationship as “ehhhh” — she agreed to go out with Brown. The two went on their first date the very next night.

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In his 2022 A&E documentary, Brown shared that the twosome hung out all day, according toYahoo. “We went shopping in Beverly Hills, we had dinner at the Ivy and then we just chilled for the rest of the evening,” he said. “Just the way she looked at me from day one until the last day we were together was always special.”

After that first date, Houston said she and Brown became fast pals. “Our whole relationship started out as friends,” she toldRolling Stone. “We’d have dinner, laugh, talk and go home. It wasn’t intimate. And then it kind of dawned on us, ‘What’s going on here?’ "

In 2002, Houston said that Brown had always treated her well. “He was sexy, smooth, a gentleman and a nice guy, contrary to popular belief,” she toldDiane SawyeronPrimetime. “Treated me like a lady. We’re opposites in so many ways, but we’re much alike.”

In 2009, Houston recalled their early romance in an interview withOprah Winfrey. “Three years we went out before we got married,” she said onThe Oprah Winfrey Show. “Jet-setted all over the world doing what we wanted to do.”

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Houston and Brown had slightly different recollections of his proposal. Brown recalled popping the question in the back of a car, according toE! News. “She came to pick me up at the airport,” he said in 2012. “I asked her, ‘Do you wanna marry me?’ And she went crazy — ‘Yes, yes, yes!’ She told the car to pull over.”

In November 1992, Houston opened up toVanity Fairabout their relationship. “I just never wanted to be married. I had an independence that didn’t include marriage,” she said. “I always thought men were full of s—. For the most part, they used to talk s— to me all the time.”

The singer’s father, John Russell Houston, walked her down the aisle before she shed tears during the ceremony. “I was a nervous wreck,” Houston later toldVanity Fair.

Brown was equally anxious, according toEntertainment Weekly. In 2022, he recalled that he had locked himself in the bathroom because he was “scared to death” that Houston might not actually love him. His friendAlicia Etheredgeeventually coaxed him out (Brown and Etheredgegot marriedin 2012).

She recalled that Houston downplayed the injury. “I asked her to tell me what happened,” Crawford wrote. “[She said,] ‘We had a disagreement. I threw a glass, the glass hit the wall, shattered, and that’s how the cut happened. Couples argue all the time and it’s never a big deal.’ "

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In the sameL.A. Timesprofile, Brown had nothing but praise for Houston. “My wife gives me the freedom to be myself,” he said. “She’s very secure and she knows how much I do love her. It makes me feel better to know I have a strong woman beside me.”

TheNew Editionmember said that he had never felt love like this before. “I didn’t think I was ever going to get married until I met Whitney,” he said. “I think I was with the wrong people to understand what love was about.”

Brown also told the publication that, despite their money and fame, their relationship was still grounded in reality. “We can talk about music and things we are going through,” he said. “We talk and talk about everything. … It’s a real marriage.”

Though Houston said onOprahthat her drug use was “very light” prior to filmingThe Bodyguard, Brown recalled that his own drug use intensified after their wedding.“Things changed when I got married,” he toldDatelinein 2004. “Because, you know, I stopped touring. I stopped working.”

Brown added: “I would spend like … days to weeks just high. Just high, just on coke. Marijuana at the same time, alcohol. … The one thing I’m grateful that I never got into was heroin. Because that’s a killer.”

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In 2016, Brown wrote that Houston’s drug use escalated following the birth of their daughter. “For some reason Whitney’sdrug use got worse,” he wrote. “Maybe it was because she had to stop using all those months while she was pregnant, but she resumed with a vengeance.”

Brown also wrote that he couldn’t intervene: “I would try to keep Whitney locked in the room, telling her she shouldn’t come in front of our daughter because of the way the drugs affected her. But I couldn’t police Whitney. … She did what she wanted.”

In 2009, Houston had a similar recollection of her drug use. “AfterThe Bodyguard, I had Krissy, it started getting heavy,” she said onOprah. Her drugs of choice were “cocaine. And marijuana.”

The singer made a point to say that she didn’t drink as Brown did. “He liked to drink. I wasn’t a drinker,” she added. “The alcoholism, that’s an ugly thing. Either you’re going to be a really nice alcoholic or a really mean one. He was really mean.”

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Houston denied rumors that Brown was a “womanizer” in a 1993 interview withRolling Stone. “I just want people to understand something: My husband has never,never, disrespected any woman,” she said. “And I want people to know that my husband’s a good person. He’s a respectable human being. He was raised with respect.”

The six-time Grammy winner also insisted that they had a healthy marriage: “He loves being married, and he’s respectful to his marriage. He respects me, and I respect him. I’m tired of people talking about him like he’s this bad guy and he has no respect for me or his marriage. That’s bulls—.”

Inan interviewwithBarbara Walters, Houston revealed that she had a miscarriage while filming ofThe Bodyguard. “It was very painful, emotionally and physically,” she said. “I was back on the set the next day. And it’s over. But I had Bobbi Kristina one year later, and I am blessed.”

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At a concert in Atlanta, Houston announced thatshe was pregnantwith her second child.

Barely two weeks after announcing her pregnancy, however, Houston’s spokesperson announced that the singer had miscarried while on tour in Texas. “She’s sad but they hope to have more children,” the rep told theAssociated Press.

Brown’saddiction also escalatedthat year. In August, Brown was injured in a car accident where he was driving drunk; he was later charged with driving under the influence and served jail time.

In July, Houston and Brown traveled to Capri, Italy, where they chartered a yacht off the coast. Houstonreceived two stitchesto close up a 2-inch cut on her left cheek. The singer reportedly told police that she hit a rock while swimming, but a crew member claimed the injury took place on the boat, leading to rumors that Brown had been involved.

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In July 1999, Houston contested rumors about her marriage in an interview with theNew York Daily News. “No, we don’t fight all the time. No, he doesn’t beat me,” she told the outlet. “He’s a sweet, gentle man.”

Houston added: “Nobody is good or bad all the time. Everybody has ups and downs and we’ve had our moments. They pass.”

Houston denied that her husband had ever struck her in aninterview with Diane Sawyer. “He’s never hit me,” she told the journalist. “I’ve hit him, in anger.”

When Sawyer asked if Houston considered herself “an addict,” the songstress pivoted. “I am addicted to a few things. … [Like] making love,” she said. “I don’t like to think of myself addicted. I like to think of, ‘I had a bad habit,’ which can be broken.”

Police responded to a call from Houston on Dec. 7, 2003, alleging that Brown hadstruck herwith an open hand. “It was a verbal confrontation which escalated to a physical confrontation,” a police spokesperson said.

In April 2004, Brown toldDatelinethat he didn’t hit or slap his wife. He alleged that Houston was the instigator. “She hit me. She threw something at me,” he said. “It escalated.”

In his 2016 memoir, Brown admitted that he had, in fact, hit her. “Whitney tried to stop me from beating up the dealer, but I was not having it,” he wrote. “I turned around to her, drew back my hand andsmacked heracross the face. The moment it happened, I was stunned and full of regret.”

In March 2004, Brown was sentenced to 60 days in jail for violating his probation from his 1996 DUI,according to CBS. His probation violations included the misdemeanor battery charge for hitting Houston in December.

He was released early to appear in Virginia family court for a paternity case,perEW.

March 15, 2004: Whitney House checks into rehab for five days

Just days after Brown’s sentencing, thePreacher’s Wifestarchecked into rehab. Shechecked outof the facility only five days into her one-month treatment.

“Miss Houston is continuing the prescribed treatment as was planned,” Houston’s rep said. “Her movements are in total keeping with the program.” Her rep also added that the singer remained “supportive” of her husband amid his paternity lawsuit.

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In 2004, Brown toldNBCthat he wanted to go back to work and acknowledged that pursuing his own career would mean less time with his wife and daughter.

“If we want to be apart from each other, then we’ll be apart from each other,” he said of Houston. “If we want to be together, then we’ll be together. And ‘til that day that she does not want to be around me, I’m [going to] love her.”

Houston and Brown later reflected on the final years of their marriage. “The last few years of our marriage,it was terrible,” Brown said in 2016. “Both of us trying to be clean, or one of us trying to be clean.”

Houston recalled wanting to leave Brown. “I remember saying to God one day, I said, ‘Give me one day of strength.’ Because I was weak,” she toldOprahin 2009. “I was so weak to the love. … He was my drug.”

March 23, 2005: Whitney Houston enters rehab for a second time

One year later, Houston’s rep announced that Houston was againseeking treatmentafter her mother,Cissy Houston, petitioned a Georgia court to order her daughter to enter rehab.

“Whitney Houston has reentered a rehabilitation facility today,” Houston’s rep said in a statement. The singer was treated at the Crossroads Centre in Antigua.

Both Houston and Brown said that the show exacerbated their marital issues. “I wasn’t happy with the marriage,” Houston told Winfrey. “I was losing me.”

Brown expressed similar sentiments following Houston’s 2012 death. “We looked at the bubble and saw ourselves,” he said onToday. “We [were] able to see that our drug use had affected our relationship, had affected the love that we felt for each other.”

In her 2009Oprahinterview, Houston recalled some of the red flags that spurred her to end her relationship with Brown. “We had a big, big giant portrait of me and him and my child. He cut my head off the picture,” she said. “That was one sign.”

Houston also alleged that Brown had been unfaithful. “I just knew. I was like, ‘You don’t smell right. You don’t look right. Something’s going on,’ " she said. “And then all this other stuff started coming out about him being with this one or that one or being too promiscuous.”

Their split was gradual, but Houston recalled having the realization in December 2004, when Brown slapped her. “I started moving furniture out of the house,” she said in part 2 of herOprahinterview. “I even asked him to leave. … And that was the time where he slapped me.”

In 2006, she left for good. “I went to L.A.,” she said. “I just got on a plane. … I wasn’t going to be in an unholy matrimony. I wasn’t going to be living with a man who decided that he didn’t want to live the same way I did or thought about marriage or me the same way.”

Brownshut down rumorsof a split in January 2006. “The rumors are wrong. They’re false,” he told PEOPLE. “She’s the better half of me. … We’re loving life, and we’re just trying to be as good to each other as possible.”

That night, Brown performed in New Haven, Connecticut, where Houston was nowhere to be seen. Brown said: “She missed her flight because she had a dental appointment. … I will dedicate this show to her.”

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Even after leaving, Houston said that she held out hope that she and Brown would get back together. “I waited for him to come back,” the singer said in 2009.

But Brown never came. “After a couple of months, he would say he was coming, and he never came and my only concern was my daughter and her perception of her father,” Houston said.

In September, Houston’s rep confirmed that her client hadfiled for a legal separationfrom her husband of 14 years with an intent to divorce. Houston reportedly asked for custody of Bobbi Kristina with visitation rights for Brown.

One of Brown’s relatives told PEOPLE that their small disagreements had led to bigger issues. “The relationship justspiraled out of control,” the relative said. “They would fight about what to eat for dinner, about who wasn’t cleaning out the dishwasher. Stupid things. But they were always yelling.”

Another source claimed that rumors of an affair between Brown and authorKarrine Steffansproved to be the final straw for Houston.

The relative told PEOPLE that the longtime couple would remain in each other’s lives in some capacity. “Right now they’re both angry, but there’s a thin line between love and hate,” the relative said. “They’re going to always have a place in each other’s lives.”

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Of their divorce settlement, Brown added: “She got everything. Property, jewelry, cars … I left with my sobriety.”

The couple’sdivorce was finalizedon April 24, 2007. Custody of their daughter, Bobbi Kristina, was awarded solely to Houston.

The next month, Browncontested the custody ruling, suing his ex-wife for shared custody, child support and spousal support. Brown contended that he was unable to respond to Houston’s divorce petition in a timely manner because he was essentially “homeless,” had “very little money” and was emotionally distraught.

“I believe I have a wonderful relationship with my daughter Bobbi Kris — a relationship that I would like to see strengthen and grow,” he said in his filing.

In January 2008, hismotion was deniedbecause “there were no appearances or phone calls from Mr. Brown today for a scheduled hearing,” a court rep said.

In his bookThe Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing But, Brown called his marriage to Houston “doomed from the very beginning” and wrote that they had wed under false pretenses. “I realize Whitney had a different agenda than I did when we got married,” he wrote. “I believe her agenda was to clean up her image, while mine was to be loved and have children.”

He also claimed that he “never used cocaine” before meeting Houston. “I had experimented with other drugs, but marijuana was my drug of choice,” he said.

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In July, Brown gave an update on his relationship with Houston and their daughter, who was living in Atlanta with Houston. “We’re cordial. We’re friends,” he told reporters. “[Bobbi Kristina is] doing really well and growing up really good.”

In her bombshell interview onOprah, Houston claimed that Brown wasemotionally abusiveduring their marriage. “Physically, no way,” she added.

Houston then clarified that Brown did slap her once, “but he got hit over the head three times” in retaliation.

The singer recalled one of the couple’s darkest moments at a party she threw for Brown at an Atlanta nightclub. “He drank a lot that night,” shetold Winfrey. “For some reason, everything that I did I tried to do to make him happy — it would turn on me.”

Houston alleged that, when they returned home that night, Brown spit on her in front of their daughter. “He had such a hate in his eyes for me,” she recalled. “He cursed me all the way home in front of his parents, and then hespiton me.”

Summing up the evening, Houston said, “It was just hateful. Ugly.”

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Amid Houston’sOprahinterview, Brown suggested that he and Houstonbrought out the worstof each other. “I think we corrupted each other,” he toldThe Insider. “I don’t think she hurt me or I hurt her. I just think we had a 14-year marriage that had its ups and downs and not many people understood it.”

In the wake of Houston’s allegations, Brown stayed silent. “He’s totally taking the high road,” his manager and girlfriend Alicia Etheridge said in a statement, according to theBoston Herald. “He has no comment.”

Brownproposedto his manager and girlfriend, Alicia Etheredge, during a performance in Florida. She held the couple’s 11-month-old son,Cassius Brown, as the musician got down on one knee with a ring.

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Houston and Brown reunited in honor of Brown’s late mother,Carole Brown, who died on January 21 in California. Houston sang two songs for Carole’s services: “Precious Lord Take My Hand” solo and “Never Would Have Made It” with New Edition.

In 2016, a relative of Brown’s told PEOPLE that, before her death, Houston and Brown had made peace. “They had finally gotten to a place wherethere was no dramaat all,” the relative said. “He loved her as the mother of his child and as a woman who he had spent his youth with.”

February 11, 2012: Whitney Houston dies

Whitney Houstondied at the age of 48on Feb. 11, 2012, in Beverly Hills, California. Police Lieutenant Mark Rosen told PEOPLE that officials entered the singer’s room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel after one of Houston’s assistants found her unresponsive. “We attempted to resuscitate her, to no avail,” he said, before adding that there was not yet a clear cause of death.

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On February 11, Brown was scheduled to perform with New Edition in Mississippi. After learning of Houston’s death, Brown went on with the show to avoid disappointing his fans. “I would like to say, Ilove you, Whitney,” he said during the performance.

New Edition continued with the show, even as Brown began crying on stage.

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Much was made of the fact that Brownleft Houston’s funeralearly, just moments before the services were set to begin. He reportedly walked up and touched his ex-wife’s casket before his departure.

Brown later addressed the incident, explaining that security would not allow all of his children to sit with him and Bobbi Kristina. “It was disrespectful,” he said in 2015. “It was no fault of the family, it was security. So I just kissed the casket and me and my kids, we left.”

Houston waslaid to restnext to her father in Westfield, New Jersey.

March 22, 2012: Whitney Houston’s cause of death is confirmed

Another coroner’s office official explained that Houston likely either “passed out first due to the intoxication from the cocaine, or she could’ve had a heart attack and then drowned.”

In his first interview since Houston’s death, Brown addressed claims that he was to blame for her death. “I didn’t know she was struggling with [drugs] still,” he saidonToday. “It’s a hard fight to maintain sobriety that way.”

Brown added that he had not introduced Houston to any drugs — in fact, she had used narcotics “way before” they met. “I wasn’t the one that got Whitney on drugs at all,” he said. “I’m not the reason she’s gone.”

Brown elaborated: “I just think when two people that love each other as much as we loved each other, when they start drifting apart, different people come into the situation, into the scenario and we make mistakes.”

In his 2016 memoir, the songwriter reiterated his assertions that Houston was unfaithful. “She cheated before I did,” he wrote. “She slept with quite a few of the producers and artists that she worked with or associated with.”

PEOPLE confirmed with police that Bobbi was given CPR and revived before being rushed to North Fulton Hospital.

Two days later, however, Bobbiwas unresponsiveand on a ventilator. “The report that Bobbi Kristina Brown has been taken to the hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, is accurate. No additional information will be forthcoming,” her father said in a statement.

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After months under medical supervision,Bobbi Kristina Browndied on July 26, 2015. Her cause of death was ruled to be a combination ofdrowning and drug intoxication. The coroner’s office was unable to determine if her death was intentional or accidental.

Shortly after her death, Brownreleased a statement: “Krissy was and is an angel. I am completely numb at this time. My family must find a way to live with her in spirit and honor her memory. Our loss is unimaginable.”

In 2016, Brown opened up about losing both Bobbi and Houston. “The same thingthat happened to my daughter, it happened to Whitney,” he said. “The hardest thing I had to do in life was tell my daughter to let go.”

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Four years after Houston’s death, Brown said he “still loved” the late singer. “For the rest of my life, I will have that feeling towards her because she was the one person that knew me — that one person who had no judgment,” he said.

Brown appeared on the 2017 season premiere ofHollywood Medium withTyler Henry. During their session, the clairvoyant claimed that a woman wanted to convey a message about her heart.

“This is very clear in the way that this comes through, she’s very insistent to acknowledge, ‘No matter how I died, I need them to know the heart. I need them to know the heart,’ " Henry told Brown. “I can distinctly tell there are other aspects to this passing.”

When asked if he was aware of “recent discussions” about someone with a heart condition, Brown responded, “Yeah, my ex-wife.”

When a reporter read a transcript of a 911 call Houston made, Brown denied its veracity. “You’re mistaken,” he said. “The public record is wrong.” Brown then cut the conference short.

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In a 2021 appearance onRed Table Talk, Brown said that if he could, he would tell Houston thathe missed her. “She’s definitely missed in my heart, in my spirit,” he said. “She was my friend. She was the mother of my child. One of the greatest entertainers that I’ve ever met … One of the greatest voices the world has ever beared witness to.”

Brown also spoke about their tumultuous relationship. “We fought hard verbally, but we loved even harder,” he said. “Our love was strong for each other. We showed it to each other time and time again, over and over.”

He added: “We just got caught up and that had nothing to do with how we felt about each other. The love was always there.”

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Brown added that, had they not divorced, Houston might still be alive. “I think we could have helped each other out,” he said. “I think she’d still be hereif we hadn’t divorced.”

Though Brown was not involved in the making ofHouston’s biopicI Wanna Dance with Somebody, he toldE! Newsthat he was “probably gonna watch it.”

Brown also expressed that he was gratefulMoonlight’sAshton Sanderswas cast to portray him, adding that he was “looking forward to it.”

source: people.com