Whitney Houston's estate has revealed they are working on several projects to continue the late GRAMMY winner's legacy, including a hologram tour featuring her original band and backup singers, a new album of unreleased material and a possible Broadway show.
These are the first major moves made by the estate, led by Pat Houston, the vocal powerhouse's sister-in-law and former manager, in the seven years since her death at the age of 48.
The New York Times reports the estate signed a 50/50 partnership deal last week with Primary Wave Music Publishing, a music marketing company in New York, to help implement such projects. Houston said the hologram "has taken precedence over everything."
"Everything is about timing for me. It's been quite emotional for the past seven years. But now it's about being strategic," Pat Houston, who is the sole executor of the estate, told The New York Times. "Before she passed, there was so much negativity around the name; it wasn't about the music anymore. People had forgotten how great she was. They let all the personal things about her life outweigh why they fell in love with her in the first place."
Larry Mestel, Primary Wave's founder, added, "Whitney was America's sweetheart, and the idea now is to remind people that that is what her legacy is."
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Mestel told the publication that unused tracks recorded from Houston's GRAMMY-nominated 1985 self-titled debut album will likely be included on the new album. He also discussed he is in conversation with Broadway producers about Whitney-inspired musical. Sony owns her recordings, so they will have also work in partnership with the estate and Primary Wave.
Last year the estate-authorized GRAMMY-nominated documentary Whitney offered a direct look at the star's fame and heartbreaking downfall. Now, with the new projects, Pat Houston wants to help the world remember the shining light she saw when she worked with her 20 years ago: "I watched a woman go onstage, and was just absolutely flawless."
