Whitney Houston Credits Daughter, Clive Davis For Comeback

Singer was happy just being a mom when Davis suggested new album, I Look to You.
By Jocelyn Vena

Whitney Houston and Clive Davis
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage

Earlier this week in New York, Whitney Houston celebrated her eminent return to the public eye at a listening party for her new album, I Look to You, out in September. But it took a little convincing from Clive Davis to get Houston out of her semi-retirement and back on the scene.

Houston explained that she had spent the last few years just being a mom to her teenage daughter, Bobbi Kristina, but when she got a call from her old friend, she realized that maybe it was time for her to start recording again. ''I just had a different plan at this time in my life," she told reporters at the party on Tuesday. "My daughter was 12, I think going on 13. I had moved out to L.A. and rented this little house up in the Laguna and got comfortable with being left alone, just being a mum whisking her daughter off to school and would pick her up from school.

"I liked that vibe," she continued. "I liked that feeling because I never really had the opportunity. I was always traveling with her all the time. And then [Davis] called me one day and said, 'It's time.' And I said, 'Time for what?' And he says, 'Time for you to come back and sing for us again.' "

In addition to getting support from Davis, it was also the support from her fans and her daughter that convinced her it was time to put out new music. "She was with me every step of the way," she said of her 17-year-old daughter. " 'Mom, you can do this.' When I get discouraged and I get like, 'This is tiring, this is wearing me out, I'm just not at that point,' she'd just go, 'No, Mom, you can do this. Get up, get up.' She encourages me and inspires me. When I look at her and I look at her eyes and I see myself, I go, 'OK I can do this. I can do this.' "

But just because Houston is putting out new music doesn't mean that she's ready for the attention that comes with it. She hopes that she can maintain her quiet lifestyle, despite Davis' claim that "the anticipation is so electric" for this album.

"I am not geared for it. It goes along with the territory. I'm still going to remain the very quiet, private person I've been for the last 10 years," she said. "I just want to be recognized for my music and for what it does and how it inspires people and how it makes people feel as opposed to talking-about-Whitney-all-the-time kind of thing."

• Whitney Houston Previews I Look To You

• Whitney Houston Listening Event, New York, NY, 07.21.2009

• Whitney Houston