The life and career of Whitney Houston continues to be celebrated in her absence. According to People, the Whitney E. Houston Legacy Foundation and Primary Wave will celebrate her 61st birthday at their third annual Whitney E. Houston Legacy Foundation Gala, taking place on her actual birth date, Aug. 9. The event will also commemorate the 30-year anniversary of Whitney’s three history-making performances in South Africa following Nelson Mandela‘s presidential win.
Whitney took the stage at King Park Stadium in Durban on Nov. 8, 1994, Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg on Nov. 12, 1994, and Green Point Stadium in Cape Town on Nov. 19, 1994, becoming the first major musician to visit and perform in the nation post-apartheid. Some of the proceeds benefitted local South African children’s charities.
The Whitney E. Houston Legacy Foundation Gala, hosted by Whitney’s sister-in-law Pat Houston and Kevin Frazier of Entertainment Tonight, will go down at the St. Regis Hotel in Atlanta. Set to hit the stage are headliner Yolanda Adams, Whitney’s brother Gary Houston, and Gregory Sams and Denisia Denisa, who recently won the Whitney E. Houston Legacy Foundation’s cover song competition. There will also be an online and silent auction, as well as a presentation of scholarships to HBCU students studying the arts.
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