It is only fitting that this week’s top 20 include some kind of tribute to Whitney Houston, the diva, singer and vocalist extraordinaire. Her untimely passing was just totally sad. I was chatting with a client the other night who said: “We all watched this happen and did nothing. It was like an accident or a train wreck happening before our eyes in slow motion; yet we did or could do nothing about it.”Whitney Houston’s passing is a tragedy that really was avoidable, but Matthew (7:1) reminds us that Jesus said: ‘Judge not, that ye be not judged’.We can all speculate, but none of us knows her story because none of us had to walk a mile in her shoes.It has to be tough being a star, and unlike us, they don’t always have a support system of friends and family with their best interests at heart. They don’t know who to trust. There is the pressure to be in the spotlight but then, once they’re out of it, they are unable to function.Popularity is no guarantee of longevity. We’ve lost so many stars. Famous people and others have died before reaching 50, some through drug use, others through other causes Michael Jackson, Don Cornelius and Whitney Houston in a short space of time. There are many others who also have passed and there are lessons to learn.In dwelling on her life, and passing, the words of Mark 8:36 (also found in Matthew 16:26) came to mind. It reads: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?” This is profound and reminds us that we need to put our priorities in the correct order.I don’t do drugs, and pray to God that I never do, but those of us who don’t use drugs cannot imagine how difficult it must be to give up such an addiction. Yes, a brilliant career was ruined and cut short as a result of drug use, but let’s not lose sight of the great things she did during good days and good times and when she was in control of her life.I was chatting with a fellow DJ the other day and trying to decide which of her songs was my favourite. I started with ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ then said, no, it has to be ‘I Get So Emotional’.Still not happy, I proposed a number of other hits when I finally settled on the classic dance hit, ‘I’m Every Woman’. As a DJ, this was my favourite Whitney Houston hit. It is, and was, an anthem in the dance music industry which has been remixed several times and will fill a dancefloor tonight if played.The world has just lost a legend, a voice that will never be replicated, duplicated or imitated. Even Jennifer Hudson’s powerful and soulful voice in a tribute to Whitney at the Grammy Awards, could not match the sweet, soulful, clear and beautiful voice of our beloved and departed Whitney.I pray for her daughter, who is understandably having a tough time of this. May we all learn from her life and may she rest in peace….DJLT