There is no denying how much the late, great Whitney Houston has inspired and influenced a lot of people. The following are just some of the countless fans who are now in grief and will always love Whitney.

“I remember singing her songs as a kid, with the belief that I actually could sound like her.”– Louie Barretto

“The Greatest Love of All” was the first pop song I ever memorized. “Saving All My Love For You” is my favorite karaoke song. And “Try It on My Own” is my college barkada’s lift-me-up-after-a-breakup anthem!”– Jaja Castro, TV5 PR executive

“She changed my life in many ways. She was my inspiration. I grew up listening to her music and I am sure a lot of singers in the world consider her as their hero. I still remember when I was just three years old, I performed “I Will Always Love You” in the first amateur singing contest that I joined and won. – Myrus, singer

“My parents love Whitney Houston, so I grew up listening to her greatest hits. I would always put her CD on, turn up the player, and just lose myself in the music and sing along. Since our family loves singing, trying to perfect versions of her songs was always the highlight of any karaoke session. And when I was in high school and in college, I would always choose one of her songs as my audition piece for glee clubs.”– Grace Libero, Meg magazine managing editor

“I sang a lot of Whitney songs when I was a teenager and I think she’s responsible for messing up my pitch. Until now, I can’t really sing guy songs, pitch-wise. I find it hard to sing them because I was raised singing girly songs care of Whitney.” – Stevie L.

“My dad was a fan of Whitney Houston when I was a kid and he used to play aloud the soundtrack of “The Bodyguard” film over and over again in the car. My favorite song is “I’m Every Woman.”– Julien Drolon, singer

“Whitney Houston was a favorite of my older relatives whom I grew up with. By being around them often, I grew up hearing her songs a lot. The Whitney Houston songs they used to play often were the fast ones like “So Emotional” and  “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.” I can say that some of my more upbeat dance songs have that distinct ’80s sound which is probably a result of growing up hearing that kind of music.” – Lance Raymundo, singer

“My parents bought my sisters and me a karaoke player for Christmas when I was eight. The first song I ever learned to sing was ‘The Greatest Love of All’ and I used to perform it at family parties. Because of this Whitney was a huge influence on my childhood and pretty much shaped my taste in music.”– Jigs Mayuga, makeup artist

Whitney’s songs were (and still are) relevant during several stages of my life: “One Moment in Time” kept me going even when things were not the way I wanted them to be in my writing career. I have sung “I Will Always Love You” by myself, of course, for someone that I used to love and continue to love. I can still relate to her songs from “The Bodyguard” soundtrack, especially “Run to You.”– Senedy Que, screenwriter and director

“I started learning her songs for voice classes in the summers of grade school. Most of the time I sucked at performing the unbelievably high notes.” – Ana Felizardo, director of media arts

I studied voice because I wanted to sing “The Greatest Love of All.” The first dance I learned is “How Will I Know” via the MTV steps. – Ome Itum, copy chief

She made me want to sing. – Aimee Marcos

Whitney was a big part of my teenage life when I was still in Abu Dhabi. The first movie I saw alone in a theater was “The Bodyguard” when I was 11. I actually even watched it twice. The first movie my mom and I watched together in a theater was “Waiting to Exhale” when I was 13. My stepdad would always scold me whenever I sang Whitney Houston songs early in the morning. I even sang Whitney Houston songs at school when we had programs. I will definitely miss her. – Khrise Castro

The first ever song I sang on karaoke was “The Greatest Love of All.” One of the first cassette tapes I had was Whitney Houston’s. Yun lagi ang sounds namin sa bahay nung bata kami. – Aubrey Miles, actress

Niño Mark M. Sablan, Contributor, Philippine Daily Inquirer

E-mail the author at [email protected], or visit his blog at ninomarksablan.blogspot.com.