Kevin Costner. Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
Remembering an icon. Kevin Costner paid tribute to late The Bodyguard costar Whitney Houston whereas honoring Clive Davis forward of the 2023 Grammy Awards.
The Yellowstone actor, 68, gave a heartfelt toast to the music exec, 90, throughout Davis’ annual Pre-Grammy Gala on the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on Saturday, February 4. On the finish of his speech, Costner thanked Davis for being an affect in Houston’s life. (The six-time Grammy winner died at age 48 on February 11, 2012.)
“I need to say one thing that I’ve by no means stated to you earlier than,” the Dances With Wolves actor stated, per Selection. “Possibly this isn’t the room for it however I don’t need to miss the second. And that is from the guts. Neither considered one of us ultimately might defend the one that you love Whitney, however your fingerprints on her life are clear, my buddy.”
Kevin Costner, Whitney Houston. Warner Bros/Regency/Canal +/Kobal/Shutterstock
Costner continued: “You had been a miracle in her life. Thanks for being her bodyguard, Clive. And for each particular person on this room you may have stood behind and stood for. Everybody on this enterprise has a mother, however not everybody will get a Clive. It is advisable come out right here. That is your stage.”
The California native additionally praised Davis for being the one who “single-handedly drove the music that helped flip” the 1992 movie into a success.
“‘I Will All the time Love You’ was primary on this planet earlier than the film even got here out. And because of the musical steering of David Foster and the voice that got here out of that little physique that night time within the studio, we now have a efficiency of a lifetime,” Costner instructed the attendees. “We’re all chasing desires right here, hardly ever crossing paths. However generally we do, by means of destiny or future. Once we met Clive, it altered our lives for the higher and, in some circumstances, ceaselessly. … The one factor higher than being considered one of [Clive’s] artists is perhaps being his buddy.”
Within the romantic drama, Costner starred as Frank Farmer, a former United States Secret Service agent turned bodyguard. He’s employed to guard well-known singer and actress Rachel Marron (Houston) from an unknown stalker. Towards the tip of the film — after the pair have bid their closing farewells to at least one one other — Houston’s character performs her basic hit “I Will All the time Love You.”
Since Houston’s dying, her former costar has been candid concerning the legacy she left behind. The Hidden Figures actor was amongst a lot of Houston’s buddies and family members who spoke in her honor at her 2012 funeral service in New Jersey.
“Whitney returns dwelling at this time to the place the place all of it started, and I urge us all, inside and outdoors, throughout the nation and all over the world to dry our tears, droop our sorrow — and maybe our anger — simply lengthy sufficient, simply lengthy sufficient to recollect the candy miracle of Whitney,” he instructed mourners on the time, including that the “I Wanna Dance with Someone (Who Loves Me)” artist “set the bar so excessive” for her contemporaries. “Off you go, Whitney, off you go. Escorted by a military of angels to your heavenly father, and once you sing earlier than him, don’t fear … you’ll be adequate.”
