Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown's Relationship: A Look Back

Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown had one of the most tumultuous relationships in Hollywood history.

After getting married in July 1992, the pair's union was a roller coaster. Over the course of their 14-year marriage, they welcomed a child, Bobbi Kristina Brown, and continued to succeed in their careers — but they also dealt with addiction, alcoholism and marital strife. In 2012, Houston died after accidentally drowning in a hotel bathtub at just 48 years old. A toxicology report found both prescription medications and cocaine in her system.

When the couple met in 1989, they had an instant connection. "Bobby and I basically come from the same place," Houston, a New Jersey native, told Rolling Stone in 1993. "Bobby comes from Boston, out of the projects. I come from Newark out of the projects."

Beyond their similar backgrounds, the pair also related on a musical level. Brown recalled Houston's influence in his 2016 memoir Every Little Step. "She taught me how to use my voice, how to blend my notes, how to chop my voice when I needed," he wrote.

Brown said, in turn, he taught her how to dance: "At first, she was uncomfortable with dancing. Admittedly she didn't have much rhythm. But she had a certain flair. … With the two of us working together, sharing our strengths, I think we made each other better entertainers."

Friends recalled that the couple were incredibly close. "They had this sort of Bonnie and Clyde mentality where it's them against the world," a family friend told PEOPLE.

Both Houston and Brown had faced addiction before their marriage, but over the years their challenges escalated: Brown was arrested for charges related to drunk driving and possession, while Houston sought treatment in rehab multiple times. "We would still be together if it wasn't for, you know, drugs. Drugs just got the best of us," Brown said in a 2022 documentary, per the New York Post.

In 2016, a music source told PEOPLE: "She loved him. She truly did. In some ways, Bobby provided stability in her life, and she had someone who truly cared about her. Unfortunately, it became too much for both of them to handle."

From collaborating on music to welcoming their daughter, here is a look back at Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown's relationship.

April 13, 1989: Whitney Houston meets Bobby Brown

Houston and Brown met at the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards. Houston later recalled their first interaction with Rolling Stone. She sat behind Brown and bumped into him while hugging her friends. "We were laughing, and I kept hitting Bobby in the back of the head," she said. "I leaned over and said, 'Bobby, I'm so sorry.' And he turned around and looked at me, like, 'Yeah, well just don't let it happen again.' And I was like, 'Oooooh, this guy doesn't like me.' "

Brown's surly reaction intrigued Houston. "I always get curious when somebody doesn't like me. I want to know why," she added. Her brother, Michael Houston, later insinuated that Brown may have appealed to her rebellious streak: "He was the type my mother always kept away from her."

In 2016, Brown recalled their introduction on 20/20. "She kept bumping me. I asked her why, and she was like, 'Because I want to,' " he said. "And that attitude — that whole thing right there — that's the way it started." He also said that it was "love at first sight," adding, "There was something about her eyes that made me melt inside."

1989: Whitney Houston invites Bobby Brown to her 26th birthday party

Following their initial meeting, Houston invited Brown to her birthday party. "He called back and said, 'I'd love to come,' which was a surprise," she told Rolling Stone.

August 1989: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown reunite at a BeBe and CeCe Winans concert

Roughly four months later, the couple ran into each other at a BeBe and CeCe Winans concert in Los Angeles. "After the show, CeCe had a party, and we all went out to dinner," Houston told Rolling Stone. "At the end of the dinner, Bobby walked up to me and said, 'If I asked you to go out with me, would you?' "

Though the Bodyguard star was seeing someone else at the time — she described that relationship as "ehhhh" — she agreed to go out with Brown. The two went on their first date the very next night.

August 1989: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown go on their first date

Brown recalled their first date in the 2015 Lifetime special Bobby Brown: Remembering Whitney, according to E! News. The pair went to the movies to see Uncle Buck. "We both enjoyed it and laughed and had a good time," he said.

In his 2022 A&E documentary, Brown shared that the twosome hung out all day, according to Yahoo. "We went shopping in Beverly Hills, we had dinner at the Ivy and then we just chilled for the rest of the evening," he said. "Just the way she looked at me from day one until the last day we were together was always special."

1989: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown begin a relationship

After that first date, Houston said she and Brown became fast pals. "Our whole relationship started out as friends," she told Rolling Stone. "We'd have dinner, laugh, talk and go home. It wasn't intimate. And then it kind of dawned on us, 'What's going on here?' "

In 2002, Houston said that Brown had always treated her well. "He was sexy, smooth, a gentleman and a nice guy, contrary to popular belief," she told Diane Sawyer on Primetime. "Treated me like a lady. We're opposites in so many ways, but we're much alike."

1991: Bobby Brown joins Whitney Houston on tour

Houston embarked on the I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour in 1991, and Brown traveled with her on the road. "Bobby spent a lot of time with me while I was on tour," she told Rolling Stone. "On his [1992 Humpin' Around the World] tour, I spent a lot of time with him," she said. "We watched each other."

In 2009, Houston recalled their early romance in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. "Three years we went out before we got married," she said on The Oprah Winfrey Show. "Jet-setted all over the world doing what we wanted to do."

September 1991: Bobby Brown proposes to Whitney Houston

Houston and Brown had slightly different recollections of his proposal. Brown recalled popping the question in the back of a car, according to E! News. "She came to pick me up at the airport," he said in 2012. "I asked her, 'Do you wanna marry me?' And she went crazy — 'Yes, yes, yes!' She told the car to pull over."

In November 1992, Houston opened up to Vanity Fair about their relationship. "I just never wanted to be married. I had an independence that didn't include marriage," she said. "I always thought men were full of s---. For the most part, they used to talk s--- to me all the time."

In 1993, Houston told Rolling Stone about the proposal, including that she initially said no: "The first time he asked me to marry him, I said: 'Forget about it, no way. It's just not in my plans.' After a year or so, I fell in love with Bobby. And when he asked to marry me the second time, I said yes."

July 18, 1992: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown get married

Houston and Brown got married in front of 800 people at Houston's five-acre, $11 million New Jersey mansion. According to Vanity Fair, the bride wore a $40,000 French lace gown by Marc Bouwer, while the bridal party dressed in shades of purple — Houston's favorite.

The singer's father, John Russell Houston, walked her down the aisle before she shed tears during the ceremony. "I was a nervous wreck," Houston later told Vanity Fair.

Brown was equally anxious, according to Entertainment Weekly. In 2022, he recalled that he had locked himself in the bathroom because he was "scared to death" that Houston might not actually love him. His friend Alicia Etheredge eventually coaxed him out (Brown and Etheredge got married in 2012).

July 1992: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown fight on their honeymoon

Houston's friend and former assistant Robyn Crawford published her memoir, A Song for You: My Life with Whitney Houston, in 2019. In it, Crawford wrote that Houston and Brown began feuding almost immediately following their wedding.

"A few days into the honeymoon, I heard talk around the office about an altercation between Whitney and Bobby," she wrote. "When the lovebirds returned, Whitney had a visible scar on the side of her face. The cut was at least three inches, running in a straight line from the top of her cheek down to the jaw."

She recalled that Houston downplayed the injury. "I asked her to tell me what happened," Crawford wrote. "[She said,] 'We had a disagreement. I threw a glass, the glass hit the wall, shattered, and that's how the cut happened. Couples argue all the time and it's never a big deal.' "

September 1992: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown confirm they are expecting a baby

In a Los Angeles Times profile, Brown confirmed that he and Houston were expecting a baby. "We're expecting our first child next year and I'm hoping it's a girl," he said. "I've even got a name in mind ... Bobbi." In November, the Washington Post reported that Houston had been pregnant on their wedding day.

At the time, Brown had already welcomed three children from previous relationships: sons Landon and Bobby Jr., as well as daughter La'Princia.

September 1992: Bobby Brown praises Whitney Houston

In the same L.A. Times profile, Brown had nothing but praise for Houston. "My wife gives me the freedom to be myself," he said. "She's very secure and she knows how much I do love her. It makes me feel better to know I have a strong woman beside me."

The New Edition member said that he had never felt love like this before. "I didn't think I was ever going to get married until I met Whitney," he said. "I think I was with the wrong people to understand what love was about."

Brown also told the publication that, despite their money and fame, their relationship was still grounded in reality. "We can talk about music and things we are going through," he said. "We talk and talk about everything. … It's a real marriage."

1992: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown continue drug use

Though Houston said on Oprah that her drug use was "very light" prior to filming The Bodyguard, Brown recalled that his own drug use intensified after their wedding. "Things changed when I got married," he told Dateline in 2004. "Because, you know, I stopped touring. I stopped working."

Brown added: "I would spend like ... days to weeks just high. Just high, just on coke. Marijuana at the same time, alcohol. ... The one thing I'm grateful that I never got into was heroin. Because that's a killer."

Houston reflected on that period of her marriage on Oprah in 2009. "[Bobby] had just put everything aside of his own, and just said: 'I'll go with you,' " she said. "I think somewhere inside something happens to a man when a woman has that much control or has that much fame ... if he doesn't have his own."

March 4, 1993: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown welcome Bobbi Kristina

On March 4, 1993, the couple welcomed their only child together, daughter Bobbi "Krissy" Kristina Brown, in Livingston, New Jersey. Baby Bobbi weighed 6 lbs., 12 oz., and was delivered by cesarean section.

March 1993: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown face addiction

In 2016, Brown wrote that Houston's drug use escalated following the birth of their daughter. "For some reason Whitney's drug use got worse," he wrote. "Maybe it was because she had to stop using all those months while she was pregnant, but she resumed with a vengeance."

Brown also wrote that he couldn't intervene: "I would try to keep Whitney locked in the room, telling her she shouldn't come in front of our daughter because of the way the drugs affected her. But I couldn't police Whitney. ... She did what she wanted."

In 2009, Houston had a similar recollection of her drug use. "After The Bodyguard, I had Krissy, it started getting heavy," she said on Oprah. Her drugs of choice were "cocaine. And marijuana."

The singer made a point to say that she didn't drink as Brown did. "He liked to drink. I wasn't a drinker," she added. "The alcoholism, that's an ugly thing. Either you're going to be a really nice alcoholic or a really mean one. He was really mean."

In 2018, Houston's hairstylist and friend Ellin LaVar told PEOPLE that their relationship was unhealthy. "The problem with Whitney and Bobby was they exacerbated each other's addiction," she said. "She did more cocaine, he drank more. But when they got together they both started doing more cocaine and drinking."

June 1993: Whitney Houston defends Bobby Brown's character

Houston denied rumors that Brown was a "womanizer" in a 1993 interview with Rolling Stone. "I just want people to understand something: My husband has never, never, disrespected any woman," she said. "And I want people to know that my husband's a good person. He's a respectable human being. He was raised with respect."

The six-time Grammy winner also insisted that they had a healthy marriage: "He loves being married, and he's respectful to his marriage. He respects me, and I respect him. I'm tired of people talking about him like he's this bad guy and he has no respect for me or his marriage. That's bulls---."

November 1993: Whitney Houston reveals that she and Bobby Brown had a miscarriage

In an interview with Barbara Walters, Houston revealed that she had a miscarriage while filming of The Bodyguard. "It was very painful, emotionally and physically," she said. "I was back on the set the next day. And it's over. But I had Bobbi Kristina one year later, and I am blessed."

In his 2016 memoir, Brown alleged that his ex-wife faked the incident. "I'm no medical doctor, but she was not acting like a woman who was in the throes of mourning a lost baby," he wrote. "I never saw any evidence of her pregnancy or her miscarriage, so I started to think the entire story was a ruse created by her PR team."

Brown added that Houston denied fabricating her condition: "When I confronted her about it, she was insistent. 'Yes, I was pregnant!' she said. But I didn't believe her. To this day, I believe her pregnancy was a story that was concocted by her people to explain to the public why she would marry Bobby Brown."

June 28, 1994: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown announce she is pregnant

At a concert in Atlanta, Houston announced that she was pregnant with her second child.

Barely two weeks after announcing her pregnancy, however, Houston's spokesperson announced that the singer had miscarried while on tour in Texas. "She's sad but they hope to have more children," the rep told the Associated Press.

1996: Whitney Houston is taking drugs daily and Bobby Brown is charged with drunk driving

In 2009, Houston told Oprah that 1996 was a particularly difficult year. "By The Preacher's Wife, [doing drugs] was an everyday thing," she told Winfrey. "I wasn't happy by that point in time. I was losing myself."

Brown's addiction also escalated that year. In August, Brown was injured in a car accident where he was driving drunk; he was later charged with driving under the influence and served jail time.

December 19, 1996: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown have another miscarriage

Houston had another miscarriage in December. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Houston and Brown were expecting another baby to arrive in July 1997.

July 21, 1997: Whitney Houston is injured while on vacation with Bobby Brown

In July, Houston and Brown traveled to Capri, Italy, where they chartered a yacht off the coast. Houston received two stitches to close up a 2-inch cut on her left cheek. The singer reportedly told police that she hit a rock while swimming, but a crew member claimed the injury took place on the boat, leading to rumors that Brown had been involved.

Brown denied rumors that he was to blame. In December, he told MTV: "It's hard for me to keep having to explain to [my kids] what the press is talking about ... [and keep saying] 'No, I did not. You know I would never hit Mom.' "

July 4, 1999: Whitney Houston defends her marriage to Bobby Brown

In July 1999, Houston contested rumors about her marriage in an interview with the New York Daily News. "No, we don't fight all the time. No, he doesn't beat me," she told the outlet. "He's a sweet, gentle man."

Houston added: "Nobody is good or bad all the time. Everybody has ups and downs and we've had our moments. They pass."

November 7, 2002: Whitney Houston says Bobby Brown has never hit her

Houston denied that her husband had ever struck her in an interview with Diane Sawyer. "He's never hit me," she told the journalist. "I've hit him, in anger."

When Sawyer asked if Houston considered herself "an addict," the songstress pivoted. "I am addicted to a few things. ... [Like] making love," she said. "I don't like to think of myself addicted. I like to think of, 'I had a bad habit,' which can be broken."

December 7, 2003: Bobby Brown allegedly strikes Whitney Houston

Police responded to a call from Houston on Dec. 7, 2003, alleging that Brown had struck her with an open hand. "It was a verbal confrontation which escalated to a physical confrontation," a police spokesperson said.

Brown had already left the scene by the time the police arrived. According to CNN, he appeared in court on December 10, at which point he was charged with one count of battery and ordered to return to court on January 7. Houston attended the hearing with a visible bruise on her cheek and told reporters, "We're still together."

In April 2004, Brown told Dateline that he didn't hit or slap his wife. He alleged that Houston was the instigator. "She hit me. She threw something at me," he said. "It escalated."

In his 2016 memoir, Brown admitted that he had, in fact, hit her. "Whitney tried to stop me from beating up the dealer, but I was not having it," he wrote. "I turned around to her, drew back my hand and smacked her across the face. The moment it happened, I was stunned and full of regret."

March 12, 2004: Bobby Brown is sentenced to 60 days in jail after hitting Whitney Houston

In March 2004, Brown was sentenced to 60 days in jail for violating his probation from his 1996 DUI, according to CBS. His probation violations included the misdemeanor battery charge for hitting Houston in December.

He was released early to appear in Virginia family court for a paternity case, per EW.

March 15, 2004: Whitney House checks into rehab for five days

Just days after Brown's sentencing, the Preacher's Wife star checked into rehab. She checked out of the facility only five days into her one-month treatment.

"Miss Houston is continuing the prescribed treatment as was planned," Houston's rep said. "Her movements are in total keeping with the program." Her rep also added that the singer remained "supportive" of her husband amid his paternity lawsuit.

April 2004: Bobby Brown says he will keep loving Whitney Houston

In 2004, Brown told NBC that he wanted to go back to work and acknowledged that pursuing his own career would mean less time with his wife and daughter.

"If we want to be apart from each other, then we'll be apart from each other," he said of Houston. "If we want to be together, then we'll be together. And 'til that day that she does not want to be around me, I'm [going to] love her."

2005: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown's relationship deteriorates

Houston and Brown later reflected on the final years of their marriage. "The last few years of our marriage, it was terrible," Brown said in 2016. "Both of us trying to be clean, or one of us trying to be clean."

Houston recalled wanting to leave Brown. "I remember saying to God one day, I said, 'Give me one day of strength.' Because I was weak," she told Oprah in 2009. "I was so weak to the love. ... He was my drug."

March 23, 2005: Whitney Houston enters rehab for a second time

One year later, Houston's rep announced that Houston was again seeking treatment after her mother, Cissy Houston, petitioned a Georgia court to order her daughter to enter rehab.

"Whitney Houston has reentered a rehabilitation facility today," Houston's rep said in a statement. The singer was treated at the Crossroads Centre in Antigua.

June 30, 2005: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown appear on a reality series

Brown's reality series Being Bobby Brown, which regularly featured Houston, premiered on A&E in June 2005. Houston later spoke about her time on the show, telling Oprah, "I just wanted people to know that I was his wife."

Houston went on: "I knew I was trying to be Mrs. Bobby Brown. ... I was trying to make a statement. Like, '[The press isn't] gonna win. You're not going to do that. We got married. We were in love. We were crazy for each other.' … We fought for that. And then somehow it got really kind of messy and got lost."

Both Houston and Brown said that the show exacerbated their marital issues. "I wasn't happy with the marriage," Houston told Winfrey. "I was losing me."

Brown expressed similar sentiments following Houston's 2012 death. "We looked at the bubble and saw ourselves," he said on Today. "We [were] able to see that our drug use had affected our relationship, had affected the love that we felt for each other."

2006: Whitney Houston leaves Bobby Brown

In her 2009 Oprah interview, Houston recalled some of the red flags that spurred her to end her relationship with Brown. "We had a big, big giant portrait of me and him and my child. He cut my head off the picture," she said. "That was one sign."

Houston also alleged that Brown had been unfaithful. "I just knew. I was like, 'You don't smell right. You don't look right. Something's going on,' " she said. "And then all this other stuff started coming out about him being with this one or that one or being too promiscuous."

Their split was gradual, but Houston recalled having the realization in December 2004, when Brown slapped her. "I started moving furniture out of the house," she said in part 2 of her Oprah interview. "I even asked him to leave. ... And that was the time where he slapped me."

In 2006, she left for good. "I went to L.A.," she said. "I just got on a plane. ... I wasn't going to be in an unholy matrimony. I wasn't going to be living with a man who decided that he didn't want to live the same way I did or thought about marriage or me the same way."

January 19, 2006: Bobby Brown denies rumors of split from Whitney Houston

Brown shut down rumors of a split in January 2006. "The rumors are wrong. They're false," he told PEOPLE. "She's the better half of me. … We're loving life, and we're just trying to be as good to each other as possible."

That night, Brown performed in New Haven, Connecticut, where Houston was nowhere to be seen. Brown said: "She missed her flight because she had a dental appointment. … I will dedicate this show to her."

2006: Whitney Houston waits for Bobby Brown to come to California

Even after leaving, Houston said that she held out hope that she and Brown would get back together. "I waited for him to come back," the singer said in 2009.

But Brown never came. "After a couple of months, he would say he was coming, and he never came and my only concern was my daughter and her perception of her father," Houston said.

September 8, 2006: Whitney Houston files to separate from Bobby Brown

In September, Houston's rep confirmed that her client had filed for a legal separation from her husband of 14 years with an intent to divorce. Houston reportedly asked for custody of Bobbi Kristina with visitation rights for Brown.

One of Brown's relatives told PEOPLE that their small disagreements had led to bigger issues. "The relationship just spiraled out of control," the relative said. "They would fight about what to eat for dinner, about who wasn't cleaning out the dishwasher. Stupid things. But they were always yelling."

Another source claimed that rumors of an affair between Brown and author Karrine Steffans proved to be the final straw for Houston.

The relative told PEOPLE that the longtime couple would remain in each other's lives in some capacity. "Right now they're both angry, but there's a thin line between love and hate," the relative said. "They're going to always have a place in each other's lives."

On September 19, Brown told PEOPLE, "I'm really saddened by the whole situation."

October 2006: Whitney Houston files for divorce from Bobby Brown

One month after filing for separation, Houston officially filed for divorce from the R&B star. In the Lifetime special Bobby Brown: Remembering Whitney, Brown said that he was served the divorce papers while out to dinner. "I was hurt," he said, according to E! News. "I was basically mortified. I was like, 'Wow, I did not see it coming.' "

Of their divorce settlement, Brown added: "She got everything. Property, jewelry, cars ... I left with my sobriety."

April 24, 2007: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown finalize divorce

The couple's divorce was finalized on April 24, 2007. Custody of their daughter, Bobbi Kristina, was awarded solely to Houston.

May 2007: Bobby Brown sues Whitney Houston for custody of Bobbi Kristina

The next month, Brown contested the custody ruling, suing his ex-wife for shared custody, child support and spousal support. Brown contended that he was unable to respond to Houston's divorce petition in a timely manner because he was essentially "homeless," had "very little money" and was emotionally distraught.

"I believe I have a wonderful relationship with my daughter Bobbi Kris — a relationship that I would like to see strengthen and grow," he said in his filing.

In January 2008, his motion was denied because "there were no appearances or phone calls from Mr. Brown today for a scheduled hearing," a court rep said.

April 2008: Bobby Brown writes that Whitney Houston used him to "clean up her image"

In his book The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing But, Brown called his marriage to Houston "doomed from the very beginning" and wrote that they had wed under false pretenses. "I realize Whitney had a different agenda than I did when we got married," he wrote. "I believe her agenda was to clean up her image, while mine was to be loved and have children."

He also claimed that he "never used cocaine" before meeting Houston. "I had experimented with other drugs, but marijuana was my drug of choice," he said.

April 3, 2008: Whitney Houston responds to Bobby Brown's book

Houston's rep released a statement to PEOPLE in response to Brown's book, excerpts of which were published in the Post. "Miss Houston is sad that Bobby feels he [needs] to say such things," her rep said. "But she chooses to take the high road and will not speak badly about the father of her child even if it's to set the record straight."

July 10, 2008: Bobby Brown says he and Whitney Houston are "cordial"

In July, Brown gave an update on his relationship with Houston and their daughter, who was living in Atlanta with Houston. "We're cordial. We're friends," he told reporters. "[Bobbi Kristina is] doing really well and growing up really good."

September 2009: Whitney Houston details Bobby Brown's abuse during interview with Oprah Winfrey

In her bombshell interview on Oprah, Houston claimed that Brown was emotionally abusive during their marriage. "Physically, no way," she added.

Houston then clarified that Brown did slap her once, "but he got hit over the head three times" in retaliation.

The singer recalled one of the couple's darkest moments at a party she threw for Brown at an Atlanta nightclub. "He drank a lot that night," she told Winfrey. "For some reason, everything that I did I tried to do to make him happy — it would turn on me."

Houston alleged that, when they returned home that night, Brown spit on her in front of their daughter. "He had such a hate in his eyes for me," she recalled. "He cursed me all the way home in front of his parents, and then he spit on me."

Houston said that things escalated from there. "[Bobby] pushed me against the wall," she said. "I was on the phone and I went back in and I took the phone and I hit him over the head with it. He just fell out on the floor. It was just drama."

Summing up the evening, Houston said, "It was just hateful. Ugly."

September 2009: Bobby Brown reflects on his relationship with Whitney Houston

Amid Houston's Oprah interview, Brown suggested that he and Houston brought out the worst of each other. "I think we corrupted each other," he told The Insider. "I don't think she hurt me or I hurt her. I just think we had a 14-year marriage that had its ups and downs and not many people understood it."

September 15, 2009: Bobby Brown declines to comment on Whitney Houston's bombshell interview

In the wake of Houston's allegations, Brown stayed silent. "He's totally taking the high road," his manager and girlfriend Alicia Etheridge said in a statement, according to the Boston Herald. "He has no comment."

May 7, 2010: Bobby Brown proposes to Alicia Etheredge

Brown proposed to his manager and girlfriend, Alicia Etheredge, during a performance in Florida. She held the couple's 11-month-old son, Cassius Brown, as the musician got down on one knee with a ring.

Houston told PEOPLE, "I am very happy for Bobby and Alicia and I wish them all the best."

January 31, 2011: Whitney Houston performs at Bobby Brown's mother's funeral

Houston and Brown reunited in honor of Brown's late mother, Carole Brown, who died on January 21 in California. Houston sang two songs for Carole's services: "Precious Lord Take My Hand" solo and "Never Would Have Made It" with New Edition.

2011: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown are in a place with "no drama"

In 2016, a relative of Brown's told PEOPLE that, before her death, Houston and Brown had made peace. "They had finally gotten to a place where there was no drama at all," the relative said. "He loved her as the mother of his child and as a woman who he had spent his youth with."

February 11, 2012: Whitney Houston dies

Whitney Houston died at the age of 48 on Feb. 11, 2012, in Beverly Hills, California. Police Lieutenant Mark Rosen told PEOPLE that officials entered the singer's room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel after one of Houston's assistants found her unresponsive. "We attempted to resuscitate her, to no avail," he said, before adding that there was not yet a clear cause of death.

Brown released a statement the next day. "I am deeply saddened at the passing of my ex-wife," he said. In 2022, Brown told PEOPLE that he had been shocked by Houston's death. "I thought she was getting herself together," he said. "I didn't think she would turn back."

February 11, 2012: Bobby Brown honors Whitney Houston on stage

On February 11, Brown was scheduled to perform with New Edition in Mississippi. After learning of Houston's death, Brown went on with the show to avoid disappointing his fans. "I would like to say, I love you, Whitney," he said during the performance.

New Edition continued with the show, even as Brown began crying on stage.

February 18, 2012: Bobby Brown leaves Whitney Houston's funeral

Much was made of the fact that Brown left Houston's funeral early, just moments before the services were set to begin. He reportedly walked up and touched his ex-wife's casket before his departure.

Brown later addressed the incident, explaining that security would not allow all of his children to sit with him and Bobbi Kristina. "It was disrespectful," he said in 2015. "It was no fault of the family, it was security. So I just kissed the casket and me and my kids, we left."

Houston was laid to rest next to her father in Westfield, New Jersey.

March 22, 2012: Whitney Houston's cause of death is confirmed

One month after Houston's passing, the L.A. County coroner's office confirmed that Houston died by accidental drowning in her hotel bathtub, though the situation was compounded by heart disease and drug use. A toxicology report found that Houston had cocaine, marijuana, Xanax, Benadryl and other medications in her system at the time of death.

"There was water found in her lungs that indicated to us that she was alive when she was submerged underwater," the coroner told PEOPLE. "According to our tests, the level of cocaine was not necessarily a lethal level of cocaine. But her death was complicated by chronic cocaine use and heart disease."

Another coroner's office official explained that Houston likely either "passed out first due to the intoxication from the cocaine, or she could've had a heart attack and then drowned."

April 2012: Bobby Brown says he's "not the reason" for Whitney Houston's death

In his first interview since Houston's death, Brown addressed claims that he was to blame for her death. "I didn't know she was struggling with [drugs] still," he said on Today. "It's a hard fight to maintain sobriety that way."

Brown added that he had not introduced Houston to any drugs — in fact, she had used narcotics "way before" they met. "I wasn't the one that got Whitney on drugs at all," he said. "I'm not the reason she's gone."

June 18, 2012: Bobby Brown marries Alicia Etheredge

In June, Brown married his manager and longtime friend, Alicia Etheredge, in Honolulu. While his children Landon, La'Princia, Bobby Jr. and Cassius were in attendance, Bobbi Kristina was absent from the nuptials. A source told PEOPLE that Bobbi Kristina was, at the time, not on good terms with her father.

January 2015: Bobby Brown alleges that Whitney Houston was unfaithful during their marriage

Though Brown had previously admitted to cheating on Houston, he claimed that it went both ways, according to E! News. "There was infidelity in the marriage, yes, on both parts," he said in the documentary Bobby Brown: Remembering Whitney. "Both of us cheated on each other — period."

Brown elaborated: "I just think when two people that love each other as much as we loved each other, when they start drifting apart, different people come into the situation, into the scenario and we make mistakes."

In his 2016 memoir, the songwriter reiterated his assertions that Houston was unfaithful. "She cheated before I did," he wrote. "She slept with quite a few of the producers and artists that she worked with or associated with."

January 31, 2015: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown's daughter Bobbi Kristina is found unresponsive in the bathtub

On January 31, Houston and Brown's only child Bobbi Kristina was found facedown and unresponsive in her bathtub by her housemate Max Lomas.

PEOPLE confirmed with police that Bobbi was given CPR and revived before being rushed to North Fulton Hospital.

Two days later, however, Bobbi was unresponsive and on a ventilator. "The report that Bobbi Kristina Brown has been taken to the hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, is accurate. No additional information will be forthcoming," her father said in a statement.

July 26, 2015: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown's daughter Bobbi Kristina dies

After months under medical supervision, Bobbi Kristina Brown died on July 26, 2015. Her cause of death was ruled to be a combination of drowning and drug intoxication. The coroner's office was unable to determine if her death was intentional or accidental.

Shortly after her death, Brown released a statement: "Krissy was and is an angel. I am completely numb at this time. My family must find a way to live with her in spirit and honor her memory. Our loss is unimaginable."

In 2016, Brown opened up about losing both Bobbi and Houston. "The same thing that happened to my daughter, it happened to Whitney," he said. "The hardest thing I had to do in life was tell my daughter to let go."

June 2016: Bobby Brown says he "still loves" Whitney Houston

Four years after Houston's death, Brown said he "still loved" the late singer. "For the rest of my life, I will have that feeling towards her because she was the one person that knew me — that one person who had no judgment," he said.

May 2017: Medium Tyler Henry claims to channel Whitney Houston in a session with Bobby Brown

Brown appeared on the 2017 season premiere of Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry. During their session, the clairvoyant claimed that a woman wanted to convey a message about her heart.

"This is very clear in the way that this comes through, she's very insistent to acknowledge, 'No matter how I died, I need them to know the heart. I need them to know the heart,' " Henry told Brown. "I can distinctly tell there are other aspects to this passing."

When asked if he was aware of "recent discussions" about someone with a heart condition, Brown responded, "Yeah, my ex-wife."

February 2018: Bobby Brown believes Whitney Houston died of a broken heart

Seven years later, Brown shared his own theory about Houston's cause of death. "I don't think she died from drugs," he said, adding that her untimely death was caused by "just being broken-hearted."

July 2018: Bobby Brown denies ever hitting Whitney Houston

At a press conference for the BET miniseries The Bobby Brown Story, Brown denied ever having "violent incidents" with his ex-wife. "What people don't understand is the stories told about me are untrue, are false," he told reporters.

When a reporter read a transcript of a 911 call Houston made, Brown denied its veracity. "You're mistaken," he said. "The public record is wrong." Brown then cut the conference short.

April 2021: Bobby Brown says he misses Whitney Houston

In a 2021 appearance on Red Table Talk, Brown said that if he could, he would tell Houston that he missed her. "She's definitely missed in my heart, in my spirit," he said. "She was my friend. She was the mother of my child. One of the greatest entertainers that I've ever met ... One of the greatest voices the world has ever beared witness to."

Brown also spoke about their tumultuous relationship. "We fought hard verbally, but we loved even harder," he said. "Our love was strong for each other. We showed it to each other time and time again, over and over."

He added: "We just got caught up and that had nothing to do with how we felt about each other. The love was always there."

May 2022: Bobby Brown calls Whitney Houston the love of his life

In the documentary Biography: Bobby Brown, Brown called his late ex the love of his life, according to the Post. "She was just the kindest, sweetest person that I knew," he said.

Brown added that, had they not divorced, Houston might still be alive. "I think we could have helped each other out," he said. "I think she'd still be here if we hadn't divorced."

December 2, 2022: Bobby Brown shares his thoughts on Whitney Houston's biopic

Though Brown was not involved in the making of Houston's biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody, he told E! News that he was "probably gonna watch it."

Brown also expressed that he was grateful Moonlight's Ashton Sanders was cast to portray him, adding that he was "looking forward to it."