In what city was Whitney Houston born?

Whitney Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey. She was born Whitney Elizabeth Houston on August 9, 1963, at Presbyterian Hospital in Newark, a city with a major role in her family’s musical and personal history.

Her mother was Emily “Cissy” Houston, a Grammy-winning gospel and soul singer, and her father was John Russell Houston Jr., an Army veteran and Newark administrator. Whitney grew up in a musical family: her cousins included singers Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick, while gospel and soul legend Aretha Franklin was regarded as an honorary aunt.

Houston began singing in church and performing as a backing vocalist before becoming one of the world’s most successful pop and R&B artists. Although she later lived and worked in New York, Los Angeles, and other locations, those places are not her birthplace. Newark is in Essex County, in northern New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City.

The question asks for the city, so “Newark, New Jersey” is the complete canonical answer. New York City is a plausible distractor because of Houston’s connection to the New York metropolitan area, but it is not where she was born.