Whitney Houston

O2, Dublin Sat/Sun/Tues 7.30pm 106.25/91.25/ 86.25/76.25 (sold out) 0818-719300

With a family pedigree of gospel and soul (one of her cousins is Dionne Warwick, and her godmother is – yikes! – Aretha Franklin), it was a foregone conclusion that Whitney Houston would enter the world of entertainment. She’s done okay by it, too: one of the world’s best-selling music acts (more than 170 million albums and singles worldwide) and a regular entry in various 100 Greatest Singers of All Time lists.

Houston's clean-cut image took something of a battering over the past decade when she sank into drug addiction, but with this comeback she's hoping to recoup most of the goodwill she lost. Though she claims to be clean, she's still not back to full diva power yet; she's cancelled some shows due to respiratory illness, and gossip site TMZ posted a video showing a bizarre rendition of I Will Always Love Youin Sydney, Australia. She's charging enough for tickets - let's hope she's worth it.

CAN’T SEE THAT? CATCH THIS

Rain Machine Thurs, Dublin