The Whitney Houston documentary that aired on Lifetime last year was derided for a number of reasons, the main one being how Bobby Brown was portrayed as some sort of victim of love. However, there were positives. For one, it wasn't as bad as the Aaliyah picture. Secondly, Deborah Cox covering Houston's songs was superb. She's known for much more than that though. The singer celebrates her 41st birthday today (July 13).

Cox is a native of Canada who got her start as Celine Dion's backup singer. She didn't succeed Dion as Canada's next goddess songstress (and, to be fair, nobody did). As a result, Cox had a tough time finding a label to sign her and eventually took her hopes to Los Angeles.

There, Clive Davis took a shot and signed her to Arista, where she released her self-titled debut album in 1995. The album won her a 1996 Juno Award for Best R&B/Soul Recording. She found the Canadian acclaim she desired only after moving across the border.

Her career highlight came with "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here," the single featured on her second album, One Wish. The ode to reluctance turned to romance peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks, topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for a record-breaking 14 weeks (Mary J. Blige's "Be Without You" would break it in 2006, at 15 weeks) and solidified her as a star.

Cox never eclipsed that success, but she's since maintained a steady career and ventured into Broadway, starring in Aida and Jekyll & Hyde. She's currently working on her sixth album, Work of Art, which features the endearing ballad "More Than I Knew."

Watch Deborah Cox's "More Than I Knew" Video

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