Whitney Houston pictures as model for Seventeen Magazine in 1981

Whitney Houston will always be remembered for her beautiful singing voice, but the late singer, in fact began her career as a model.

Images of Whitney Houston modelling for Seventeen Magazine in 1981 show a fresh-faced and hopeful young girl who had her whole life ahead of her.

The beautiful model, who was 18 at the time, can be seen smiling as she looks out to sea in a fuchsia swimsuit, while another photograph shows her running along the edge of the water in a pink and white striped romper suit.

Two of the shots show Whitney Houston sporting a red one-piece along with a snorkelling mask as she carries flippers before heading out into the surf with her fellow models.

Another image sees the angelic-faced Whitney Houston sat on the edge of a sunbed while wearing a red dress as she throws her head back in laughter.

Fashion editor Diane Forden, who worked with Whitney Houston during her modelling days, has spoken out to tell of how the future superstar was just as sweet in person as she appears in the beach shots.

Diane Forden wrote on the website BridalGuide.com: “I had the pleasure of working with Whitney during her high school years when she was a teen model.

“She was a delightful, sweet, wonderful person, and all of us who worked with her loved her. She was truly beautiful inside and out.”

The fashion editor also took to the website to tell of how professional Whitney Houston was, despite her young years.

Diane Forden wrote: “Anytime we were booking models for a photo shoot, we would always say, <<Let’s book Whitney>>, <<See if Whitney is available>>, <<Whitney would be great for this story>>.

“She was never a diva and she was always professional. She showed up on time and made our jobs easier by doing her best in front of the camera. She never complained if days ran long and cheerfully did whatever was expected.”

Two years after Whitney Houston graced the cover of the teen magazine, she landed a record deal with Arista and began putting together her first album.

Whitney Houston released her self-titled debut album two years later, in 1985, which sold more than 25 million copies internationally and paved the way for her to hit the big-time.

The touching photographs only make the star’s untimely death seem even more tragic, and they are unearthed as it is reported by Radar Online that she allegedly died from a deadly concoction of Valium, Xanax and alcohol.

However the cause of death is yet to be confirmed, pending toxicology reports which are expected to be released in a few weeks.

Whitney Houston was laid to rest on Sunday in her homeland of Newark, New Jersey, following her funeral the day before.