A live countdown has been set up on WhitneyHouston.com, generating anticipation and a lot of buzz for R&B singing legend Whitney Houston’s first album in seven years! The New Jersey-bred artist is set to make her comeback on September 1st 2009, which will be her first studio album since 2002 when she released Just Whitney.

The roster of producers delivering tracks for the untitled project include big names like Will.i.am, Sean “The Pen” Garrett and Akon, who also might have a duet titled “Like I Never Left,” which leaked last year. No word on whether or not the track will make the final cut though.

“The voice is there; I don’t think anyone could ever take that from her. As long as we apply that voice to hit records, she’ll be right back where she left off,” Akon told Billboard.com back in 2007.

Houston made her first high-profile public appearance at her mentor Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy gala back in February, where she performed a four-song set that included brief renditions of “I Will Always Love You” and “I Believe in You and Me” plus a tent revival-style take on “I’m Every Woman.”

Houston has been dogged in recent years by drug and health issues — including rehab stints in 2004 and 2005 — a legal dispute with her father, John Houston, rumored financial problems and a troubled marriage to fellow singer Bobby Brown that ended in divorce.

Houston’s last album was 2002’s “Just Whitney,” which sold 737,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

SOURCE