In celebration of Whitney Houston's life and unparalleled career, Madame Tussauds has chosen to immortalize the artist in wax - four times at four separate and distinct points of her life, which will be showcased at each Madame Tussauds Attraction in the U.S.

This will represent the first time in the more than 200-year history of Madame Tussauds that the attraction has created four distinct wax likenesses of a single subject represented at different points of their life.

The new wax figures will be unveiled at a ceremony in early February 2014 at Madame Tussauds New York in Times Square. They will then be individually installed in each of the four US Madame Tussauds attractions – in New York City, Washington, D.C., Hollywood and Las Vegas.

Each one will be featured in a unique pose and costume, recreating a significant moment of Houston's incredible career.

The process takes four months to complete at an approximate cost of US$1.2m (£0.8m, 0.9m euro) for the four figures.

In Madame Tussauds New York Houston will be dressed in an elegant gold sequined floor-length gown evocative of the one she wore in 2009 in the "I Look to You" album photo shoot.

Madam Tussauds Washington, D.C. will recreate Houston's 1991 performance of "Star Spangled Banner" at the start of Super Bowl XXV, where she will be dressed in a recreation of the white track suit with red, white and blue detailing that she wore with a white headband.

Houston took on her first major acting role when she starred as singer Rachel Marron in 1992's "The Bodyguard." At Madame Tussauds Hollywood, Houston will be depicted as Rachel Marron wearing a replica of the chromed-silver "Queen of the Night" costume she famously wore in the film.

The first single from Houston's second studio album was titled "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and earned the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 30th Grammy Awards in 1988. At Madame Tussauds Las Vegas, Houston's wax figure will be styled in the same way she appeared in the video, wearing a tight purple-pink tank dress and blonde curly hair.

Speaking on behalf of the family and The Whitney Houston Estate, Pat Houston said: "We were extremely honored when Madame Tussauds' approached us about doing not one, but four figures of Whitney from different points in her 30-year career. This is something we are excited to do for the fans."

Each of the wax figures was created by a team of specially trained artists at Madame Tussauds' studio in London, England.