What's the verdict: Whitney Houston's final recording - CNN (blog)

Whitney Houston didn't depart without leaving fans with new music.

The legend recorded a duet with Jordin Sparks called "Celebration!" for their upcoming film "Sparkle," which Ryan Seacrest premiered on his radio show Monday.

It's said to be Houston's last known recording before her February death at the age of 48, and she and Sparks croon along to an upbeat track about celebrating life and love.

The Hollywood Reporter found it to be "reminiscent of the early day, 1980s Houston pop numbers that first made her a star."

Entertainment Weekly found that "Houston isn't asked to do much" on the song, but it nonetheless "drives home how authoritative her voice could still be and just how much Sparks' approach owes to Whitney's."

Idolator "couldn't help but find it fitting [that] Whitney's final song should urge the world to take joy in life and, perhaps on a more symbolic level, celebrate the pop icon's lasting legacy of music."

Listen to the song above and let us know what you think. "Sparkle," a remake of the 1976 film that's loosely based on the story of The Supremes, sees Sparks starring as the titular, talented Sparkle, with Houston playing her mom. The movie is set to arrive August 17.