Whitney Houston Is Dead At The Age Of 48

“She was one of the greatest singers I ever heard,” said veteran crooner Tony Bennett, on the red carpet at the Beverly Hills hotel, where Houston’s body was found in her fourth floor room.

Police confirmed her death in a brief statement outside the hotel.

“At 3.55pm, Whitney Houston was pronounced dead at the Beverly Hilton hotel,” said Mark Rosen, a police spokesman.

A member of her entourage called 911 after the singer was found on the floor of her room.

Attempts were made to resuscitate her, but failed. The cause of death was not immediately known.
“There were no obvious signs of any criminal intent,” he said.

“It is being investigated by Beverly Hills police detectives.”

Houston’s ex-husband of 15 years, Bobby Brown, is said to be “struggling” with the news.

People magazine and the TMZ celebrity website reported that Houston had been due to attend the Saturday night dinner, hosted by Davis – who developed the young singer who made a string of 11 number one hits in the 1980s and 90s.

Condolences poured in on Twitter from shocked fans and from the famous, as sadness over the news spread through the entertainment world.

“Heartbroken and in tears over the shocking death of my friend … She will never be forgotten as one of the greatest voices to ever grace the earth,” wrote Mariah Carey.

Grammys organising chief Neil Portnow called Houston “one of the world’s greatest pop singers of all time who leaves behind a robust musical soundtrack spanning the past three decades.
“A light has been dimmed in our music community today, and we extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends, fans and all who have been touched by her beautiful voice,” said the head of the Recording Academy.



Smokey Robinson told CNN: “I will always love her. She is one of the greatest voices in the history of music.”

The Recording Academy is scrambling to include some kind of tribute to Houston in Sunday evening’s show at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, according to CNN.

The tribute could involve singer Jennifer Hudson, it added, while Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich told the broadcaster whatever was staged would be “respectful” while highlighting her stunning music.

“Knowing Whitney as I did … she knew the importance of thrilling an audience, and that’s what we still plan to do.”

With a ferociously powerful voice and a dazzling range, Houston achieved stardom as a pop-soul singer known as “The Voice” and the “Queen of Pop”. She also appeared in hit movies like Waiting to Exhale and The Bodyguard.

From a musical family that included mother Cissy Houston, a gospel star, and Dionne Warwick, her cousin, Whitney Houston started out as a teen model and then made a dazzling segue to music.

Her hits included How Will I Know, Saving all My Love for You, and I Will Always Love You.

Houston’s trove of six Grammy awards included one for record of the year – for a soaring cover of Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You, and another for album of the year for The Bodyguard.

Houston, who grew up in New Jersey, was also a supporter of the anti-apartheid movement and South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, on whose behalf she campaigned during his imprisonment.

She struggled with substance abuse, which took a toll on her health and career.

Houston has sold more than 170 million records worldwide but suffered a major career setback after admitting drug use during an abusive relationship with ex-husband Bobby Brown.

Brown was one of the hottest rhythm and blues singers in the late 1980s and early 90s, but became better known as the husband of Houston and for his frequent brushes with drugs and the law.

The pair starred in a television reality series, Being Bobby Brown, that featured their marriage, warts and all. They have a daughter, Bobbi Kristina.

During these career and personal highs, Houston was using drugs. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2010, she said by the time The Preacher’s Wife was released, “(doing drugs) was an everyday thing. … I would do my work, but after I did my work, for a whole year or two, it was every day. … I wasn’t happy by that point in time. I was losing myself.”

In the interview, Houston blamed her rocky marriage to Brown, which included a charge of domestic abuse against Brown in 1993. They divorced in 2007.
Houston would go to rehab twice before she would declare herself drug-free to Winfrey in 2010. But in the interim, there were missed concert dates, a stop at an airport due to drugs, and public meltdowns.
She was so startlingly thin during a 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert that rumours spread she had died the next day. Her crude behaviour and jittery appearance on Brown’s reality show, Being Bobby Brown, was an example of her sad decline. Her Sawyer interview, where she declared “crack is whack”, was often parodied. She dropped out of the spotlight for a few years.
Houston staged what seemed to be a successful comeback with the 2009 album I Look To You. The album debuted on the top of the charts, and would eventually go platinum.
Things soon fell apart. A concert to promote the album on Good Morning America went awry as Houston’s voice sounded ragged and off-key. She blamed an interview with Winfrey for straining her voice.
A world tour launched overseas, however, only confirmed suspicions that Houston had lost her treasured gift, as she failed to hit notes and left many fans unimpressed; some walked out. Cancelled concert dates raised speculation that she may have been abusing drugs, but she denied those claims and said she was in great shape, blaming illness for cancellations.