Singing superstar Whitney Houston dies at 48

Man this has stung me real good, the girl was doing great, and I wanted to see her soldier on. And now she is gone. I am so glad that she was saved.


Singing superstar Whitney Houston dies at 48

LOS ANGELES — Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, died Saturday. She was 48.

Beverly Hills police Lt. Mark Rosen told reporters outside the Beverly Hilton that Houston was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m. in her room on the fourth floor of the hotel. Her body remained there and Beverly Hills detectives were investigating.

"There were no obvious signs of any criminal intent," Rosen said.

Houston's publicist, Kristen Foster, said the cause of death was unknown.

Rosen said police received a 911 call from hotel security about Houston at 3:43 p.m. Saturday. Paramedics who were already at the hotel because of a Grammy party unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate the singer, he said.


Houston's end came on the eve of music's biggest night — the Grammy Awards. It's a showcase where she once reigned, and her death was sure to cast a heavy pall on Sunday's ceremony.

Her longtime mentor Clive Davis was to hold his annual concert and dinner Saturday, and a representative of the show said it would proceed.

Producer Jimmy Jam, who had worked with Houston, said he anticipated the evening would become a tribute to her, and he expected there to be one at the Grammys as well.

Houston was supposed to appear at the gala, and Davis had told The Associated Press that she would perhaps perform: "It's her favorite night of the year ... (so) who knows by the end of the evening," he said.


Houston had been at rehearsals for the show Thursday, coaching singers Brandy and Monica, according to a person who was at the event but was not authorized to speak publicly about it. The person said Houston looked disheveled, was sweating profusely and liquor and cigarettes could be smelled on her breath.

Two days ago, she performed at a pre-Grammy party with singer Kelly Price.

The Rev. Al Sharpton said he would call for a national prayer Sunday morning during a service at Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles.

"The morning of the Grammys, the world should pause and pray for the memory of a gifted songbird," Sharpton said in a written statement.


In a statement, Recording Academy President and CEO Neil Portnow said Houston "was one of the world's greatest pop singers of all time who leaves behind a robust musical soundtrack spanning the past three decades."

"Her powerful voice graced many memorable and award-winning songs," Portnow said. "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."

At her peak, Houston was the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.

Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale."


She had the perfect voice and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.

She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, who when she first came out sounded so much like Houston that many thought it was Houston.

But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming; her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime.

"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 interview with then-husband Brown by her side.

It was a tragic fall for a superstar who was one of the top-selling artists in pop music history, with more than 55 million records sold in the United States alone.

She seemed to be born into greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.

Houston first started singing in the church as a child. In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform.

"The time that I first saw her singing in her mother's act in a club ... it was such a stunning impact," Davis told "Good Morning America."
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46355482?gt1=43001#.TzdWrPmOdkY

I never understood the depth and significants of most of the nursery Rhymes
I used to hear when I was a child. In retrospect I can see that there were
more of our great entertainers affiliated with that of "Humpty Dumpty" than
I care to comprehend. My prayer is that we will one day find a way to put them
back together again in place of having to pay tribute to our honored dead...
Marvin, Michael, Don, Whitney, among too many others, rest in Peace.

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Questions swirled Sunday about what caused iconic singer Whitney Houston's sudden death, with authorities offering little information at a time when many were still struggling to come to groups with the news.
While an autopsy was complete as of late Sunday afternoon, Assistant Chief Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County Coroner's office said it could take six to eight weeks before the results are in on toxicology and other tests.
"There was no visible signs of trauma, and foul play is not suspected at this time," Winter said, adding that "the cause of death right now is deferred."

More official details on the investigation aren't expected to surface anytime soon, after the Beverly Hills, California, police department was granted a "security hold." Common in high-profile cases, this puts limits on what can be revealed about a probe.
Authorities have said that police and fire officials were called to Houston's room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel at 3:43 p.m. Saturday after her bodyguard found her unconscious body in a bathtub.
Winter, from the coroner's office, said Houston was removed from the tub before paramedics performed CPR. She was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m.
Pill bottles were found at the scene, entertainment news website TMZ reported, citing "informed sources." CNN could not immediately confirm the TMZ report and Winter declined to comment.
Whatever the exact cause, the grief about the death of Houston -- whose soaring voice and enormous talent were clouded in recent years by her battles with drug addiction -- was evident Sunday at the 54th annual Grammy awards show, which is typically the biggest night on the music industry's calendar.

After a performance by Bruce Springsteen, Grammy host LL Cool J began his monologue by acknowledging "we've had a death in our family" and offering a prayer thanking God "for sharing our sister Whitney with us."
"Although she's gone too soon, we remain truly blessed to have been touched by her beautiful spirit and to have her lasting legacy of music to cherish and share forever," the rapper and actor said.
Earlier, on the red carpet, Kim Burrell told CNN she'd exchanged voicemails with her good friend Houston shortly before her death, describing her as being "in great spirits, as always." She always thought of Houston as a "fighter" and a "survivor," which made the idea of her passing all the more difficult to comprehend.

"She's my sister and she'll always be my sister," said an emotional Burrell, herself a singer. "I love her dearly."
Burrell said she'd flown to California to join Houston in attending a pre-Grammy party Saturday night hosted by the songstress' longtime mentor, Clive Davis.
Houston never made it, dying at the age of 48.
Amid the outpouring of grief, Beverly Hills police said Houston's 18-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina, was taken to Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, at about 11:15 a.m. Sunday. Details of her condition were not disclosed.
A source close to the family told CNN that by late Sunday afternoon the teenager was out of the hospital and would be heading back to New Jersey possibly as early as Sunday night. She was expected to go to the home of her grandmother, gospel singer Cissy Houston, in New Jersey, the source said.

Bobbi Kristina Brown was born during Houston's marriage to R&B singer Bobby Brown, which ended in divorce in 2007. Burrell said she was with the teenager late Saturday, admitting the girl had felt "overwhelmed" while expressing confidence that "she'll pull through."
Her father, Bobby Brown, did not perform at a scheduled New Edition concert Sunday night in Nashville in the wake of his ex-wife's death, said Candy Lowd, a promoter for the concert.
The previous night, he was openly emotional during a concert in Southaven, Mississippi, said attendee and CNN iReporter Moshiu Knox, at one point asking people to say a prayer for his daughter, for his mother and "for me, because I'm going to need it."
"Bobby was crying during his performance and at one point had to walk off stage," Knox said.
Houston's battles with drugs had long made headlines, but she was in the midst of a comeback, with a few shows scheduled and a movie in the works.

"I did really get the sense that she was really trying to make a comeback," megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes, executive producer of Houston's upcoming movie "Sparkle," said Sunday.
"And I think that the reason that so many people are devastated is because it is not just her music, but it is her misery that attached itself to the hearts of Americans, and we watched her struggle to regain her footing after a tumultuous relationship and bouts with abuse and substance abuse.
"I think the believability of her human struggle made her song and her acting that much more powerful because we recognize that often it is the caged bird that sings," Jakes said.

A music industry executive, who recalled hearing two loud booms from the room below hers -- the room where, she later learned, Houston had died -- said she had seen Houston and Bobbi Kristina swimming in the hotel pool days before.
The two looked happy, she recalled, and Houston seemed healthy and beautiful. However, it remained unknown whether the singer had won her battle with substance abuse for good.
Houston had performed as late as Thursday night at a pre-Grammy event in the area, singing a raspy rendition of "Jesus Loves Me" with singer Kelly Price.
Music exec: Houston looked 'healthy and beautiful' days earlier

Houston's family said in a statement Sunday, "We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Whitney. This is an unimaginable tragedy and we will miss her terribly. We appreciate the outpouring of love and support from her fans and friends."
Grief flows at hotel where Houston died
Her fans remembered her in her prime on Sunday, when she reigned as pop queen during the 1980s, selling some 170 million albums, singles and videos.
"Perhaps now Whitney can rest in everlasting life without the harsh judgment that she felt in this world," said CNN iReporters Kimberly and Betty Kiel from Pearland, Texas.
And in the church where Houston grew up, the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, members gathered to honor her.

As a young girl, Houston grew sang solos in the choir at the church. Her mother served as director of sacred music at the church for 54 years and is still a member there.
Whitney Houston was born in Newark in 1963 and was soloing in the junior choir by age 11, according to the All Music Guide. "Whitney's mother and cousins nurtured her passion for gospel music since birth," according to Houston's official website. Her cousins include singers Dee Dee Warwick and Dionne Warwick, and her godmother was Aretha Franklin.
Franklin told CNN on Sunday that the news of her goddaughter's death is "almost unbelievable."
"It's stunning, absolutely stunning," the iconic performer said. "I could not believe what I was reading ... It's a sad day, a very sad day."
Sorrow at church where Houston got her start

The Rev. Jesse Jackson was among those attending the service in Newark.
"Whitney is a winner," he told reporters outside the church. "Her singing, her inspiring people around the world, it's been a great source of joy and uplift. And so we grieve, and yet we rejoice even in our grieving."
Houston's career: A regal rise, a tragic fall
Jackson said he spoke to Cissy Houston on Saturday night and Sunday morning and headed to her home after the service.
"They're having to process this," he said of Houston's family. "This was not some long, debilitating sickness. This was sudden. And so when thishappens, there's no rational explanation, just you have to cling to your faith and hold on until the morning comes."http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/12/showbiz/whitney-houston/index.html