Singer and actress Whitney Houston, hailed as one of the most talented performers of her generation and whose personal life was streaked with drug problems, died on Saturday in a hotel room in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California. She was 48. Police were still investigating the cause of Houston’s death, but said there were no obvious signs of criminal intent. In a televised press conference, the Beverly Hills Police Department said it received a 911 medical emergency call from the hotel at 7:23 a.m. Sunday, Philippine time.
Paramedics arrived at the scene two minutes later to find a woman on the floor, later identified as Houston, being revived by hotel emergency personnel. Houston died on the eve of Grammy awards night. She had been scheduled to perform at record producer Clive Davis’s annual pre-Grammy party on Saturday, which is held at the Beverly Hilton. Entertainment celebrities the world over mourned her death. Local showbiz personalities expressed their sadness at her passing. Popular gossip and entertainment news site TMZ reported that on Thursday, February 9, Houston was at the Kelly Price & Friends Unplugged: For The Love Of R&B Grammy Party.
She sang a song with R&B singer Price in what would be her last public performance. TMZ reported that Houston came out of the party looking rather unwell, but had even signed autographs for fans outside. Career Milestones The daughter of gospel singer Emily “Cissy” Houston, niece of Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston’s incredible music pedigree is unquestionable. But more than that, it is her incredible vocal range and the purity of her voice that were instrumental to her meteoric rise in pop music history.
Her popularity soared in the 1980s and 1990s with consecutive No. 1 hits including the smash single “I Will Always Love You,” from the soundtrack of the feature film “The Bodyguard,” in which she starred. She also appeared in “Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher’s Wife (1996).”
By the early 1990s, Houston had become the queen of pop music, achieving great critical and commercial acclaim, but her personal life was becoming troubled. In 1992 she married singer Bobby Brown, who had a bad-boy reputation, and during their 14 years together had a tumultuous relationship fueled by drugs. In 2000, she and Brown were stopped at an airport in Hawaii and security guards discovered marijuana in their luggage. The pair also starred in reality TV series, “Being Bobby Brown,” which painted an often unflattering portrait of the pair.
Houston and Brown divorced in 2006. The last 10 years of Houston’s life were dominated by drug use, rumors of relapses and trips to rehab. In a 2002 TV interview, she admitted using marijuana, cocaine, alcohol and prescription drugs. She launched a comeback tour in 2009 and in April 2010 she called media reports she was using drugs again “ridiculous.” In May 2011, Houston enrolled in a drug and alcohol rehab program.
