Whitney Houston Dead at 48

Remember, don't do drugs (or marry Bobby Brown) kids.

Incredibly sad, but not entirely surprising.

Whitney Houston, superstar of records, films, dies - Yahoo! Music

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Whitney Houston, who reigned 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, has died. She was 48.

Publicist Kristen Foster said Saturday that the singer had died, but the cause and the location of her death were unknown.

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.

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A great talent that went to waste. Like sir clinks said; kids, don't do drugs.

So sad that the story of America's finest vocalist had such a tragic ending.

The angels have a new leader of the choir.

R.I.P. Whitney, you are missed.

She should have listened to Rick James...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udNHsk57f24

America was rooting for a comeback, we have lost the greatest voice of our era:

http://once.unicornmedia.com/now/od/...ARAMzone=22870

Whitney still has the best rendition of the National Anthem ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jeUINzHK9o

It brings tears of joy - and sorrow - to my eyes.

"oh, Whitney!" jumped out of my mouth.

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Originally Posted by Crazy Larry

Whitney still has the best rendition of the National Anthem ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jeUINzHK9o

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Yeah, it's too bad she lip synced it.

She had such great talent and a beautiful voice, so sad that all too often those in the entertainment industry get caught up in either drugs or alcohol and end up cutting their lives short.

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Originally Posted by Truecoat

Yeah, it's too bad she lip synced it.

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Doesn't bother me; I would too if I wanted the millions of viewers to see it perfectly. Anything could have ruined it - weather, bad mic, bad speaker, overhead plane...I prefer they pre-record it so we can hear it at it's best.

Addiction is a POWERFUL thing. Don't be fooled by "mood enhancers" that are "natural". Teasing the mid brain/pleasure center and building up a tolerance to any chemical can be deadly. As with Whitney, not everyone makes it back from this journey...so it's best not to take the journey from the start.

Clear consciousness is a wonderful adventure in itself.

Not surprised one bit:
Whitney Houston drowned in bathtub, coroner says - World - CBC News

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Cocaine and heart disease contributed to accidental death

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What a waste.