- Sun, 2012-02-12 10:25
One of the most celebrated singers of all time, Whitney Houston has died aged 48 in Los Angeles.
Police have said the singer died in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Houston was pronounced dead at 15.55 (23:55 GMT) on 11th February 2012, following an emergency call to the police from hotel security.
She passed away on the eve of the Grammy Awards, held in Los Angeles. As a result, the hotel was already full of celebrities and reporters. She was due to attend a pre-awards party inside the hotel organised by her long-time mentor, record industry executive Clive Davis.
Paramedics already at the hotel because of the party, attempted to resuscitate her without success.
Speaking to the BBC, Beverly Hills police spokesman Mark Rosen said there were "no obvious signs of criminal intent".
With 170m records sold worldwide and six Grammys, Whitney Houston was a highly acclaimed female singer admired and loved around the world. Well known tracks include Saving All My Love for You, How Will I Know, I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) and I Will Always Love You, which remains the best selling single by a female artist of all time.
In her late years, Whitney Houston became caught up in substance abuse and a turbulent marriage to singer Bobby Brown, which ended in divorce in 2007. In an 2002 interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer she famously said, "The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy.''
Many singers and artists have already paid their tributes.
Country singer Dolly Parton, who wrote the track I Will Always Love You, said in a statement:
"Mine is only one of the millions of hearts broken over the death of Whitney Houston. I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song, and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, ‘Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed.' "
While Christina Aguilera tweeted, "We have lost another legend. Love and prayers to Whitney's family. She will be missed."
The Grammy Awards will no doubt be over-shadowed by the sad loss of a timeless voice and a global talent.
