LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, has died. She was 48.
Publicist Kristen Foster said Saturday that the singer had died. Police in Beverly Hills,
Calif. say singer Whitney Houston died Saturday
afternoon in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Police Lt. Mark Rosen said in a news
conference that the 48-year-old's body is
still in her fourth-floor hotel room while detectives investigate her
death.
He says police received a 911 call shortly
before 4 p.m. local time, and paramedics who
were already at the hotel quickly went to her room, but couldn't
resuscitate her.
Houston's death comes on
the eve of the Grammy Awards. A representative says she
was to appear at tonight's annual concert and dinner for her
longtime mentor Clive Davis.
A person who had been at rehearsals for the
show, says on Thursday Houston appeared
disheveled and was sweating profusely as she coached R&B
singers Brandy and Monica. The person also says liquor and cigarettes
could be smelled on Houston's breath.
At her peak in the 1980s and `90s, Houston the golden girl of the music industry and one of the world's best-selling artists. Among her hits were "How Will I Know," "Saving All My Love for You" and "I Will Always Love You." She won multiple Grammys including album and record of the year.
Her success carried her beyond music to movies like "The Bodyguard." But by the end of her career, drug use took its toll as her record sales plummeted and her voice became raspy and hoarse.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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