B-13 Peer Review: Is in deep morning over death of A Legendary pop star...
Ms. Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston Dead at 48 this afternoon ... a rep for the singer told the Associated Press.
According to our sources, Houston died at the Beverly Hilton hotel. A police crime lab vehicle was seen outside the hotel just moments ago (see below).
So far, the details surround Houstin's death are unclear.
The singer famously battled drug addiction for years.
Houston won two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards during her record-breaking career. Her album "Whitney" was the first female album to ever debut at #1 on the Billboard Charts. She has sold 200 million albums world wide.
Houston holds an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Grambling State University in Louisiana.
Houston had one child, Bobbi Kristina, with husband Bobby Brown. Houston and Brown were married from 1992-2007.
We spotted Whitney out just last weekend with on-again/off-again beau Ray-J (see video below).
Story developing ...
UPDATE:
In August 2009, Houston released "I Look to You," her first studio album in seven years. It sold 304,000 copies in its first seven days on the market, sending Houston back to the top of the charts and giving her the best debut week of her career.
In 2010, Houston launched her "Nothing but Love" world tour. Though some said Houston's signature voice showed the stress of her ups and downs, she soldiered on, putting on shows in Asia, Australia and Europe even though fans and critics panned her performances.
At her peak in the 1990s, Houston was a force to be reckoned with in the music industry. During the '80s and '90s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists, selling out stadiums with powerful, poignant renditions of her greatest hits like "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," "How Will I Know," and "I Will Always Love You."
Whitney Houston Dead at 48 this afternoon ... a rep for the singer told the Associated Press.
According to our sources, Houston died at the Beverly Hilton hotel. A police crime lab vehicle was seen outside the hotel just moments ago (see below).
So far, the details surround Houstin's death are unclear.
The singer famously battled drug addiction for years.
Houston won two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards during her record-breaking career. Her album "Whitney" was the first female album to ever debut at #1 on the Billboard Charts. She has sold 200 million albums world wide.
Houston holds an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Grambling State University in Louisiana.
Houston had one child, Bobbi Kristina, with husband Bobby Brown. Houston and Brown were married from 1992-2007.
We spotted Whitney out just last weekend with on-again/off-again beau Ray-J (see video below).
Story developing ...
UPDATE:
Whitney Houston, the iconic American singer whose battles with drugs, alcohol and ex-husband Bobby Brown marred her star power, has died. She was 48.
Houston's publicist confirmed the singer's death to ABC News. Her cause and location of death are not yet known. Six police cars were spotted in front of the Beverly Hilton hotel today, where Houston is believed to have been staying.
Houston was last seen publicly on Thursday, when she appeared disheveled and disoriented in front of a Hollywood nightclub. According to the Hollywood Reporter, she got into an altercation with "X Factor" finalist Stacy Francis on Thursday at an event where she was said to be acting "belligerent."
Houston returned to rehab in May of last year seeking treatment for drug and alcohol dependence. "Whitney voluntarily entered the program to support her long-standing recovery process," her publicist said at the time.
The six-time Grammy winner staged a comeback in 2009, but was dogged by rumors that she was using drugs again. That year, she told Oprah Winfrey that marijuana laced with cocaine was her substance of choice during her 1992 to 2006 marriage to R&B singer Bobby Brown. They have a daughter together,
Houston's only child, Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown.
Houston's appearance on "Oprah" was her first major television interview since 2002, when she talked to ABC News' Diane Sawyer.
At the time, Sawyer asked Houston about ongoing drug rumors that had started in 2000, when airport security guards found marijuana in Houston and Brown's bags at a Hawaiian airport. The singer alluded to having used cocaine, pills and marijuana -- but drew the line at crack in what turned into an infamous rant.
"First of all, let's get one thing straight," she told Sawyer. "Crack is cheap. I make too much money to ever smoke crack. Let's get that straight. Okay? We don't do crack. We don't do that. Crack is wack."
In August 2009, Houston released "I Look to You," her first studio album in seven years. It sold 304,000 copies in its first seven days on the market, sending Houston back to the top of the charts and giving her the best debut week of her career.
In 2010, Houston launched her "Nothing but Love" world tour. Though some said Houston's signature voice showed the stress of her ups and downs, she soldiered on, putting on shows in Asia, Australia and Europe even though fans and critics panned her performances.
At her peak in the 1990s, Houston was a force to be reckoned with in the music industry. During the '80s and '90s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists, selling out stadiums with powerful, poignant renditions of her greatest hits like "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," "How Will I Know," and "I Will Always Love You."
Her success launched her into the film industry, where she starred in hits like "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale." Her struggles with drugs, alcohol, rehab (she went at least three times) and Brown, against whom she filed a charge of domestic abuse in 1993, made her stray from the spotlight.
In 2009, talking to Winfrey about why she took a break from show business, Houston said, "It was too much. So much to try to live up to, to try to be, and I wanted out."
Houston
The death of Whitney Houston at the age of 48 is a deep loss for the music world. But it also has reverberations in another artistic realm--the movies.
Houston had recently finished shooting "Sparkle," the remake of the 1976 Irene Cara film that, eerily, focuses on talented young musicians whose lives are ruined by addiction. Houston also served as an executive producer on the movie, acquiring rights to the original film more than a decade ago. The movie, shot this past fall and currently in post-production, is scheduled to be released in August. No word yet on any release-date changes; we're awaiting word from a producer.
The original "Sparkle" told the story of the Williams sisters, a trio of 1950s-era Harlem singers whose stories were loosely inspired by the Supremes. Headed by Lonette McKee's Sister, the group also features Sister's sister Sparkle (Cara), Dolores (Dawn Smith) and several friends. As they begin to find success, though, Sister's life spirals out of control, with drug addiction eventually leading to her death.
PHOTOS: Whitney Houston, 1963-2012
The new version, directed by Salim Akil ("Jumping the Broom," television series "The Game"), is believed to follow a similar story line, with Jordin Sparks as the titular character who must find a way to achieve stardom despite the drama surrounding her family. Houston plays Emma, the sisters' less-than-encouraging mother. (The original character, named Effie in the 1976 film, was incarnated by Mary Alice.)
Though the film has a heavy music component, it is not known how much Houston's character sings on screen, if at all. Derek Luke and Cee Lo Green co-star opposite Houston, with Carmen Ejogo as Sister Williams.
In another surreal turn, Houston had said she originally wanted Aaliyah for the title role but was forced to reconfigure the project when the R&B singer was killed in a plane crash in August 2001.
Houston's publicist confirmed on Saturday that the star had died in Los Angeles, just a day before the Grammy Awards honoring the music world's finest. No cause of death has been given.
The "Sparkle" remake was supposed to serve as an auspicious return to the big screen for Houston, who gained fame as a silver-screen actress playing a pop star in 1992's "The Bodyguard" and then three years later as TV producer Savannah Jackson in the adaptation of the bestseller "Waiting to Exhale" but hadn't been in a movie since "The Preacher's Wife" sixteen years ago.
Houston also had a strong influence on numerous film soundtracks, producing and recording on "Exhale" and a host of other films. (A number of those songs could get some air time at the Grammy Awards on Sunday.) Houston also had an important if less high-profile role in the movies: she served as a producer on "The Princess Diaries" franchise.
Houston
The death of Whitney Houston at the age of 48 is a deep loss for the music world. But it also has reverberations in another artistic realm--the movies.
Houston had recently finished shooting "Sparkle," the remake of the 1976 Irene Cara film that, eerily, focuses on talented young musicians whose lives are ruined by addiction. Houston also served as an executive producer on the movie, acquiring rights to the original film more than a decade ago. The movie, shot this past fall and currently in post-production, is scheduled to be released in August. No word yet on any release-date changes; we're awaiting word from a producer.
The original "Sparkle" told the story of the Williams sisters, a trio of 1950s-era Harlem singers whose stories were loosely inspired by the Supremes. Headed by Lonette McKee's Sister, the group also features Sister's sister Sparkle (Cara), Dolores (Dawn Smith) and several friends. As they begin to find success, though, Sister's life spirals out of control, with drug addiction eventually leading to her death.
PHOTOS: Whitney Houston, 1963-2012
The new version, directed by Salim Akil ("Jumping the Broom," television series "The Game"), is believed to follow a similar story line, with Jordin Sparks as the titular character who must find a way to achieve stardom despite the drama surrounding her family. Houston plays Emma, the sisters' less-than-encouraging mother. (The original character, named Effie in the 1976 film, was incarnated by Mary Alice.)
Though the film has a heavy music component, it is not known how much Houston's character sings on screen, if at all. Derek Luke and Cee Lo Green co-star opposite Houston, with Carmen Ejogo as Sister Williams.
In another surreal turn, Houston had said she originally wanted Aaliyah for the title role but was forced to reconfigure the project when the R&B singer was killed in a plane crash in August 2001.
Houston's publicist confirmed on Saturday that the star had died in Los Angeles, just a day before the Grammy Awards honoring the music world's finest. No cause of death has been given.
The "Sparkle" remake was supposed to serve as an auspicious return to the big screen for Houston, who gained fame as a silver-screen actress playing a pop star in 1992's "The Bodyguard" and then three years later as TV producer Savannah Jackson in the adaptation of the bestseller "Waiting to Exhale" but hadn't been in a movie since "The Preacher's Wife" sixteen years ago.
Houston also had a strong influence on numerous film soundtracks, producing and recording on "Exhale" and a host of other films. (A number of those songs could get some air time at the Grammy Awards on Sunday.) Houston also had an important if less high-profile role in the movies: she served as a producer on "The Princess Diaries" franchise.
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