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Whitney Houston remembered

By Jasmine Uduma, News Editor, on February 13, 2012 8:39 AM

Her death Saturday, February afternoon in a Beverly Hills hotel room came hours before she was scheduled to appear at an annual pre-Grammy party that introduced her to the industry decades ago and was expected to honor the six-time Grammy winner.

Saturday night, the Beverly Hills Police said Whitney Houston was pronounced dead at approximately 3:55 p.m local time.

27 minutes before mainstream media broke the news of Whitney Houston’s death on Saturday night, the story was on Twitter, reported by a man who tweeted the news out to his 14 followers.

The tragic news of Houston’s death spread fast on Twitter.  2.5 million tweets and retweets within an hour of AP reporting, amounting to more than 1,000 tweets a second, according to Topsy Labs. The news of Houston’s death peaked at 5:23 p.m. with 61,227 tweets in that minute.

Celebrities like Lil Wayne and Mariah Carey also tweeted messages to followers, spreading the news to thousands.

Celebrities react to news of Whitney’s death on twitter

Saturday the pop legend was co-hosting a Grammy event and spent hours by the side of the stage at the event honoring R&B music then joined partygoers on the dance floor. Friends described her as happy and excited, interacting as though she was just “one of the girls.”

Soul singer Kenny Lattimore, who co-hosted the R&B event, said sudden death was “such a shock for me.” He said Houston didn’t appear to be having any issues.

The rise and fall of a star

At her peak, Houston was unrivaled in the music industry. From the 1980s through the 1990s, she was one of the world’s best-selling artists. Houston, also known as the voice, had the total package: a gorgeous singer who held the perfect poise at all times, with sex appeal but never too sexual for her audiences.

As a child, Houston first started singing in church. In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. That was when music mogul Clive Davis first discovered her.

To many, she seemed destined for greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin. Houston then in turn influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey to Beyoncé Knowles.

The New York Times wrote that Houston “possesses one of her generation’s most powerful gospel-trained voices, but she eschews many of the churchier mannerisms of her forerunners. She uses ornamental gospel phrasing only sparingly, and instead of projecting an earthy, tearful vulnerability, communicates cool self-assurance and strength, building pop ballads to majestic, sustained peaks of intensity.”

Her 1992 marriage to former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown was an odd union to say the least. Over the years, he would be arrested several times, on charges ranging from DUI, domestic abuse and  failure to pay child support. They divorced in 2007.

In 1992, she became a star in the acting world with The Bodyguard. Despite mixed reviews, the story of a singer (Houston) guarded by a former Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner) was an international success.

Whitney with actor Kevin Costner in ‘The Bodyguard’

The movie produced her most memorable hit: a stunning rendition of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” which sat atop the charts for weeks. It was Grammy’s Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal, and the  soundtrack was named Album of the Year. She returned to the big screen in 1995-96 with Waiting to Exhale and The Preacher’s Wife. Both spawned soundtrack albums, and another hit studio album, My Love Is Your Love, in 1998, brought her a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal for the cut “It’s Not Right But It’s Okay.”

“The biggest devil is me. I’m either my best friend or my worst enemy.”

Houston struggled for years with addiction to cocaine, marijuana and pills and the years of hard-living took a toll on her once-pristine voice. A source for ABC reported anonymously that during the rehearsal for a pre-Grammy event, Houston appeared “disheveled, sweated profusely and her breath smelled of liquor and cigarettes.”

By the end of her career, Houston became the “cautionary tale” for singers and the toll drugs have on their careers. ”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.

Her constant battle with drugs and alcohol has not been a secret to her millions of fans. But after years of a difficult marriage with, and eventual divorce from singer Bobby Brown coupled by many public appearance  at which she displayed erratic behavior, Houston was putting the pieces of her life back together and was getting ready for a huge comeback.

Her last album I Look To You released in 2009 hit top charts instantly. As for Hollywood, Houston had just completed her work on a remake of the film Sparkle, a project she’d worked to develop for years. It is expected to come out this August.

On Saturday Houston was expected to sing at the pre-Grammy gala thrown by her mentor Clive Davis. Despite the sudden news of her death, the event went on as planned. Davis explained that Houston would have wanted it that way. It took place in the same hotel where her body was found and being examined by coroner’s officials.

“I am personally devastated by the loss of someone who has meant so much to me,” Davis said. “She was full of life, looking forward for tonight. She loved music and she loved this night that celebrated music.”

After her death

A member of her entourage is the one who found the singer and alerted hotel security and paramedics on site, but failed to revive her.

The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office said the following day that an autopsy has been completed but the official results have been placed on hold, pending toxicology tests. The results are expected in 6-8 weeks.

It was also confirmed that Houston was found Saturday afternoon in a bath tub in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The prescription drug Xanax, which is often used to treat anxiety, was found in the singer’s room, along with several other medications. When combined with alcohol, Xanax can cause severe drowsiness.

In the hours after her death, fans remembered the singer in better times. Her songs and albums quickly became top-sellers on iTunes, and fans and celebrities alike shared their grief in tributes on facebook, twitter, youtube, and more. The Grammy awards decided to change to the broadcast Sunday and add a tribute during the show with Jennifer Hudson scheduled to perform.

Friends and family have also asked that people remember her as not simply a singer, but a mother too.

Bobbi Kristina Brown, Houston’s only child, was admitted then released from an LA-area hospital after she was rushed there in an ambulance following her mother’s death. Bobbi Kristina, 18, had been staying with her mom at the hotel and was clearly distraught.

Apple has been accused of exploiting the death of Whitney Houston with the increase in price of all her albums on iTunes.

Fans of the late singer found that her back catalog had been increased by nearly $4 soon after her passing.

In the space of just 30 minutes, iTunes users reported that they were prevented from downloading the LP at its original advertised price while the update occurred.

Apple is accused of “cashing in” on the tragedy, with a general feeling of disgust at the business to exploit Houston’s death.

 

All photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons