Tributes pour in after Whitney Houston dies in LA hotel room
ARTISTS attending the 54th Grammy awards in Los Angeles last night paid tribute to Whitney Houston, after the singer was found dead in an LA hotel on the eve of the ceremony.
Houston, a six-time Grammy winner, was pronounced dead late on Saturday at the Beverley Hilton Hotel. She had been due to attend a party thrown by music producer Clive Davis at the hotel later that evening.
A musical tribute to the singer was added to last night’s Grammy ceremony, performed by Jennifer Hudson.
Over the course of a 30-year career, Houston released seven studio albums and sold some 170m CDs, singles and videos. The soundtrack for her hit movie The Bodyguard – which included her famous cover of Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You – was among the best-selling soundtracks in movie history.
But her success on stage was accompanied by an troubled personal life, and the last 10 years of her life were dominated by drug use and rehab.
Her godmother, soul singer Aretha Franklin, yesterday called Houston’s death “stunning and unbelievable”.