Whitney Houston whose incredible talent was discovered at an early age, was pronounced dead today at 3:55 p.m. (6:55 p.m. ET) at the Beverly Hilton hotel despite resuscitation efforts, officials said. She was 48.
Houston died on the eve of the 54th annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. She had performed as late as Thursday night at a pre-Grammy event in the area.
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (born on August 9, 1963 in Newark, New Jersey) was Inspired by prominent soul singers in her family, including her mother Cissy Houston, cousins Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick, and her godmother Aretha Franklin, Houston began singing with New Jersey church’s junior gospel choir at age 11.
According to Guinness World Records, she was the most awarded female act of all time. Her list of awards includes 2 Emmy Awards, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among a total of 415 career awards as of 2010. Houston was also one of the world’s best-selling music artists, having sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide.
Her body of work included a string of Billboard No. 1 hits in the 1980s, including “Saving All My Love for You,” “How Will I Know,” “The Greatest Love of All,” “Where Do Broken Hearts Go,” and “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me.)”
Billboard put her soundtrack to the 1992 movie “The Bodyguard” as one of the top 10 biggest-selling albums of all time. She also starred in the film with Kevin Costner. The soundtrack included the hit,”I Will Always Love You.”
Houston’s bodyguard found her body, said Courtney Barnes, publicist for hip-hop artist Ray J, who was dating the pop diva. At this time there were “no obvious signs of criminal intent” and the cause of her death is being investigated.
In 2000, Houston earned her sixth Grammy for best female R&B performance and, a month later, she was named female artist of the decade at the “Soul Train” Music Awards.
Her career stalled, however, in subsequent years as she entered rehab for addiction problems.
Houston took a hiatus for several years before releasing her first album in seven years, “I Look to You,” in 2009.
Houston had a high-profile and tumultuous marriage to Bobby Brown, a former “New Edition” star who has had multiple brushes with the law.
The couple appeared together in the mid-2000s on the reality show “Being Bobby Brown.” They had one child together, Bobbi Kristina.
She was an amazing talent and will be greatly missed my many.
