Legendary singer and film star Whitney Houston drowned alone in a bathtub after two back-to-back evenings of out-of-control binges, it has been claimed.
The star was found dead by her bodyguard in a luxury hotel suite said to have been littered with bottles of prescription pills. She was 48.
Paramedics battled to revive the singer but she was pronounced dead at 3.55pm yesterday afternoon, hours before she had been due to perform.
Her frantic daughter Bobbi Kristina, 19, is understood to have got into a 'furious screaming argument' with police who refused to let her into the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles
Friends of Miss Houston's cousin Dionne Warwick, who also went to the hotel to try to see the body, have said that she is 'inconsolable'.
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| Whitney Houston seen on Thursday |
The cause of death is not yet known. But on the Thursday evening before her death, the singer went on a wild binge in which she is said to have clashed with security guards. The next evening she 'partied heavily, drank and chatted loudly' with friends at the hotel bar, claims TMZ.
It is not known if the destructive spiral played a part in death of the I Will Always Love You singer who had spent more than a decade battling an addiction to crack cocaine since rising to international stardom in the early 90s.
Police have begun searching the hotel room for any signs of illegal drugs. The circumstances of the death are not thought to be suspicious but the authorities are investigating.
As the singer's body was wheeled to an ambulance, just yards away stars including Britney Spears, Tony Bennet and Kim Kardashian were taking part in the pre-Grammy Awards party at the hotel.
Miss Houston had been due to attend the event which was organised by her mentor Clive Davis.
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| Whitney Houston performing with her Ex Husband |
Rihanna tweeted that she was 'in tears' while Mariah Carey said that she was 'heartbroken' over the loss of her friend.
Mitch Winehouse, the father of late Amy Winehouse who died last year after a public battle with class A drugs, paid tribute to Miss Houston on Twitter, writing: 'Amy, Etta, Whitney. Their music will NEVER die. What a great girl group in heaven. Mitch'. Winehouse, who was in Los Angeles
The Saving All My Love singer's publicist Kristen Foster confirmed that the singer had died. An unconfirmed report later emerged which said that Houston
A spokesman for the local police department said that emergency services had been called to the hotel at 3.43pm on Saturday, arriving minutes later.
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| Whitney Houston dead body Taken out of Hotel |
Officials rushed to the room on the fourth floor where she was staying as a guest, where they found security staff and firemen attempting to revive her using CPR. Life-saving attempts proved unsuccessful after 20 minutes, and she was pronounced dead at 3.55pm.
Bobbi Kristina and Miss Warwick were eventually allowed into the room later in the evening, according to Radar.com. The relatives broke down in floods of tears in emotional scenes inside the room, it is understood. Outside, fans gathered to mourn the star.
Authorities are currently trying to determine a cause of death, the spokesman added. He said there were 'no obvious signs of foul play and no obvious signs of a cause of death'. It was initially unclear whether or not her death was drug-related, as has been speculated by some.
Police are understood to be seeking a search warrant to sift through the hotel room for any signs of drugs. Some reports said that Houston
Her ex-husband Bobby Brown - whom Miss Houston blamed partly for her drug issues - was said to be 'in and out of crying fits' upon hearing the news - but still appeared on stage on Saturday with his band New Edition, and cried out 'I love you, Whitney!' in the middle of the concert.
A relative of Brown said Houston
‘He was sobbing, and by the end of the call, I was sobbing, too,’ the family member told People magazine. ‘He's beside himself right now.’
Singer Johnny Gill, one of Brown's New Edition bandmates, is on tour in Memphis
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| Whitney Houston in child hood |
And in the star's last interview in November, she said she was 'older and matured' - and described her 18-year-old daughter as her 'greatest inspiration'.
Her album Whitney in 1985 was the first album by a woman to ever debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Charts. She has sold more than 170million albums worldwide.
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| Whitney Houston with Freedom Fighter Nelson mandela |
The album also gave her perhaps her most memorable hit - a stunning rendition of Dolly Parton's I Will Always Love You, which sat atop the charts for weeks and featured in The Bodyguard in 1992. It was Grammy's record of the year and best female pop vocal, and the Bodyguard soundtrack was named album of the year.
But the star's life had spiralled downhill since her early hits. She suffered a long battle with drugs, including cocaine, as well as alcohol and spent various spells in rehab. Recent appearances had become increasingly erratic and the years of substance abuse had clearly taken a toll.
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| Beverly Hilton Hotel |
She cancelled a string of concerts and talk shows as she struggled to cope. In a chat show with Oprah in 2003, the star admitted the scale of her addiction to smoking crack cocaine.
'It was every day, every,' she said. 'I didn't think about the singing part of it any more.'
Her powerful voice began to suffer because of her demons prompting record sales to nosedive and in 2007 she split from husband Bobby Brown after 15 years of marriage.
Recent reports suggested that the soul star was on the brink of bankruptcy, with her pop fortune said to have dwindled away, much of it going to her drug dealers.
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| Whitney Houston in middle with Husband and Daughter |
There was further concern for her health last week when she was pictured looking dishevelled and disorientated as she left a Hollywood nightclub with her daughter Bobbi Kristina after performing at a pre-Grammy party. The singer had was sweating profusely, had blood on her leg and scratches on her wrists.
Before her death she was approached by Simon Cowell and asked to consider becoming a judge on the next season of the U.S. X-Factor.
Today, Cowell said paid tribute to Ms Houston and said the warning signs that she ‘still had problems’ came after the singer made an erratic appearance on the X Factor in 2009. The performance was to promote a new album after seven years off the scene.
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| Whitney Houston performing |
The music mogul, 52, said: ‘There are always moments in your life that are horrible to remember. The day John Lennon died, the day Elvis died. More recently Michael Jackson, last year Amy Winehouse and now Whitney.
‘I know quite a few people who had been working with her over the years. We all knew Whitney had issues.
‘I last met her when she came on the X Factor. You could see at the time there were still a few problems but she was a delight to work with on the day.'
The guest appearance on X Factor - her first UK TV appearance for 12 years - was billed as the start of her comeback but the worrying performance raised concerns for her wellbeing and she suffered an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction when her dress straps snapped.
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