Michael Jackson wraps his arms around Whitney Houston
The Los Angeles Times reports that pop singer Whitney Houston died Saturday in Beverly Hills at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Authorities are trying to determine a cause of death.
Houston, 48, was in the Los Angeles area for a musical tribute to music executive Clive Davis and had performed and spoken to reporters earlier in the week. Clive Davis was the person responsible for launching Houston’s singing career. Appearing on Good Morning America, Davis once said of Houston:
“The time that I first saw her singing in her mother’s act in a club … it was such a stunning impact. To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine.’
Record studio executive Clive Davis poses with singer Whitney Houston whom he discovered singing in a nightclub with her mother.
Whitney’s publicist Kristen Foster told the Associated Press on Saturday that Houston had died but did not provide further details.
The Daily Mail Online reported inaccurately that Whitney was found by her on-off boyfriend Ray J in her hotel room.
It is now believed that Ms. Houston was found by her bodyguard, “Ray.” The Beverly Hills Police Department say that at 3:43 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time), a 911 call was placed from the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The police were on the scene in two minutes. When they got to Ms. Houston’s room on the 4th floor, hotel staff were attempting CPR on her lifeless body. At 3:55 p.m., the singer was pronounced dead. As of 6:10 p.m. PST, Ms. Houston’s body was still in the room. (Radar Online)
Preliminary findings suggest no foul play.
Oddly enough, the Clive Davis preGrammy Award party – the biggest black tie event associated with the record awards ceremony – went on as planned, just hours after Houston’s death. The party was held in the Beverly Hilton Hotel, the same hotel where Houston was found unconscious. It was an eerie incongruency, stars stepping out of limos for the party as Houston fans arrived in tears to lay bouquets of flowers in memory.
Shocked to learn of Whitney Houston’s tragic death, fans flock to the scene at the Beverly Hilton, where they lay flowers and light candles in tribute to the fallen singer
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