The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Whitney Houston has died at age 48. The news broke at around 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time today, Saturday, February 11, 2012.
The R&B singer and multiple Grammy Award winner was due to make an appearance at the Clive Davis pre-Grammy Awards gala tonight. She was spotted in the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles on Thursday morning where she was overheard chastising an assistant. According to The Hollywood Reporter:
“Later that night, Houston got into an altercation with X Factor finalist Stacy Francis at an R&B appreciation event where she was said to be acting “belligerent.” On Friday night, as THR broke news that Houston had been approached for the judges’ seat on X Factor, she was said to be at a spa, according to her publicist.”
Houston had been at rehearsals for the show on Thursday, coaching singers Brandy and Monica. The Daily Mail Online reported that Houston looked disheveled, was sweating profusely, and liquor and cigarettes could be smelled on her breath.
It is speculated that Houston’s death could be due to a drug and/or alcohol overdose, as it is well known that the singer struggled with substance abuse for decades. Whitney Houston and her ex-husband, Bobby Brown, once had a reality show on which they appeared high on drugs.
She is survived by her daughter with Brown, Bobbi Kristina, 18, who is known as “Krissi.”
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