Xanax, or Alprazolam, is a sedative used to treat anxiety and panic disorders. At this time, we ask for privacy, especially for my daughter, Bobbi-Kristina. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform. She was a frequent winner at the Grammys and Billboard awards, Relatives: In this January 1998 photo, singer Houston, left, celebrates her win at the American Music Awards with her mother, Cissy, and brother, Gary, in Los Angeles, Relationship: Houston performs with singer Bobby Brown, left. Many prayers go out to her family and all who are grieving the loss of an icon.' Whitney Houston's death cast a shadow over the music industry's most prestigious event - last night's Grammys. She partied with a large group of friends before 'clashing' with security guards, right, then being driven away to her hotel, where she died yesterday afternoon, Too upset: Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston's ex-husband (left) was in Nashville for a concert with his band New Edition just hours after her death but had to walk off stage mid-song. Saturday marks the five-year anniversary of the shocking death of Whitney Houston, the superstar singer emblazoned on American culture, whose legacy endures in the wake of more shocks since. It seemed to be an odd union; she was seen as pop's pure princess while he had a bad-boy image, and already had children of his own. I last met her when she came on the X Factor. One of the greatest voices ever heard. Whitney's paranoia grew to the point where she would dismantle objects looking for spy cameras and she even broke a hole into her bathroom wall so she could keep watch for intruders. He also 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. Just two days later, Whitney was found unconscious in the bathtub of Suite 434. Stars lined up to pay tribute to the singer, who had previously won six of the awards, with X-Factor judge Kelly Rowland saying on the red carpet: 'We lost our hero. Whitney Houston. I honestly can't think of anything else!!! ', 'It's very sad to see the tough times in her life. The teenager was first admitted after allegedly passing out, after drinking alcohol and then taking a sedative pill given to her by one of her mother's entourage to calm her down, upon learning of the devastating news. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. Cancelled concert dates raised speculation that she may have been abusing drugs, but she denied those claims and said she was in great shape, blaming illness for cancellations. Whitney appeared "dishevelled" and "erratic" shortly before her death and was spotted wandering aimlessly through the Beverly Hilton hotel with wet hair, waving her arms around and smelling of booze. Before long, the rest of the country would feel it, too. My prayers go out to her mother and her daughter. Her last ever public appearance came on February 9 when she took to the stage in Hollywood with Kelly Price to sing Jesus Loves Me. Right, pictured with Jermaine Jackson during rehearsals for a TV performance in 1984, Film: In 1992, she became a star in the acting world with 'The Bodyguard'. Three years later almost to the week, on Jan. 31, 2015, Houston's daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, then 21, was found unresponsive in a bathtub in the Roswell, Ga., townhouse she inherited from her mother. Lionel Richie, 'This is the saddest thing I've ever had to write in my life, R I P to one of the greatest humans that I have ever known Whitney Houston.' She was forced to reschedule the first three dates in Manchester and Glasgow after picking up a respiratory infection. ", But during these career and personal highs, Houston was using drugs. she told Katie Couric in 1996. I saw her two years ago when she was trying to make her comeback and I could see that she was weathered and you could see that she had been through tough time but you could see the voice was still there and she was trying. I was losing myself.". We all knew Whitney had issues. But TMZ has reported otherwise. More recently Miss Houston had just completed a role in the musical Sparkle, in which she played the mother to Jordin Sparks, who has the role of a singer. I can get raunchy.". Thank you for giving us your talent, and one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard.' 1. 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. in the middle of the concert. Whitney was laid to rest in Fairview Cemetery in New Jersey, buried next to her father. "Saving All My Love for You" brought her her first Grammy, for best female pop vocal. ', A coroner's van leaves the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, California, this morning where Whitney Houston was found dead. A similar effect was seen after the deaths of Michael Jackson in June 2009 and Amy Winehouse in August 2011 as fans paid tribute by buying the artists' singles and albums. ', A dark and tragic end: The body of Whitney Houston is wheeled out of the suite of the hotel in Los Angeles where she 'drowned in the bath' following two apparent evenings of out-of-control binges, In mourning: Ray-J, on-off boyfriend of Whitney Houston, stopped by a pre-Grammy party to meet his sister, the singer Brandy, hours after learning the news, Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb added his condolences, saying: 'In my estimation we have lost one of the greatest voices in popular music today...but as we always learn too late....we never cherish it until it's gone. Barry Manilow, 'She had everything, beauty, a magnificent voice. She was so startlingly thin during a 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert that rumors spread she had died the next day. What's more, Whitney would knock her own teeth out during the binges, with her autopsy finding she was missing 11 of her real teeth. 1 on the Billboard Charts. 'I know quite a few people who had been working with her over the years. Houston was found dead Feb. 11, 2012, in a hotel bathtub in Beverly Hills, just hours before music stars began to gather at the hotel for the annual Clive Davis pre-Grammy party at which Houston, then mounting a come-back, was expected. A true superstar legendary diva.' But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. She blamed an interview with Winfrey for straining her voice. However, she pulled out of a string of planned gigs in the UK and America that same year, citing ill health, then returned to rehab in 2011. She had the he perfect voice, and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise. She is said to have 'drowned in the bathtub', The hotel: Whitney Houston was found dead in a bathroom similar to the one on the right, on the fourth floor of the Beverley Hilton Hotel. And music mogul Simon Cowell said that before her death he had approached her to ask if she would consider becoming a judge on the next season of the U.S. X-Factor. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Both spawned soundtrack albums, and another hit studio album, "My Love Is Your Love," in 1998, brought her a Grammy for best female R&B vocal for the cut "It's Not Right But It's Okay. She was even booed during the "Soul Train Awards" in 1989. No matter who it is, no matter how good they are, they are always compared to Whitney, who is widely acknowledged as the singer who set the bar impossibly high in 1991 at Super Bowl XXV in Tampa. She was the most beautiful woman I think I ever saw. "The biggest devil is me. #RIP.' Her crude behavior and jittery appearance on Brown's reality show, "Being Bobby Brown," was an example of her sad decline. What happened to Whitney's reputation? How sad her gifts could not bring her the same happiness they brought us.' In 2009, Whitney - who would have turned 57 today - came clean about her demons, admitting her drug use escalated after her marriage to Bobby Brown and hit 1992 movie, The Bodyguard. I wasn't happy by that point in time. Bobbi Kristina's family blames him for her death and won a civil lawsuit and judgment of $36 million against him for wrongful death in November 2016. The day John Lennon died, the day Elvis died. It also gave her perhaps her most memorable hit: a searing, stunning rendition of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," which sat atop the charts for weeks. Just tears. I had so much money by that time.". And you just sit there watching TV. Michael Jackson was known to have been using the prescription drug at the time of his death in 2009 as was actor Heath Ledger when he accidentally overdosed in 2008. My prayers, my heart goes out to her family. Brown - whom she 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!' "After The Bodyguard it started getting heavy - cocaine, marijuana," she told chat show host Oprah Winfrey. She cancelled a string of concerts and talk shows as she struggled to cope. And it was not just the music industry that felt the influence of Houston, with other celebrities expressing their condolences and thanks to the award-winning singer. Wyclef Jean, 'R.I.P. "When you love, you love. "I didn't think about singing any more - I'd totally forgotten about that life. We have lost a true angel. TMZ claims security was called to unlock the door and to help the 18-year-old on that occasion. Together, they would binge solidly for up to 24 days at a time, with Tina claiming Whitney wet herself and would wear a nappy to prevent accidents. The story of a singer guarded by a former Secret Service agent was a success, Famous friend: South African President Nelson Mandela and Whitney Houston smile for photographers in Johannesburg, Award success: Houston collects one of the many accolades she received throughout her career. Rihanna tweeted: 'No words! In 1992, she became a star in the acting world with "The Bodyguard." I can get down and dirty. Former Boyzone star Ronan Keating said the severity of the singer's problems had become apparent two years ago at the start of her comeback. "How Will I Know," "You Give Good Love" and "The Greatest Love of All" also became hit singles. "She always thinks it's something to do with Bobby. She returned to the big screen in 1995-96 with "Waiting to Exhale" and "The Preacher's Wife." We were not doing pipe smoking. The album debuted on the top of the charts, and would eventually go platinum. https://www.mirror.co.uk/.../inside-tragic-whitney-houstons-crack-22484656 The squalor and her mum's erratic behaviour terrified Whitney's young daughter Bobbi, who died in similar circumstances after being found face-down in a bathtub in January 2015. I appreciate all of the condolences that have been directed towards my family and I at this most difficult time. Her 1985 album Whitney was the first album by a woman to ever debut at No. Bobbi Kristina never regained consciousness to explain what had happened to her. It was a tragic fall for a superstar who was one of the top-selling artists in pop music history, with more than 55 million records sold in the United States alone. The criticism would become a constant refrain through much of her career. "To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. "You see somebody, and you deal with their image, that's their image. Houston would go to rehab twice before she would declare herself drug-free to Winfrey in 2010. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Despite mixed reviews, the story of a singer (Houston) guarded by a former Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner) was an international success. The next evening she 'partied heavily, drank and chatted loudly' with friends at the hotel bar. It was Grammy record of the year and best female pop vocal, and the Bodyguard soundtrack was named album of the year. "During the time the picture was taken, in 2006, my sister Whitney and I were at a very low and self-destructive point in our lives, it was not only her mess, it was mine as well," she told The Blast in January 2018.