The world mourns the death of a superstar, Whitney Houston

MANILA, Philippines – On a quiet Sunday morning, Feb 12 (Feb 11, Saturday shortly after noon, US time), Hollywood, news agencies and the Twitterverse burst with a flurry of activity to report a tragic story—the death of Whitney Houston.

Confirmed by a representative to various news agencies, Houston, 48, was found unresponsive in her fourth floor room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, California. In a televised press conference, the Beverly Hills Police Department said they received a 911 medical emergency call from the hotel at 7:23 am Sunday, Philippine time (3:23 pm Saturday, US West Coast time). Paramedics arrived at the scene only two minutes later to find a woman on the floor, later identified as Houston, being revived by hotel emergency personnel.

Several hours after her death, there was still no official cause declared by authorities. There were no obvious signs of foul play, according to other reports, although a full investigation has already been launched. Reportedly at the hotel for a pre-Grammy Awards party, Houston’s death happened shortly before this year’s ceremonies are to be held on Sunday, Feb. 12 (Monday, Feb. 13, Philippine time).

Popular gossip and entertainment news site TMZ, however, reported just last Thursday, Feb. 9, spotting the singer in Hollywood at the Kelly Price & Friends Unplugged: For The Love Of R&B Grammy Party. Houston apparently performed a song with R&B singer Price while there in what would be her last performance ever. She came out of the party looking rather unwell, as seen in photographs posted on the site and on their TV report, but had even signed autographs for fans outside. TMZ also reported sightings of the singer over the prior weekend with “on-again/off-again beau” Ray-J,  initially mistakenly reported by CNN as the one who found her in the Hilton hotel room.

Career milestones of Whitney

The daughter of gospel singer Emily "Cissy" Houston, niece of Dionne Warwick and even the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston’s incredible music pedigree is unquestionable. But more than that, it is her incredible vocal range and the purity of her voice that were instrumental to her meteoric rise in pop music history.

Toiling to revive her career, Houston released 2009’s “I Look To You,” her first album in seven years, and apparently also her first since she went through rehab and a divorce from her husband of 14 years, pop star Bobby Brown, in 2006. But even then she seemed to be having a hard time, based on reports of erratic behavior.

In 2010, her self-titled debut album was reissued as “Whitney Houston: The Deluxe 25th Anniversary Edition.” This was the album that first helped her explode into the music scene in 1985 with rave reviews, selling millions of copies and establishing a new face—and a golden voice—in mainstream music.

Hits like “You Give Good Love” and “Saving All My Love For You” were massive, as did “How Will I Know,” whose music video is said to be one of the first by an African-American female to get heavy rotation on MTV. Another incredible feat by Houston was her remake of “The Greatest Love of All,” a song originally recorded by George Benson for the 1977 Muhammad Ali biopic, “The Greatest,” which Houston practically turned into one of the most popular songs of all time—a massive karaoke hit if there ever was one, especially for local music fans.

Houston released the album “Whitney” in 1987, which also sold in the millions and spawned No. 1 singles like “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” “So Emotional” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go.” Her record and concert sales for 1986 and 1987 were stratospheric that she was named by Forbes as the eighth highest-earning entertainer at that time. She followed that album with “I’m Your Baby Tonight” in 1990, “My Love is Your Love” in 1998 and “Just Whitney” in 2002, and the thematic “One Wish: The Holiday Album” in 2003.

Her crossover success as an African-American woman paved the way for many others that followed—not the least of which, and they would all profess to it, for Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson and many others. Houston’s 1991 Super Bowl performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” was so amazing it still holds as the yardstick by which many other singers are judged.

By 1992, she has transitioned into acting, with her most popular role to date being Rachel Marron in “The Bodyguard” opposite Kevin Costner, a movie that reportedly grossed more than $121 million at the box office. But it was Houston’s cover of Dolly Parton’s 1974 hit, “I Will Always Love You”  that seared itself into the hearts and minds of peopleeverywhere—distinguished, of course, by Houston’s stellar a cappella intro. It stayed at No. 1 at the Billboard Hot 100 charts for a then record-breaking 14 consecutive weeks.

Houston went on to appear in other films like “Waiting to Exhale” and “The Preacher’s Wife.” As reported on CNN, she also has a main role in “Sparkle,” a remake of the 1976 film of the same title, inspired by the Supremes, and set for an August 2012 release.

In her course of her amazing, record-breaking career, Houston has won two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, and her album "Whitney" was the first female album to ever debut at #1 on the Billboard Charts. CNN reports that she has sold over 170 million albums and singles throughout her career, with other reports pegging the number at 200 million albums worldwide.

The tumultuous years

Piers Morgan interviewed Simon Cowell on CNN hours after the news broke for his thoughts on Houston. Cowell noted that it might be argued that female singers dominated pop music today; and this, the noted producer and personality attributes to Houston, as well as Mariah Carey, “paving the way.” He added, “and importantly, even though she [Houston] was absolutely stunning at the top of her career, you can remember her for one thing only—and that’s her voice…”

Talking about the pressures of celebrity, Cowell likewise lamented the parallelism between Houston and the late Michael Jackson, who had gone through much turmoil in his public life and career. “That is unbelievable pressure,” he told Morgan. “And the same must have applied to Whitney coz she didn’t wanna go out as a lesser artist, she wanted to prove that she was still at the peak and that’s part of the pressure. People want to blame media, but I don’t believe [that]… A lot of the time media helped you brought you there in the first place… But normally there are certain people they meet in their lives and they are the wrong people…”

Houston, of course, had been married to R&B singer Bobby Brown of the group New Edition, whom she reportedly met at the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards. They married in 1992 after a three-year courtship, but by the late ‘90s, Houston’s popularity began to wane as more and more rumors of drug use, missed shows and erratic behavior surfaced in the press. She admitted to drug use in an interview with Diane Sawyer in 2002.

She finally separated from Brown in September 2006, and their divorced was finalized in 2007. Houston got custody of their daughter, Bobbi Kristina. In 2009, in an appearance on “Oprah” to promote her last album, Houston blamed an emotionally abusive and jealous Brown for many of her problems, and that she had undergone rehab, thanks to an intervention by her mother.

Friends and fans say goodbye

Shortly after her death, CNN reported that eight out of the top ten worldwide trending topics on Twitter were about Houston, led by “R.I.P Whitney Houston,” which people asked to retweet in memory of the singer.

Some of the most notable tweets from Hollywood celebrities are:

Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey): “Heartbroken and in tears over the shocking death of my friend, the incomparable Ms. Whitney Houston. My heartfelt condolences to Whitney’s family and to all her millions of fans throughout the world. She will never be forgotten as one of the greatest voices to ever grace the earth.”

Justin Bieber (@JustinBieber): “just heard the news. so crazy. One of the GREATEST VOICES EVER just passed. RIP Whitney Houston. My prayers go out to her friends and family.”

Lea Michele (@MsLeaMichele): “I’m speechless. Such sad news about Whitney Houston.”‘

Rihanna (@Rihanna): “No words! Just tears #DearWhitney”

Alicia Keys (@aliciakeys):  I feel sick.... Life is precious, we are fragile souls. Let's love each other! I miss you beautiful Whitney, the whole world misses you!!

Tony Bennett (@itstonybennett): It's a tragedy. Whitney Houston was the greatest singer I've ever heard and she will be truly missed.

Local celebs also expressed their sadness via the site:

Maria Aragon (@mariiiaofficial): I'm speechless. I seriously cannot believe this. You'll be in my heart forever, and I will ALWAYS love you :'(

Lea Salonga (@msleasalonga): Whitney Houston's amazing voice will be remembered forever. Let us rejoice that she left the world so much music! Bravo! You will be missed.

Regine Velasquez (@reginevalcasid):  Nakakalungkot:-( Ms Whitney Houston thank you for being part of my life and my music. RIP

Charice (@officialcharice): One of my heroes, Whitney Houston. I will always love you.. RIP.

Gary Valenciano (@4ever_on_faith):  Ur music will liv on and on. "There can be miracles…WHEN YOU BELIEVE" Thank u…tho uv bin thru so much, u still inspired us.#whitneyhouston

Zsa Zsa Padilla (@zsazsapadilla): Such a sad day. :( I grew up singing your songs, Whitney Houston. Your memory and music will live on in our hearts. R.I.P. ✞

On “ASAP 2012” this Sunday, a tribute to Houston was performed by its mainstays Sarah Geronimo, Vina Morales and Angeline Quinto. Another tribute was also held on “Party Pilipinas” on GMA, with Regine Velasquez, Kyla,Jaya, Rachelle Ann Go and Jocelyn Viray participating.

Whitney Houston’s death follows that of other tragic music celebrity deaths in the past few years like Michael Jackson (50) in June 2009 and Amy Winehouse (only 28) in July 2011. On CNN, Morgan calls Houston the Queen of Pop. CNN likewise confirms that Jennifer Hudson would be performing a tribute to Houston at the Grammy’s awards ceremony.