Whitney Houston is Dead.

BREAKING NEWS: Singer
Whitney Houston has died
at age 48, her publicist
says
updated 7 minutes ago
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Whitney
Houston, who reigned as
pop music's queen until
her majestic voice and
regal image were ravaged
by drug use, erratic
behavior and a
tumultuous marriage to
singer Bobby Brown, has
died. She was 48.
Publicist Kristen Foster
said Saturday that the
singer had died, but the
cause and the location of
her death were unknown.
At her peak, Houston the
golden girl of the music
industry. From the middle
1980s to the late 1990s,
she was one of the world's
best-selling artists. She
wowed audiences with
effortless, powerful, and
peerless vocals that were
rooted in the black church
but made palatable to the
masses with a pop sheen.
Her success carried her
beyond music to movies,
where she starred in hits
like "The Bodyguard" and
"Waiting to Exhale."
She had the he perfect
voice, and the perfect
image: a gorgeous singer
who Were Intimate appeal
but was never overtly
intimate, who maintained
perfect poise.
She influenced a
generation of younger
singers, from Christina
Aguilera to Mariah Carey,
who when she first came
out sounded so much like
Houston that many
thought it was Houston.
But by the end of her
career, Houston became a
stunning cautionary tale
of the toll of drug use. Her
album sales plummeted
and the hits stopped
coming; her once serene
image was shattered by a
wild demeanor and
bizarre public
appearances. She
confessed to abusing
cocaine, marijuana and
pills, and her once pristine
voice became raspy and
hoarse, unable to hit the
high notes as she had
during her prime.