I crashed down and I tumbled, but I did not crumble
I got through all the pain
— Whitney Houston, “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength”
As the music industry descended on Los Angeles for the Grammy Awards on Saturday, Whitney Houston died in her room at the Beverly Hills Hilton. She was one of the biggest superstars of the 19o8s and 1990s, rising up from a mix of humble beginnings in Newark, NJ, and the pedigree of a family connected to the music industry.
Known for her three-octave range and stunning beauty, she never recorded an album that sold less than a million copies. She had won more than 400 career awards including six Grammies, and sold more than 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide.
A friend of Ms. Houston appeared on CNN this morning and said that she had seen her recently, and that “she was not herself.” A writer, she went home and wrote an obituary, anticipating the worst. That came in the form of a 9-1-1 call at 3:43 pm Saturday. Fire department personnel were already on the scene preparing for a pre-Grammy party. They tried for 20 minutes to revive her. The cause of death has not been determined yet.
Outside the hotel, “tourists shot cellphone pictures of a police crime laboratory van parked outside. But inside, the glamour of the event seemed undiminished, even if Ms Houston’s name was on everyone’s lips,” The New York Times reported Sunday.
Performing was in her blood. Wikipedia’s editors write: “Inspired by prominent soul singers in her family, including her mother Cissy Houston, cousins Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick, and her godmother Aretha Franklin, Houston began singing with New Jersey church’s junior gospel choir at age 11. After she began performing alongside her mother in night clubs in the New York City area, she was discovered by Arista Records label head Clive Davis.”