Grammy Award-winning artist Whitney Houston has died at the age of 48. The news was first reported by TMZ and was shortly thereafter confirmed by a publicist for Whitney Houston, whose exact cause of death is unknown, however it has been confirmed that Houston died in her Beverly Hills hotel room. Few details have in fact been released about the circumstances surrounding the singer’s death, however, Twitter users have already sent Whitney Houston to the top of the social media website’s worldwide trending topics list.

Incidentally, Whitney Houston’s death occurred approximately 24 hours before the broadcast of the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, and it is not yet known if the ceremony will feature a last-minute tribute to the singer who won 6 Grammys and received a further 20 nominations during her multi-decade career.

Whitney Houston is perhaps best known for her hits from the 1908s and early 1990s, most notably a cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You”, which served as the soundtrack song in the 1992 film The Bodyguard, in which Houston starred alongside Kevin Costner. Houston’s other biggest hits include “One Moment In Time”, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” and “Didn’t We Almost Have it All”.

Houston’s career experienced somewhat of a decline in the late 1990s and early 200s, with her personal struggles with drugs and a high-profile relationship with Bobby Brown eclipsing her musical offerings. However, Houston had staged a semi-successful comeback in 2009 with the release of her album “I Look To You” and a subsequent world tour, for which she received middling to negative reviews.

Other recent career moves involved a return to feature films with the 2012 release Sparkle, due to receive cinema distribution this coming August. The film co-stars Jordin Sparks and Cee Lo Green, and would have marked Houston’s first return to films since The Preacher’s Wife in 1996.

Just this week, Whitney Houston had been rumoured to be making a further comeback effort after being approached by Simon Cowell to join the celebrity judging panel of The X Factor US for its second season, due to debut on FOX later this year.

Celebrity condolences have begun to be released via Twitter, with Glee actress Amber Riley stating:

I can’t even breathe right now. Not Whitney. I’m in tears right now. ;( I had to pull over off the road. RIP Whitney Houston. I’m glad now that I got to meet you and thank you for your beautiful music.

Journalist and CNN talkshow host Piers Morgan also expressed his thoughts on Twitter with:

Stunned by Whitney Houston’s death at just 48 – one of the greatest voices ever heard.  #RIP

Full details of Houston’s death remain scarce.

Image Courtesy of  asterix611

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About the author

Stephen Conlon
Postgraduate student, Apple geek.