Pop queen Whitney Houston dies at age 48

Last Updated 8:06 a.m. ET

LOS ANGELES - Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice was ravaged by drug use and her regal image was tarnished by erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died on the eve of the Grammy Awards she once reigned. She was 48.

Beverly Hills police Lt. Mark Rosen said Houston was pronounced dead Saturday afternoon in her room on the fourth floor of the Beverly Hilton. "There were no obvious signs of any criminal intent," Rosen said.

A Los Angeles County coroner's official said early Sunday that her body had been taken to a morgue.

Houston's publicist, Kristen Foster, said the cause of death was unknown.

Rosen said police received a 911 call from hotel security about Houston. Paramedics who were already at the hotel because of a Grammy party were not able to resuscitate her, he said.

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Whitney Houston 1963-2012

Houston's death came on the night before music's biggest showcase, the Grammys. She will be remembered Sunday in a tribute by Jennifer Hudson, organizers said.

Her longtime mentor, Clive Davis, went ahead with his annual concert at the same hotel where her body was found. He dedicated the evening to her and asked for a moment of silence as a photo of the singer, hands wide open, looking to the sky, appeared on the screen.

Houston was supposed to appear at the gala, and Davis had told The Associated Press that she would perhaps perform: "It's her favorite night of the year ... (so) who knows by the end of the evening," he said.

Houston had been at rehearsals for the show Thursday, coaching singers Brandy and Monica, according to a person who was at the event but was not authorized to speak publicly about it. The person said Houston looked disheveled, was sweating profusely and liquor and cigarettes could be smelled on her breath.

Two days ago, she performed at a pre-Grammy party with singer Kelly Price. Singer Kenny Lattimore hosted the event, and said Houston sang the gospel classic "Jesus Loves Me" with Price, her voice registering softly, not with the same power it had at its height.

Watch: Whitney's last performance

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Lattimore said Houston was gregarious and was in a good mood, surrounded by friends and family, including daughter Bobbi Kristina.

"She just seemed like she was having a great night that night," said Lattimore, who said he was in shock over her death.

Aretha Franklin, her godmother, also said she was stunned.

"I just can't talk about it now," Franklin said in a short statement. "It's so stunning and unbelievable. I couldn't believe what I was reading coming across the TV screen."

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The Rev. Al Sharpton said he would call for a national prayer Sunday morning during a service at Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles.

"The morning of the Grammys, the world should pause and pray for the memory of a gifted songbird," Sharpton said in a statement.

In a statement, Recording Academy President and CEO Neil Portnow said Houston "was one of the world's greatest pop singers of all time who leaves behind a robust musical soundtrack spanning the past three decades."

At her peak, Houston was the golden girl of the music industry. From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful and peerless vocals rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.

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[RealiteBites]

Whitney had the most incredible voice - and so beautiful to boot!

So, so, sad that she's gone ... although truth be told, her voice got ravaged by all those drugs and the voice that she had has been long gone for a while.

Still I was rooting for her to get clean - it was just painful to watch somebody struggle to conquer their addiction, year over year. I never lost hope!

RIP Whitney ...

[jaykay3141]

RIP Whitney. I hope you're at peace now and will be able to make better choices in the next life than you did in this one.

Such a sad waste of talent. I'd like to think your tragedy might be a caution to others, but I'm afraid the twin lures of money and drugs will be too much for many to resist.

[Swansong12]

I have watched all these singers die of overdoses, everyone knowing about it, no one doing anything about it, how many more have to die before these stars start saying enough?? Whitney was once a beautiful women and singer, but drugs started this downward spiral, now is the time for someone to stand up and say enough .. get off the drugs ... enough pain and senseless lost to pills and booze ..

[train99]

When she first got famous, I didn't like her - her image, attitude or something, thought she was a snob and maybe I was right. But she won me over with her sheer talent as a singer. I really liked her doing "I'm Every Woman". And then when I heard her version of "I Loves You Porgy" in the mid-90s, I thought this singer is beyond anybody. Beyond Billie Holiday, Jennifer Hudson, Aretha, Mariah - anybody. At her best, this thin lady could take a song, interpret it, belt it out and leave me weak in the knees.
I think, besides herself, there are a lot of people who brought her down, but not her fans. Her marriage to that azzhole Brown, especially. But then why did she put up with him? I hate it when women put up with men like that. I totally lose respect for them.
Anyway, she's gone. Not a big surprise, but a tragic loss of a once super talent.

[REDBEAR57]

I hope you have found peace now Whitney. Thank you for the wonderful music. RIP.

[norcalruss]

Knowing what we do about her past substance abuse problems I wouldn't be surprised if she Oded. It's sad, I remember seeing all of those videos of her performing ten or fifteen years ago when she had it all: looks voice talent etc. and she threw it all away on drugs.

RIP Whitney

[samXXkiley]

coucou,
I am saddened, my condolences to her family, rest in peace "Whitney"
"au revoir"

[tmittelstaed]

I don't have much sympathy, she made more money in 1 year than 99% of the posters on here will make in their lifetime, and she could have easily retired years ago and turned her back on the pop scene if she couldn't handle it. And obviously she couldn't handle it.

[royalstar05]

Going off of the pictures on here she was definitley on something. And what is up with the liquid (looked like blood to me) running down her leg? Looked as if someone was always trying to help her hold herself up also. She looked hammered. But hey she's gone now,RIP.

[Jaylah54]

I[m sorry she's dead. I'm sorry anybody gets so messed up in life that they turn to drugs that kill them.

However I never thought she was all that great a singer. She sounded more like a cat in heat to me. All that yowling and screeching.