Whitney Houston - I Love The Lord + I Go To The Rock - Live Sopot Poland - 1999

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. She was certified as the most awarded female artist of all time by Guinness World Records and is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston released seven studio albums and two soundtrack albums, all of which have been certified diamond, multi-platinum, platinum, or gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). She is regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. Her crossover appeal on the popular music charts as well as her prominence on MTV influenced several African-American female artists.
Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born on August 9, 1963, in what was then a middle-income neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey.[1] She was the daughter of ex-Army serviceman and Newark city administrator John Russell Houston, Jr. and gospel singer Emily "Cissy" (Drinkard) Houston.[2][3] Her elder brother Michael is a singer, and her elder half-brother is former basketball player Gary Garland.[4][5] Her parents were both African-American. Through her mother, Houston was a first cousin of singers Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick. Her godmother was Darlene Love[6] and her honorary aunt was Aretha Franklin,[7][8] whom she met at age eight or nine when her mother took her to a recording studio.[7] Houston was raised a Baptist, but was also exposed to the Pentecostal church. After the 1967 Newark riots, the family moved to a middle-class area in East Orange, New Jersey, when she was four.[9] Her parents later divorced.Houston reportedly appeared "disheveled"[266][267][268] and "erratic"[269][270] in the days immediately prior to her death. On February 9, 2012, Houston visited singers Brandy and Monica, together with Clive Davis, at their rehearsals for Davis' pre-Grammy Awards party at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills.[271][272] That same day, she made her last public performance when she joined Kelly Price on stage in Hollywood, California and sang "Jesus Loves Me".[273][274]

Two days later, on February 11, Houston was found unconscious in Suite 434 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, submerged in the bathtub.[275][276] Beverly Hills paramedics arrived at approximately 3:30 p.m., found Houston unresponsive, and performed CPR. Houston was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m. PST.[277][278] The cause of death was not immediately known;[1][277] local police said there were "no obvious signs of criminal intent".[279] On March 22, 2012, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office reported that Houston's death was caused by drowning and the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use".[280][281] The office stated the amount of cocaine found in Houston's body indicated that she used the substance shortly before her death.[282] Toxicology results revealed additional drugs in her system: diphenhydramine (Benadryl), alprazolam (Xanax), cannabis and cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril).[283] The m