Whitney body home in Jersey; sad fans saving all their love
The body of Whitney Houston arrives at Whigham Funeral Home, in Newark, N.J., Monday, Feb. 13, 2012. The 48-year-old pop star was found dead in the bathtub in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Saturday, hours before she was supposed to appear at a pre-Grammy gala. AP PHOTO/RICH SCHULTZ
LOS ANGELES—Whitney Houston’s life was a doleful cover of other addiction-riddled pop stars who put their talent and themselves at risk.
Her death has created more heartrending echoes of tragedies past: The painstaking investigation that follows the shocking loss.
Why was Houston found underwater in a Beverly Hills hotel bathtub, beyond resuscitation?
The 48-year-old singer left behind disconsolate family and friends and unfulfilled dreams. Her body was flown Monday by private jet to New Jersey, where she was born and where her funeral is being planned.
Authorities said there were no indications of foul play. It could be weeks, however, before the coroner’s office completes toxicology tests to establish the cause of death.
Houston was underwater and apparently unconscious when she was pulled from the bathtub by her staff. Los Angeles County coroner’s assistant chief Ed Winter said there were bottles of prescription medicine in the room.
“There weren’t a lot of prescription bottles,” Winter said. “You probably have just as many prescription bottles in your medicine cabinet.”
Grand goodbye
The singer had struggled for years with cocaine, marijuana and pills. Some described her as upbeat and eager to perform at a pre-Grammy Awards bash on Thursday. Others described an unfocused woman, unkempt and smelling of alcohol and cigarettes.
It recalled the end of Michael Jackson’s life, as he tried to turn his career around with an ambitious series of London concerts. The 50-year-old struck many as youthfully energetic and upbeat, while others said he was bedeviled by insomnia that led him to a fatal dosage of prescription drugs in June 2009.
Jackson’s death was quickly linked to the anesthetic propofol, although the criminal prosecution of his doctor was played out through 2011. It took three months for a London coroner to rule that Amy Winehouse drank herself to death last July.
Like Jackson, Houston may also get a grand goodbye.
Viewership soared
Houston’s family raised the possibility of holding a wake on Thursday and a funeral on Friday at Newark’s Prudential Center, which hosts college and professional sporting events and seats about 18,000 people.
A picture of Houston appeared Monday night on the electronic board outside the arena, one of the nation’s busiest entertainment venues.
Jackson’s Los Angeles memorial service included members of the public, 1.6 million of whom had vied for about 9,000 tickets, along with songs from Usher, Jennifer Hudson and Mariah Carey.
An impromptu memorial for Houston was held during a sadness-tinged Grammys, with Hudson saluting her memory with a performance of “I Will Always Love You.” Viewership for the awards show soared over last year by 50 percent, with about 40 million viewers tuning in to the program on CBS.
‘She was special’
Officials familiar with funeral planning said arrangements were being made by Newark’s Whigham Funeral Home, which handled the 2003 funeral of Houston’s father.
Houston began singing as a child at New Hope Baptist Church, where her mother, Grammy-winning gospel singer Cissy Houston, led the music program for many years. Her cousin singer Dionne Warwick also sang in its choir.
On Monday, mourners left flowers, balloons and candles for Houston at the wrought-iron fence around the tall brick church.
“She was an inspiration to everybody,” said Gregory Hanks, an actor who grew up in the neighborhood and who dropped off a bouquet of flowers. “I grew up listening to her as a little boy, and to hear her sing, you knew she was special.”
Across the street from the church, Bashir Rasheed set up shop with a duffel bag full of T-shirts reading “In Memory of Whitney Houston 1963-2012.” He said he had sold 24 shirts at $10 apiece within a few hours.
Prayers from Obama
The White House said President Barack Obama’s thoughts and prayers were with Houston’s family. Press Secretary Jay Carney paid tribute to the singer’s “immense talent” and called it a tragedy to lose somebody so gifted at such a young age.
