The publicist of singer Whitney Houston has confirmed to the Associated Press that Houston is dead at the age of 48.
Houston, who has struggled with drugs over the past decade, entered rehab in May for substance abuse problems after a series of disastrous concerts that left many fans feeling slighted. At the time, her rep told press that the move was voluntary for Houston to get well:
“Whitney Houston is currently in an out-patient rehab program for drug and alcohol treatment. Whitney voluntarily entered the program to support her long-standing recovery process.”
The struggle for Houston was a long one, and often pegged in media as beginning with her troubled marriage to fellow musician Bobby Brown. Before their split, the pair did a controversial reality show as Houston slid more deeply into drug addiction. At the height of her Bodyguard fame in 1993, Houston told Rolling Stone of her romance with the renowned bad boy:
“When you love, you love. I mean, do you stop loving somebody because you have different images? You know, Bobby and I basically come from the same place… You see somebody, and you deal with their image, that’s their image. It’s part of them, it’s not the whole picture. I am not always in a sequined gown. I am nobody’s angel. I can get down and dirty. I can get raunchy.”
Cause and circumstances of Houston’s death have not yet been released, but TMZ is reporting Houston has died at a hotel in Beverly Hills. We will update as details emerge.