LOS ANGELES (AP) - Police in Beverly Hills, Calif. say singer Whitney Houston died this afternoon in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Police Lt. Mark Rosen said in a news conference that the 48-year-old's body is still in her fourth-floor hotel room while detectives investigate her death.
He says police received a 911 call shortly before 4 p.m. local time, and paramedics who were already at the hotel quickly went to her room, but couldn't resuscitate her.
Houston's death comes on the eve of the Grammy Awards. A representative says she was to appear at tonight's annual concert and dinner for her longtime mentor Clive Davis.
A person who had been at rehearsals for the show, says on Thursday Houston appeared disheveled and was sweating profusely as she coached R&B singers Brandy and Monica. The person also says liquor and cigarettes could be smelled on Houston's breath.
At her peak in the 1980s and `90s, Houston the golden girl of the music industry and one of the world's best-selling artists. Among her hits were "How Will I Know," "Saving All My Love for You" and "I Will Always Love You." She won multiple Grammys including album and record of the year.
Her success carried her beyond music to movies like "The Bodyguard."
But by the end of her career, drug use took its toll as her record sales plummeted and her voice became raspy and hoarse.
