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M

ichael Jackson dead at age 58, on June 25, 2009. Bernie Mac dead at age 50, on August 9, 2008.Now, Whitney Houston dead at age 48, on February 11, 2012.

A phenomenal woman gone at the hand of drugs. Houston was found dead in the Beverly Hilton Hotel. She was attending the Grammy’s that weekend. The death struck many of her fans as a shock and no one will ever forget the great singer.

Houston’s musical background goes way back before she was born. Well known performing family members, like her cousin Donnie Warwick, a famous singer back in the 1960’s.  Also, there is Houston’s mother, Cissy, a well-known gospel singer and Whitney’s godmother, Aretha Franklin. There is no denying that Whitney did have the performing blood running through her veins.

Many people were surprised and heart broken when they found out about Houston’s death.

“I just got off the plane from Ohio when I heard the news,” said Center of the Arts Teacher, Malykke Bacon. “I was shocked in sadness.”

Like Bacon, my reaction to Houston’s deaths was shock. I thought it was a hoax until it hit the media as truth. Houston voice was so known. You did not even need to hear a full verse of one of Houston’s song to know it was her singing.

Many of Whitney’s fans had an idea of the cause of her death, but no one wanted to believe it. But the truth came loud and powerful when the coroners report came back that she had a list of drugs in her system.

According to the coroners, Houston had cocaine in her system along with a prescription drug called Xanax. Also, they found that her heart was suffering from a disease called Atherosclerotic, when plaque builds up inside your arteries. Houston then passed out in her bathtub and drowned.

“She should not have been on a strong drug like Xanax,” said Dr. Drew Pinsky on ABC News. “She shouldn’t have been drinking.”

Drugs played a strong role in her death. It’s extremely sad. No one is too famous or too big of a person to not be affected by drugs. No one thinks it will happen to him or her until it actually hits home.

On an ABC News interview with Bobbi Kristina, Houston’s daughter said that all the negative things people say about her mom aren’t true. That is “not my mom.”

Bobbi Kristina took the death hard and was rushed to the hospital twice after her mother’s death.

At Houston’s funeral in Newark, New Jersey, many of her friends and family spoke highly of her and shared some of their favorite memories. The memory that will stick out in my head the most was seeing her in the movie “Waiting to Exhale.” She played the role great, as a women in a relationship with a married man. She soon finds her way out of the situation by discovering herself and that she deserves better.

Kevin Costner, her co-star in the movie “ The Bodyguard” spoke at her funeral about the time Houston auditioned for the role and how great she was. He said she was the only person who could play that role.  He spoke of how Houston “arguably the biggest pop-star, wasn’t sure if she was good enough” for the role.

In the movie, Whitney Houston sang, “I Will Always Love You.” The song was so great, it hit number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 14 weeks in a row.

To senior, Essence Watkins, her favorite song of Houston's was, “Greatest Love of All.”

“One word to describe her would be extraordinary,” said Watkins. “Her voice is bomb and beautiful.”

At the end of the funeral, Whitney was carried out of her hometown church and took her last trip through her hometown.

The women who sang my childhood favorite song “Impossible” with Brandy so beautifully is gone. Gone, way too early but her music, smile, and accomplishments will always keep her memory alive. Houston, before her death, was taking part in an up coming movie “Sparkle.” It will be in theaters this August.

“To all young girls thinking they aren’t good enough,” said Costner as he ended his eulogy, “I think Whitney would tell you guard your body and guard the precious miracle of your own life and then sing your heart out knowing that there’s a lady in heaven who is making God himself wonder how he created something so perfect.”