It was the evening before the Grammys and Whitney Houston was gearing up to attend Clive Davis’ annual pre-Grammy party, but she never made it.
On February 11, 2012, hours before the party, Whitney Elizabeth Houston died in Beverly Hills.
Today, Access Hollywood concludes our countdown of the Top 12 Headlines of 2012 with a look back on the celebrity death that shocked the world.
Just 48 years old, Whitney was on the verge of what she hoped would be her comeback – with the film “Sparkle” – when she passed away.
Whitney’s last sitdown interview was with Access Hollywood’s Shaun Robinson on the set of “Sparkle,” conducted just a few weeks before her passing. HERE, in that interview, the singer told Shaun she felt people were rooting for her to do well.
As people worked to process the tragic news of the superstar singer’s death, Hollywood (see Whitney & her celebrity friends HERE) reacted quickly.
At first, they shared their grief on Twitter and the following day, at the Grammys, they paid tribute in front of the world.
Show host LL Cool J began the awards show with a moving prayer and Jennifer Hudson sang the late superstar’s most famous ballad, “I Will Always Love You”
The following week, in her New Jersey hometown, in front of friends and family (but not her ex, Bobby Brown, who left the service) Whitney was laid to rest.
Among the moving tributes was one from her “The Bodyguard” co-star – Kevin Costner.
“Whitney, if you could hear me now, I would tell you, ‘You weren’t just good, you were great,” he said as the world wept, thinking of their memories of the late star, who lost her life too soon.
Sadly, weeks later, an autopsy revealed the singer had died as a result of drowning. Heart disease contributed to her death and she had cocaine in her system when she lost her life at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 11.
Attention quickly focused after Whitney’s death on her daughter and heir, Bobbi Kristina, then just 19.
Bobbi Kristina had been transported to a hospital the day her mother died to be treated for stress and anxiety. Shortly after that, rumors of drugs quickly plagued the youngster, and one report even claimed an interventionist had been brought in.
But BeBe Winans, who spoke and performed during the funeral, told Access Hollywood Live HERE, the teen was doing “wonderful,” considering what she was going through.
Focus later turned to a reality show by April, which was denied at the time. But, a month later, a rep for the Houstons confirmed a show was in the works for Lifetime.
The show, “The Houstons: On Our Own,” eventually premiered in October 2012.
At the premiere for the show, Bobbi Kristina told Access HERE, “I’m doing OK. I’m doing pretty good. I am doing better than I ever thought I would… Definitely better than I thought I would.”
Late last month, Bobbi Krisitna made headlines when she crashed her black Camaro near Atlanta. She was cited by police for failing to stay in her lane, but no injuries were reported.
Click HERE to see the what else made our 12 Days of Hollywood Headlines Countdown list.
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