Death of Whitney Houston: History and Background

On February 11, 2012, American singer and actress Whitney Houston died of an accidental drowning in Beverly Hills, California, at age 48. Houston was found unconscious by her security guard Ray Watson and her personal assistant Mary Jones at the Beverly Hilton, submerged in the bathtub, under circumstances not dissimilar to that of Irish singer Dolores O'Riordan of the Cranberries, who died in a London hotel, also by drowning in the bathtub. Paramedics treated Houston at the scene around 3:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (UTC–8) and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), but she was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m.

The cause of her death was not immediately known; local police said there were "no obvious signs of criminal intent". On March 22, 2012, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner's Office concluded that her death was from accidental drowning, which had been caused by the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use". Houston also had marijuana and several prescription medications in her system.

At the time of her death, Houston had been planning for the release of her box-office film Sparkle and was set to attend Clive Davis's pre-Grammy party, which was held at the hotel. Davis was later criticized for going on with the scheduled party, which turned into a tribute to Houston, instead of canceling it. Her death coincided with the 2012 Grammy Awards, which took place the following night and featured numerous tributes to Houston, producing the second highest ratings in the show's history.

Houston's death was covered prominently internationally in the media along with her memorial service, which took place on February 18. Following her death, numerous posthumous albums and songs by Houston were released, including the international hit single "Higher Love" (featuring Kygo). Guinness World Records named Houston the highest-grossing posthumous female celebrity. Her life was the subject of several documentaries and biopics, including the 2018 documentary Whitney and the 2022 biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody.

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