Portland observer., March 28, 2012, Page 13, Image 13

sportiani» (Observer
March 28, 2012
Page 13
Arts
' X
fnifci
ENTERTAINMENT
Houston Died from Accidental Drowning
Chronic drug
use, heart
disease also
contributed
(AP) — Drugs took many things
from Whitney Houston — her pris­
tine voice, clean image and her ca­
reer — and coroner's officials re­
vealed Thursday that cocaine also
played a role in the Grammy winner’s
death in the bathtub of a luxury
hotel nearly six weeks ago.
Houston drowned accidentally
at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Feb.
11, and autopsy results revealed
heart disease and her recent and
chronic cocaine use were contribut­
ing factors.
The results ended weeks of
speculation about what killed the
singer-actress at age 48 on the eve
of the Grammy Awards and a planned
comeback. Instead, Houston now
joins the long list of entertainers
who have died early with drugs at
least partly to blame.
Coroner's officials did not reveal
how much cocaine was found in
Houston’s system, but said there
were signs of recent and chronic
use. It was unclear whether she
suffered a heart attack before drown­
ing, Assistant Chief Coroner Ed
W inter said.
"We are saddened to learn of the
toxicology results, although we are
glad to now have closure," Patricia
Houston, the singer's sister-in-law
Whitney Houston at the BET Honors awards in 2009. An autopsy
report, issued Thursday, found her Feb. 11 death was from
drowning in a bathtub, but was also caused by heart disease and
chronic cocaine use.
and manager, said in a statement.
clean image tarnished.
Houston's death the night be­
"The biggest devil is me. I'm ei­
fore the Grammys altered the awards ther my best friend or my worst
ceremony and brought back imme­ enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane
diate memories of the singer in her
better days, belting out hits and
starring in the feature films such as
"The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to
Exhale." Years later, Houston's drug
use had robbed her of her ability to
hit high notes and left her once
Sawyer in an infamous 2002 televi­
sion interview with then-husband
Bobby Brown by her side.
In 2009, after she had divorced
Brown, she told Oprah Winfrey that
her cocaine and marijuana use took
over her life. Both drugs were found
in Houston's system after she died,
though the marijuana and several
other prescription drugs played no
role in her death, coroner's officials
said.
"I had so much money and so
much access to what I wanted,"
Houston told Winfrey. "I didn't think
about the singing part anymore. I
was looking for my young woman­
hood."
Houston's planned comeback
after that interview didn't pan out,
but she was taking another shot this
year with her appearance in a re­
make of the film "Sparkle."
She stars as the mother of a fami ly
of girls who form a singing group
and struggle with fame and addic­
tion. She also sang for the film, de­
livering a soulful rendition of the
gospel hymn "His Eye is on the
Sparrow."
It will be a couple weeks before
the exact amount of cocaine in
Houston's system is released, offi­
cials said.
The drug has been known to
cause damage to the heart and could
have cause Houston's death, said
Dr. Michael Fishbein, professor of
pathology at the David Geffen
School of Medicine at UCLA. He
had no role in the investigation.
He said a likely scenario was that
Houston's cocaine use interfered
with the normal function of her heart.
"There's no reason to drown in a
bathtub unless you're incapaci­
tated," Fishbein said.
Houston's friend and collabora­
tors said after her death that they
didn't believe she was still abusing
drugs, and she described as being a
co m p lete p ro fessio n al on the
"Sparkle" set.
Houston, a sensation from her
first, eponymous album in 1985, was
one of the world's best-selling art­
ists from the mid-1980s to the late
1990s, turning out such hits as "I
Wanna Dance With Somebody,"
"How Will I Know," "The Greatest
Love of All" and "I Will Always
Love You."
She was buried last month in a
New Jersey cemetery next to her fa­
ther after an emotional four-hour fu­
neral service that was attended by
friends, family and superstars such
as Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Alicia
Keys, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige,
Jennifer Hudson and Roberta Flack
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Images from the Greatest Telescopes
Hubble, once the m ost powerful telescope on Earth, now has
competition. New telescopes in Europe and elsewhere are
producing the best images ever seen by the human eye. View
these images and learn more about the spring sky at the Mt.
Hood Community College Planetarium show, Monday, April 2 on
the Gresham Campus, 2 6 0 0 0 S.E. Stark St. The Greatest Hits
o f the Greatest Telescopes will be presented live at 7 p.m. and
8 :1 5 p.m. in the College's Sky Theatre located near the MHCC
library. Admission for the general public is $2. Parking is free
during the show. Children are welcome to attend. The planetarium
is wheelchair accessible.
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