Whitney Houston's daughter stars in reality TV series

LOS ANGELES: Whitney Houston's teenage daughter will star in a reality TV show that follows the family of the "I Will Always Love You" singer as they cope with her sudden death earlier this year.

The Lifetime channel said on Friday that Bobbi Kristina Brown, 19, Houston's mother Cissy, the singer's brother Gary, and her manager and sister-in-law Pat Houston would all appear in the show that will air later this year.

"The Houston Family Chronicles", billed as a documentary series, will follow Pat and Gary Houston "as they take on their greatest challenge, supporting and guiding Bobbi Kristina as she faces the world alone, without the one person she relied on the most, her mother," Lifetime said.

Bobbi Kristina is the only child of Houston with her ex-husband Bobby Brown, and she was hospitalized twice for anxiety after her mother was found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel room in February. She is now being raised by Pat and Gary Houston.

Houston, 48, drowned in her hotel room's bathtub in what authorities have said was an accidental death triggered by cocaine use and heart disease. The singer had a history of addiction to cocaine and other drugs.

"The tragic loss of Whitney Houston left a void in the hearts of people all over the world, but certainly none more so than her beloved family," said Lifetime programming executive Rob Sharenow.

"In this series, the multi-generations of the Houston family will bravely reveal their lives as they bond together to heal, love, and grow," he added in a statement.

Pat Houston said she had been developing a TV project for herself for some time but the unexpected death of Houston had affected the direction of the show.

"It is my hope that others will be enlightened as they watch our family heal and move forward," she said in a statement.

Lifetime, whose audience is largely female, said it had ordered 10 hour-long episodes of the series. A premier date has not yet been announced. (Reuters)

Cocaine found in Whitney Houston's bathroom

LOS ANGELES: White powder, later determined to be cocaine, was found in the Beverly Hills hotel bathroom where singer Whitney Houston drowned accidentally in a bathtub in February, according to the full coroner's report released on Wednesday.

Detectives also found a rolled up piece of paper, a small spoon and a mirror - all items used by cocaine users - in the bathroom shortly after Houston's naked body was found in the bathtub, the Los Angeles County Coroner's report said.

Houston, 48, who had a history of drug addiction, was found dead on February 11. An autopsy in March determined she died of accidental drowning due to the effects of cocaine and heart disease. (Reuters)

Whitney Houston drowned with cocaine in system: coroner

LOS ANGELES: Pop star Whitney Houston died of accidental drowning due to the effects of cocaine use and heart disease, a Los Angeles County coroner's spokesman said on Thursday.

The 48-year-old singer, who spent years battling addiction to drugs including cocaine, was found submerged in the bathtub of her Beverly Hills hotel room on February 12, the eve of the Grammy Awards.

An autopsy into Houston's death found that the cause of death was accidental drowning with atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors, Los Angeles County Coroner's spokesman Craig Harvey said.

Harvey said toxicology tests also turned up marijuana, an anti-anxiety medication, a muscle relaxant and an anti-histamine in Houston's system.

Those drugs were not found to have contributed to her death, and no trauma or foul play were suspected, the coroner's office said. A final report was expected to be made public within two weeks.

"We are saddened to learn of the toxicology results, although we are glad to now have closure," Patricia Houston, the pop superstar's manager and sister-in-law said in a statement on Thursday.

Houston soared to the top of the pop charts in the 1980s, best known for a string of hit songs including "I Will Always Love You." But her career declined as she battled personal issues that included drug addiction.

Patricia Houston told Oprah Winfrey in an interview this month that she had believed the pop star's worst days of drug abuse were behind her.

Members of the family told Winfrey that Houston was found face down and naked in the bathtub, and that attempts by her staff to revive her proved fruitless.

Houston was last in rehab in May 2011. But celebrity media reported that she was seen drinking heavily and behaving erratically in the three or four days before her death.

Sales and downloads of Houston's best-known songs, including "Saving All My Love for You" and "My Love is Your Love" soared around the world after her death.(Reuters)

Houston funeral ends after four-hour tribute

NEWARK: An audio recording of "I Will Always Love You," ended a more than four-hour funeral service to the singer Whitney Houston on Saturday, one week after the superstar's sudden death at 48.

Hollywood stars, music greats, relatives and friends had assembled at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey to pay tribute to the singer, where she sang as a child before conquering the world stage with her performances.

A casket carrying Houston's body was taken from the church at around 3:45 pm (2045 GMT) as "I Will Always Love You," the theme from "The Bodyguard," movie regarded by many as her signature track, played in the background.

Kevin Costner, Houston's co-star in the film, delivered an emotional but upbeat tribute to the singer, whose death prompted sadness, grief and respect from fans and contemporaries worldwide.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker set the tone for the service, which opened to joyous gospel singing from the New Hope Mass Choir.

"We are here to mourn our loss, but to celebrate her life. God is in heaven, and with him is one of our angels, Whitney Houston," Booker said.

Streets near the red-brick church, which has been adorned with floral tributes, candles, balloons and condolence cards in recent days, were sealed off as the memorial service was by invitation only.

The church has a capacity of only 1,500 and fans were respectfully asked to stay away for fear of crowds disrupting the event, but several hundred turned up regardless. (AFP)

Osama wanted to marry Whitney Houston

Osama bin Laden lusted after Whitney Houston, dreamed of marrying her and at one point even plotted to murder her husband Bobby Brown, a new book has claimed.

The incredible account of the terrorist's infatuation with the late singer comes from Sudanese author Kola Boof, who it is widely accepted lived with him as his mistress.

It was 1996, and just a few years later Bin Laden would mastermind the most appalling terrorist attack ever to happen on American soil.

But holed-up in his Moroccan compound he had different things on his mind, namely sex, smoking cannabis and dancing to western pop groups like the B52s and Van Halen.

Boof, who claims she was kept as a "sex slave" by the world's most dangerous terrorist, said he thought the singer was "the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen" and that he was desperate to marry her.

In an autobiography released in 2006, Boof claims bin Laden plotted to have Brown murdered before wooing Houston by giving her a mansion he owned in the suburbs of Khartoum.

According to the her account, the strongly racist bin Laden puffed on cannabis before announcing he would be willing to "break his colour rule" and make Houston one of his wives.

Inside his warped mind he believed Houston was truly Islamic but had been brainwashed by American culture.

Boof, who is black, claimed bin Laden scolded her for braiding her hair and ordered her to model herself on Houston instead.

"He smoked a little marijuana from a gold hookah, sipping his tea and instructing me that I was always to keep hot tea for his 'kif-canbo', to ease the burn in his chest," the Daily Mail quoted Boof as writing in her book.

"Osama said only monkeys braid their hair. He told me that the singer Whitney Houston was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen and that she never wore her hair braided.

"'I want you to fix your hair like hers from now on,' he said. 'I can't put my fingers through it when it's braided.

"Osama kept coming back to Whitney Houston. He asked if I knew her personally when I lived in America. I told him I didn't.

"He said that he had a paramount desire for Whitney Houston, and although he claimed music was evil, he spoke of someday spending vast amounts of money to go to America and try to arrange a meeting with the superstar.

"It didn't seem impossible to me. He said he wanted to give Whitney Houston a mansion that he owned in a suburb of Khartoum. He explained to me that to possess Whitney he would be willing to break his colour rule and make her one of his wives.

"I tried to hide my outrage at his racist remarks, but it would come to pass that for the entire time that I would be trapped in his palm, Whitney Houston's was the one name that would be mentioned constantly.

"How beautiful she is, what a nice smile she has, how truly Islamic she is but is just brainwashed by American culture and her husband-Bobby Brown, whom Osama talked about having killed, as if it were normal to have women's husbands killed.

"In his briefcase I would come across photographs of the star, as well as copies of Playboy, but nobody in the West believes me when I tell them this. It's like they have this totally bogus image of Osama bin Laden.

"Anyway, it would soon come to the point where I was sick of hearing Whitney Houston's name," she wrote.

Her story first surfaced in 2002 when the Guardian newspaper published an article claiming she had had a forced sexual relationship with bin Laden.

Later in a two-part interview with MSNBC she was billed as the "Former Mistress of Osama Bin Laden".

While some claimed she had made up the story and that it was impossible because of her afro-American heritage, Boof has stood by her account and points out that yet two of bin Laden's twenty-five children are black and his Syrian grandmother also could be considered a Black woman. Credit:santabanta.com

Private funeral Saturday for Whitney Houston

NEW YORK: Pop diva Whitney Houston will be laid to rest on Saturday after a private funeral service at the New Jersey Baptist church where she grew up singing in a gospel choir.                                                                              

Fans of Houston, who died Saturday aged just 48, will be denied the chance to say farewell in a mass outpouring as the singer's family has apparently decided against holding a two-day public memorial in a Newark sports arena.

"The service will be held Saturday 12 noon (1700 GMT) at New Hope Baptist Church," a spokeswoman at the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, which was handling preparations for Houston's burial, told.

Houston was found unconscious in her bathtub on Saturday afternoon at the Beverly Hilton hotel as preparations were under way for the Grammy Awards, the highlight of the music industry calendar. Medics were unable to revive her.

Houston, who possessed one of the greatest-ever singing voices and sold more than 170 million records, fought a long and public battle with substance abuse after her career and personal life went off the rails.

Fans were awaiting autopsy results that may not be made public for up to eight weeks, as speculation rages that the singing legend may have died from a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs and alcohol.

The autopsy was completed on Sunday but the results have been held back pending the completion of a toxicology probe. (AFP)

Whitney Houston dead at 48, on eve of Grammys

LOS ANGELES: Grammy-winning pop legend and actress Whitney Houston was found dead Saturday in Beverly Hills, police said. She was 48.

The shock news came as the music industry gathered in Los Angeles for the annual Grammy awards show on Sunday, and a few hours ahead of a traditional pre-Grammys dinner in the hotel where Houston died.

Musicians took to Twitter to pay tribute to the singer, famous for songs including "I Will Always Love You," who had led a public battle with drugs.

"Heartbroken and in tears over the shocking death of my friend ... She will never be forgotten as one of the greatest voices to ever grace the earth," wrote Mariah Carey.

Police confirmed her death in a brief statement outside the Beverly Hilton hotel, where stars were gathering for an annual pre-Grammys dinner hosted by veteran producer Clive Davis.

"At 3:55 pm, Whitney Houston was pronounced dead at the Beverly Hilton hotel," said Mark Rosen, a police spokesman.

Rosen said police received an emergency call from someone in her entourage and found Houston on the floor of her room on the hotel's fourth floor as attempts were being made to resuscitate her.

"There were no obvious signs of criminal intent at this time, and it is being investigated by the Beverly Hills police department," the police spokesman added.

The cause of death was not immediately known.

A mobile crime laboratory and a number of police cars were stationed outside the hotel, while inside guests watched live television coverage about Houston's death in the bar and lobby areas.

Condolences poured in on Twitter from shocked fans and from the famous, as
sadness over the news spread through the entertainment world.

"We have lost another legend. Love and prayers to Whitney's family. She will be missed," said Christina Aguilera, while Rihanna wrote simply: "No words! Just tears #DearWhitney."

Grammys organizers the Recording Academy are scrambling to include some kind of tribute to Houston in Sunday's show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, according to CNN.

With a ferociously powerful voice and a dazzling range, Houston achieved stardom as a pop-soul singer known as "The Voice" and the "Queen of Pop."

She also appeared in hit movies like "Waiting to Exhale" and "The Bodyguard."

From a musical family that included mother Cissy Houston, a gospel star, and Dionne Warwick, her cousin, Whitney Houston started out as a teen model and then made a dazzling segue to music.

Her hits included "How Will I Know," "Saving all My Love for You," and "I
Will Always Love You."

Houston's trove of six Grammy awards included one for record of the year -- for a soaring cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," and another for album of the year for "The Bodyguard."

Houston, who grew up in New Jersey, was also a supporter of the anti-apartheid movement and South Africa's Nelson Mandela, on whose behalf she campaigned during his imprisonment.

She struggled with substance abuse, which took a toll on her health and career.

Houston has sold more than 170 million records worldwide but suffered a major career setback after admitting drug use during an abusive relationship with ex-husband Bobby Brown.

Brown was one of the hottest rhythm and blues singers in the late 1980s and early 90s, but became better known as the husband of Houston and for his frequent brushes with drugs and the law.

The pair, who were divorced in 2007, starred in a television reality series, "Being Bobby Brown," that featured their marriage, warts and all. They have a daughter Bobbi Kristina.

Brown was detained in Atlanta in 1993 for lewd conduct and for brawling in 1995. He was arrested for drunk driving in 1996 and for alleged battery of Houston in late 2003. (AFP)