It was with great shock that we learned of the death of Whitney Houston.
Houston, best known as a singer but also an occasional actress, was found in a Los Angeles hotel room yesterday. The cause of death has yet to be ascertained. She was 48 years old.
An immensely talented vocalist, Houston shifted over 170m records throughout her career, and counted six Grammys among the 400+ awards she won over the years.
Her first album, the self-titled Whitney Houston , was the first debut album, and the first album by a female artist, to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Film fans will probably most strongly associate Whitney Houston with The Bodyguard , the romantic thriller she starred in with Kevin Costner. She also sang the iconic, ubiquitous theme song ('I Will Always Love You'), which topped the UK singles chart for 10 weeks.
Other film roles included Waiting To Exhale and The Preacher's Wife , with Denzel Washington.
She recently completed work on musical drama Sparkle , which is due to be released later this year.
In recent years, Houston's drug problems have had more press coverage than her music, but her body of work will no doubt outlive that infamy.
Our thoughts go out to her family.
