Farewell, Whitney Houston

With the passing of Whitney Elizabeth Houston on February 11, 2012, we are once again left wondering what happened.  And, much like John Belushi's passing in bungalow 3 at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood, the 4th floor of the Beverly Hilton will forever be known as the place where Whitney Houston died. 

The rapid downward spiral of Whitney's final days began Thursday, February 9th.  As reported by Chris Willman of Stop the Presses here, Whitney met up with Brandy, Monica and Clive Davis for pre-Grammys party rehearsals at the Beverly Hilton.  A Los Angeles Times reporter observed Whitney arriving looking disheveled in mis-matched clothing, reeking of alcohol, she was visibly bloated, and her hair was dripping wet with either water or sweat.  Willman goes on to say of the rehearsal:

"According to the Times, when Houston wasn't mugging and gesticulating wildly for Brandy and Monica — who were doing a media junket, as well as preparing a duet — she was alternately skipping around the lobby or "wandering aimlessly" around the Beverly Hills Hotel grounds. Reportedly, guests had even called security to report the singer doing handstands by the hotel pool."

I kind of take that to mean that Whitney was acting a bit of a fool in her over-the-top "WOO-HOO!" type gestures toward Brandy and Monica, followed by some indulgent, free spirit type behavior in and around the hotel with no regard to how such behavior might be interpreted. 

Image borrowed from
Bungalow Bill's Conservative Wisdom

Later that evening, Whitney attended a party hosted by Kelly Price at the Tru Hollywood Nightclub in Hollywood.  While there, she reportedly got in an loud argument with X Factor finalist, Stacy Francis, at which point Whitney's on again off again boyfriend, Ray J, stepped in and defended Francis' intentions.  Whitney was later photographed exiting the club as photographers snapped pics of what look like fairly banged up knees and what seemed to be blood running down the outer side of her left leg.  See a pic of the blood running down Whitney's leg, along with other photos from that evening, posted by RumorFix here.

Image borrowed from
Bungalow Bill's Conservative Wisdom

Fast forward to Friday night.  According to an article found on Anorak here, TMZ reports that hotel staff said Whitney partied heavily Friday night and, "We’re told Whitney and her friends were in the bar for a time and the group was drinking and very loud. Our sources say even though the hotel is busy with all the Grammy festivities, Whitney and her group stood out because they were so boisterous”. 

The article lays out a timeline for Saturday, the day of Whitney's death, that flows like this:


Where?

Whitney Houston’s body was found in her Beverly Hills hotel room. It was on the hotel’s fourth floor.

She was in the bathtub.

Who found her?

Her bodyguard.

When?

3.55pm February 11 2012.

How did she die?

Her spokesman says there were “no obvious signs of foul play and no obvious signs of a cause of death”.

Since then, TMZ reports here that Whitney's autopsy will be performed today, and, though it will be a while before the toxicology report is ready, it is speculated that a combination of alcohol and Xanax (found in her hotel room along with various other prescription meds) may have been what sedated her to the point of passing out and drowning in the bathtub. 

So, back to Whitney's initial fall from grace, it seems things began spiraling out of control shortly after her marriage to Bobby Brown in 1992.  Various sites on the internet report what was a volatile, and at times, abusive relationship.  Whitney reportedly began doing drugs to cope with the abuse in the relationship.  Also, that "Bobby was my drug"; she did drugs with him and never alone.  Of course, who could forget the images that were released of her supposed "drug den." 

And, since then, even Whitney and Bobby's daughter, Bobbi Kristina, has landed herself in a few drug related photos as well:

BK responds, as if she is a victime, posed in these pictures and not actually committing the act, in Necole Bitchie's article here. 

Also, Necole reports that Whitney banned BK from MySpace after these photos of her drinking smoking weed and drinking alcohol with friends surfaced:

The latest in the saga, according to TMZ's as yet fully developed story, Bobby Kristina was taken from the Beverly Hilton Hotel where her mother passed away on a stretcher to Cedears-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.  BK reportedly got into a screaming match with law enforcement when she attempted to enter the room where her mother passed, but was turned away.  Read more here and here. 

At this point, while I could attempt to chronicle all of Whitney's vast accomplishments, all of which can readily be found on Wiki here, instead, I'd like to talk about what of her performances have meant the most to me.  And really, that can be summed up in two words - The Bodyguard.  I absolutely *love* that movie, and it's certainly within my top 25 favorite movies.  I loved Kevin Costner in the movie, but I thought Whitney's acting was powerful and convincing.  Frank Farmer (Costner's character) has made it a point to not mix business with pleasure where his client, Rachel Marin (Whitney's character) is concerned.  My favorite scene is when she is in the basement of his home and pulls the Samurai sword down off the wall and starts slowly swinging it in the air.  She walks right up to Frank and points places the tip in the middle of his stomach, sharp side up.  He says "Be careful."  He takes the scarf from around her neck and says "Watch this."  He throws the scarf up in the air, it falls in slow motion, and is sheered in two by the extreme sharpness of the blade.  He then grabs the knife by the handle, lowers it, pulls her to him and they share their first kiss.  Amazing. :)

While I couldn't find the sword scene anywhere on YouTube, I did manage to find this deleted scene where Frank undresses Rachel after she is traumatized by the attack at the nightclub where she had been performing "Queen of the Night."  The quality isn't very good, but it is still a very powerful scene as Frank gently undresses her and puts her to bed.  Though it's just a movie, it does my heart good to see the tender handling of this sweet angel who was repeatedly plagued by the demons of drugs.  View the clip here, and Whitney, may you forever rest in peace.

Whitney Elizabeth Houston
8/9/63 - 2/11/12