Whitney Houston Dies at 48

Whitney Houston is dead at age 48, according to the Associated Press. The cause of her death is unknown, Houston’s publicist told the AP.

UPDATE: TMZ is reporting that Houston died at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, where she was pronounced dead at 3:55pm PST.

News of Houston’s passing comes just hours after it was reported that she’d been approached by Simon Cowell to join the American version of The X Factor as a judge, and just one day before the Grammys. A six-time Grammy-winner who also won an Emmy in 1986 for her performance at the 28th Annual Grammy Awards, the singer and actress will undoubtedly be honored during tomorrow’s ceremony.

A reigning pop music star in the ’80s and ’90s, Houston made headlines in later years for her turbulent marriage to singer Bobby Brown and her ongoing struggle with drug abuse.

Houston’s TV and film credits include The Bodyguard, Waiting to Exhale, The Preacher’s Wife, and the Emmy-winning 1997 TV movie Cinderella, in which she played the Fairy Godmother.

RIP, Whitney.