The 48-year-old singer, who had prescription drugs in her room, left behind disconsolate family and friends and unfulfilled dreams. Her body was flown Monday by private jet to New Jersey, where she was born and where her funeral is being planned. Late Monday, a hearse under heavy police escort arrived at the Newark, New Jersey, funeral home that officials said was handling the arrangements for the late pop star. After an autopsy Sunday, authorities said there were no indications of foul play and no obvious signs of trauma on Houston. It could be weeks, however, before the coroner's office completes toxicology tests to establish the cause of death.
The singer had struggled for years with cocaine, marijuana and pills and her behavior had become erratic, including in the period before her death. Some described her as upbeat and eager to perform at producer Clive Davis' pre-Grammy Awards bash. Others described an unfocused woman, unkempt and smelling of alcohol and cigarettes. It recalled the end of Michael Jackson's life, as he tried to turn his career around with an ambitious series of London concerts. The 50-year-old struck many as youthfully energetic and upbeat, while others said he was bedeviled by insomnia that led him to a fatal dosage of prescription drugs in June 2009.
Jackson's death was quickly linked to the anesthetic propofol, although the criminal prosecution of his doctor was played out through 2011. It took three months for a London coroner to rule that Amy Winehouse drank herself to death last July. Like Jackson, Houston may also get a grand goodbye. Houston's family raised the possibility of holding a wake Thursday and a funeral Friday at Newark's Prudential Center, which hosts college and professional sporting events and seats about 18,000 people. A picture of Houston appeared Monday night on the electronic board outside the arena, one of the nation's busiest entertainment venues, with a New Jersey Devils ice hockey game Friday night posing a logistical challenge to a planned funeral that day.
Jackson's Los Angeles memorial service included members of the public, 1.6 million of whom had vied for about 9,000 tickets, along with songs from Usher, Jennifer Hudson and Mariah Carey and speeches from other celebrities. An impromptu memorial for Houston was held during a sadness-tinged Grammys Sunday night, with Hudson saluting her memory with a performance of "I Will Always Love You." Viewership for the awards show soared over last year by 50 percent, with about 40 million viewers tuning in to the program on CBS. "It was the greatest honor of my life to be able to be the one to pay tribute to Whitney's memory," Hudson said in a statement Monday. "It was from my heart. I haven't stopped crying since she passed."
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