Houston to be honored at Grammys tonight
LOS ANGELES — Whitney Houston will be remembered with a tribute by Jennifer Hudson tonight at the Grammy Awards, a day after she was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel.
Special section: Whitney Houston: Death of a pop diva
Special section: 54th Annual Grammy awards
The 48-year-old singer was pronounced dead just hours before she was expected to attend a pre-Grammy gala. Beverly Hills police say "there were no obvious signs of any criminal intent."
The coroner's office says an autopsy will be performed.
Houston had been at rehearsals for the Grammy show on Thursday, coaching singers Brandy and Monica, according to someone who was there but wasn't authorized to speak publicly about it. The person said Houston looked disheveled, was sweating profusely and liquor and cigarettes could be smelled on her breath.
Houston was one of the top-selling artists in pop music history, with more than 55 million records sold in the United States alone. Her 1992 hit "I Will Always Love You" won her Grammys for record of the year and best female pop vocal.
But with her success came drug use, erratic behavior and a rocky marriage to singer Bobby Brown that ended in 2007. All of it took a toll on her once-stunning voice, leaving it sounding frayed and hoarse in recent years.
A surreal scene at Beverly Hilton hotel
Music's biggest night was rocked on the eve of the event with news that the 48-year-old pop legend died at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where she was preparing to attend a pre-Grammy party.
The horse race over this year's Grammys seemed secondary in the wake of her death. Still, the show will go on, with a musical tribute to Houston by one of her biggest fans, Jennifer Hudson. Chaka Khan, who also shared a hit song with Houston ("I'm Every Woman"> is also reported to perform.
Kanye West is the top Grammy nominee with seven nods. But Adele - who along with the Foo Fighters and Bruno Mars is up for six - was expected to sweep her categories on the momentum of her top-selling "21" album.
Coverage of the Grammys begins 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
