This Just In

Fans, celebrities react to Whitney Houston's death: 'We will always love you'
February 11th, 2012
08:53 PM ET
Comments (301 comments)

Fans, celebrities react to Whitney Houston's death: 'We will always love you'

Legendary pop singer Whitney Houston has died at age 48, representative Kristen Foster said Saturday night.

The cause of death and where she died were not immediately known. In May 2011, Houston got help for her much-publicized struggle with drugs and alcohol, her representative said at the time.

According to her official website, Houston, who struggled with addiction problems over the years, sold more than 170 million albums, singles and videos over her career.

As news of her death spread online her fans and celebrities tweeted that they were absolutely shocked and saddened at the news.

iReport: Share your memories 

Tributes began flooding in almost immediately as people began expressing their shock at the news. Nearly all of the trends on Twitter worldwide were shortly associated with the singer's death. Among them: R.I.P Whitney Houston, #DearWhitney, #IWillAlwaysLoveYou, The Bodyguard, Bobby Brown and Wanna Dance With Somebody.

"The first full hour after the news broke saw 2,481,652 tweets and retweets, peaking at 61,227 tweets at 5:23 p.m. (all times are PST)," according to Topsy.com. "That is over a thousand tweets a second, not quite as much as during the Superbowl but still a lot."

Whitney Houston is shown trending around the entire globe Saturday night after news of her death.

Houston had been in Los Angeles and Grammy rehearsal parties were taking place one night before the music industry's biggest event. Stunned celebrities heard about the news all together.

Mariah Carey, who famously performed a duet with Houston on "When You Believe" was stunned by the news.

LaToya Jackson also took to Twitter to express her condolences to Houston's family. She and the rest of her family have gone through the turmoil of dealing with the sudden death of the King of Pop Michael Jackson.

The news of Houston's death brought many people back to their childhood and reminisced on all of the ways Houston's music had entered their lives. Whether it was their love of a literal soundtrack, like "The Bodyguard," or the songs that were so embedded into their  souls that ie became soundtrack to their lives, fans shared their sadness at the loss.

Many also wanted to share their favorite memories of Whitney Houston, sparking the trend #FavoriteWhitneySong.

#FavoriteWhitneySong: What's yours?

For some fellow artists, the news hit at their core. Houston, for them, was not only an icon but also an inspiration for many.

FULL POST

 Post by:
Filed under: Music • Showbiz • Whitney Houston
February 11th, 2012
08:20 PM ET
Comments (315 comments)

Whitney Houston dead at 48

Legendary singer Whitney Houston has died at age 48, her representative Kristen Foster said.

FULL STORY

Filed under: Uncategorized
February 11th, 2012
05:33 AM ET
Comments (91 comments)

Rapper 50 Cent visits impoverished areas in Kenya, Somalia

Rap star Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson visited Kenya and famine-hit Somalia this week to raise awareness on hunger and poverty issues.

Jackson flew to the southern Somali border town of Dolo, which has provided refuge to the thousands of women and children fleeing drought and conflict in the nation.

"What I am seeing is devastating - these women and children have risked everything to come to this Somalia camp, just to get food," Jackson said. "They need our help."

Somalia has battled famine conditions in some regions and an Islamist insurgency that has disrupted aid to people in danger of starvation. The United Nations declared an end to Somalia's six-month famine recently, but said the situation is still fragile.

The singer teamed up with the World Food Programme for the Wednesday and Thursday visits that included a stop in a slum in neighboring Kenya.

FULL STORY
Post by:
Filed under: U.S. • World