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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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

#FavoriteWhitneySong: What's yours?

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

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[tweet https://twitter.com/KeriHilson/status/168507324711968768%5D

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Newark's mayor Cory Booker even took to Twitter to pay tribute to one of New Jersey's greatest starts.

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The tributes and reaction continue to flood in at an unbelievable pace. Among them:

[tweet https://twitter.com/GloriaEstefan/status/168504593750302720%5D

[tweet https://twitter.com/GloriaEstefan/status/168508584034963456%5D

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[tweet https://twitter.com/serenawilliams/status/168504228761968641%5D

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[tweet https://twitter.com/gbstarr/status/168515007850610688%5D

[tweet https://twitter.com/wyclef/status/168506367194300416%5D

[tweet https://twitter.com/AustinBloggy/status/168522853216555008%5D

[tweet https://twitter.com/Joan_Rivers/status/168509323373314048%5D

[tweet https://twitter.com/BrunoMars/status/168522667761221632%5D

[tweet https://twitter.com/VeraWangGang/status/168517354517561344%5D

[tweet https://twitter.com/gadiiing/status/168515084052725761%5D

[tweet https://twitter.com/ceoMarkZuck/status/168503551885185024%5D

[tweet https://twitter.com/DanniiMinogue/status/168514712861016065%5D

[tweet https://twitter.com/CeeLoGreen/status/168506648481112064%5D

[tweet https://twitter.com/druidDUDE/status/168507574201745409%5D

[tweet https://twitter.com/ChrisKattan/status/168511851485859841%5D