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.
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."
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.
[tweet https://twitter.com/MariahCarey/status/168506210436399104%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/MariahCarey/status/168506516259880962%5D
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.
[tweet https://twitter.com/latoyajackson/status/168506059063959552%5D
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.
[tweet https://twitter.com/MotherJustice/status/168517868940558337%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/therealstylesp/status/168515223714660352%5D
Many also wanted to share their favorite memories of Whitney Houston, sparking the trend #FavoriteWhitneySong.
#FavoriteWhitneySong: What's yours?
[tweet https://twitter.com/AimieRocks/status/168517490119426048%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/rogergzz/status/168511169433321475%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/grantgust/status/168509210982752258%5D
For some fellow artists, the news hit at their core. Houston, for them, was not only an icon but also an inspiration for many.
[tweet https://twitter.com/UsherRaymondIV/status/168515058215825409%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/KeriHilson/status/168507324711968768%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/alexandramusic/status/168503782471241728%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/rihanna/status/168512513795817472%5D
Newark's mayor Cory Booker even took to Twitter to pay tribute to one of New Jersey's greatest starts.
[tweet https://twitter.com/CoryBooker/status/168507618892066817%5D
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
[tweet https://twitter.com/GloriaEstefan/status/168510209776549890%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/serenawilliams/status/168504228761968641%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/serenawilliams/status/168509220239589376%5D
[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
I found the best comment here: http://www.facebook.com/andreas.moser.blog => "Now it will be unbearable again to listen to the radio for the next few weeks, thanks to Whitney Houston."
When I first heard Whitney sing "I'll Always Love You" in the Body Guard, I could only say "Wow!" Whitney had a beautiful voice and spirit. Now, she is at peace, with The Father (who she never forgot) and though I am saddened by her leaving us; I am glad she is singing in Heaven now.
Whitney inspired us her music will always live with us we are going to miss her and god bless her family
She would still be alive if she never met Bobby Brown.
I hate to say I agree but his influence was her downfall. The only bright spot was Bobbi Kristina.
no, she would still be alive if she had not been an IDIOT and totally abused her body with crack, coke, xanax, etc.!
I know I never met her in real life, BUT I LOVED HER EVER SINCE I WAS LITTLE!! I USE TO HOPE THAT HER AND MY UNCLE WOULD GET MARRIED SO SHE REALLY COULD BE MY AUNT SOME DAY (i know im crazy, smh) but i really loved me some Whitney! I use to run around my house with a robe hanging down on my head singing (i wanna dance with somebody, i bel...ieve the children are our future, and the greatest love of all just to name a few) every day. I've also seen every movie she was in and watched them over 100+ times as of recently I just got my favorite lil girl watching WHITNEY'S rendition of CINDERELLA or as Fayfay say I want to watch (CINABELLA) which we have seen over 20+ times since I got the movie again for Christmas. I've also made my baby watch it:+) The 1 rule In MY HOUSE was NOBODY OR NON OF MY FRIENDS WERE ABLE TO SAY ANYTHING BAD ABOUT HER EVER AND IF THEY DID I WOULD STOP TALKING TO THEM and that rule still applies, so if u have something bad to say about a person who made some mistakes delete yourself off of my page!! Always will be my FAVORITE SINGER (and unknown aunt)!!!! R.I.P WHITNEY 1963-2012 gone way to soon!:'{
You know; we do thing in life some times stupid some time crazy and some time not knowing at all what is the right thing to do . who can be certain , what is the right . but that my freinds is how we learn like it or not . Everry body makes mistake.WE ALL DO........ WE CANT JUDGE!!!!!!!!!!!!! . SO LET THIS BUTIFUL AND TALENTEDED HUMAN BEING REST IN PEACE. GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF THE REST. ( GOD BLESS )
Whitney loved Jesus when she sang about her Lord and Savior. It is a wonderful experience to have an upbringing in the church- moments such as grief over the passing of a loved one is a time to hold strong to your faith in God. I know her family is leaning on the Lord heavily during this time of loss. I pray God see them thru each and every time they need Him.
They say it happens in 3's ; 1st Etta James, 2nd Don Corneilus, but NOTHING NOTHING can prepare us for this one. Its like Michael Jackson shock all over again. I did a documentary on her music years ago on a public access channel even talking about her 12 inch singles. When we first saw her first music video "You Give Good Love" we were saying "She has a promising future ahead"; Now, to watch that same video, I say "This is the beginning of a journey that has an unforeseeable ending". Moving forward, her song "Step by Step", who knew years later that this song would be the soundtrack to her later years. Next came the song "Tell Me No" where she was determined to fight for her life. Then came the song "I Look To You" where you cant help but hear her spirit crying out yet some people had mixed emotions about the song. Although her last cd "I Look To You" debut at #1 some people had mixed reviews on it. But whenever I heard that I would always tell them: "This isnt Whitney of the 80's or 90's; This is a renewed Whitney so you have to listen to this cd as if shes a new artist in which she is in the sense of starting over. Well she fought the fight til she got tired and God called back one of his children to give her rest & most of all PEACE. Imagine, to be in the same hotel building at a party where she was suppose to attend & a few floors up shes laying there.....(speechless). Funny, the media that raised her up, then tore her down (without support & prayer), are raising her back up again. What a world. Our prayers to her family, The Winans Family, & Brandy because their sorrow runs deeper than ours.
RIP WHITNEY HOUSTON. SHE WAS A BEAUTIFUL TALENTED AND INSPIRING ARTIST WITH HER UNIQUE AND GREAT VOICE. MY CONDOLENCES TO HER FAMILY. WE WILL ALL MISS YOU. GOD BLESS.
Addiction is a disease and can be genetic. May others learn from her death and join a program to recover. RIP Whitney
Gone but surely missed my heart goes out to her family, friends and all her beloved fans. This is such a tradegy one of he finest voices anyone has been graced to know. WE THE WORLD WILL MISS YOU WHITNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SADDENED! I was shocked when I saw the reports and didn't want to believe it was true. But a true star and talent has been lost to us all.
What is so shocking about a has been singer dying from a drug overdose? She, like Amy Winehouse, deserved to die young for being stupid and abusing her body. One less drug addict in the world is a GOOD thing!
mike63
She WAS a talented singer, I'll give her that. Unfortunately, she was ALSO a talented DRUG ADDICT!
Another great talent gone. May you join the choir in Heaven, Whitney Houston. What a beautiful lady and voice. You will be missed. You were one of my favorite singers. What a loss for the music world. God bless Bobby and your daughter, Bobby Christina and the rest of your family. May GOD ease their pain and comfort them. The world will be celebrating your life today and forever. We loved you, Whitney. We always will. Love
First, thanks to everyone on here for the Sunday entertainment. I feel bad for any children in cases like this one and I am sorry for what happened. I think some of the negativity on here comes from the fact that the media and some people try to make a really big deal about any celebrity death. It may also come from the fact that many of us do not understand how things like this can happen to famous people who are well off financially and have all the means to deal with and correct problems such as drug abuse. I think that many of us struggle with everyday bills and live paycheck to paycheck, unlike most all celebrities so we have a disconnect on how something so tragic could happen to someone with more "support" systems at their disposal.