Whitney Houston Dead at 48

Update 9:00 p.m.: 

spokesman Lt. Mark Rosen said during a news conference that Whitney Houston was pronounced dead at the
at about 3:55 p.m.Saturday.

Rosen said Beverly Hills emergency personnel responded at 3:43 p.m. to a 911 call to Houston's fourth-floor room and began resuscitation efforts, but they were unable to revive her.

A member of Houston's entourage made the call to police, Rosen said.

According to Rosen, Houston's body remained in the room while investigators sought details about a cause of death. There were no immediate indications of criminal intent, he said.

The 48-year-old Houston was in the Los Angeles area for Sunday night's Grammy Awards at the Staples Center and was expected to attend a tribute Saturday night at the Beverly Hilton for music executive Clive Davis, the man who discovered her in the 1980s.

She is survived by her daughter, Bobbi Kristina, with ex-husband and singer Bobby Brown.

TMZ reported that Houston's mother, singer Cissy Houston, and her cousin, vocalist Dionne Warwick, both talked with Houston Saturday by telephone and nothing seemed unusual.

Cissy Houston talked with her daughter about 30 minutes before she died, according to TMZ.

Reactions to Houston's death have poured in locally and from across the nation.

"It's a tragedy," singer Tony Bennett wrote on his Twitter page. "Whitney Houston was the greatest singer I've ever heard and she will be truly missed."

Recording Academy President Neil Portnow called Houston, a six-time
Grammy winner, "one of the world's greatest pop singers of all time."

"A light has been dimmed in our music community today, and we extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends, fans and all who have been touched by her beautiful voice," Portnow said in a statement.

Influential musician and producer Quincy Jones said he was "absolutely heartbroken at the news."

"I always regretted not having had the opportunity to work with her," Jones said in a statement. "She was a true original and talent beyond compare."

The First AME Church of Los Angeles, where Warwick and other members of Houston's family have attended services, announced it will dedicate a Sunday morning service to her memory.

Houston was "one of the most dynamic voices of our time," church Pastor and Senior Minister John J. Hunter said in a prepared release. "We are all saddened by her passing and our hearts go out to her family."

Academy Award-winning singer Jennifer Hudson reportedly was scheduled to perform a tribute to Houston Sunday evening at the Grammy ceremony.

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