The death of pop diva Whitney Houston has not shocked music critic Glenn A.Baker, who says her shambolic tour of Australia in 2010 highlighted the depth of her personal struggles.
Baker described Houston as a performer with a ''powerful, peerless voice'' at her prime, but said she was a shadow of her former self on her last local tour, which attracted poor reviews and criticism of her voice and behaviour.
''This doesn't come as a great surprise to me, as tragic as it is,'' Mr Baker told ABC television.
''Forty-eight [years old] is a terribly early time to check out, but I suppose if you think of the last time she was in Australia, it wasn't an edifying spectacle.
''It was a situation of people quite literally asking for their money back at some of her shows. The voice was cracking and not in good form, she was plainly not in a good place.
''Maybe we became a bit inured to stories about problems in Whitney's life, with [husband] Bobby Brown it seems to me they were not finding married life all that easy on a lot of occasions.
''People admired her musically and professionally but I think a lot of people had their doubts about her as a person and an individual.''
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