US singer Whitney Houston may have drowned after falling asleep in a bathtub at a Beverly Hills hotel, possibly after taking a drug used to treat anxiety and depression, US reports say.
The reports came as Bobbi Kristina, Houston's 18-year-old daughter, was taken to hospital "because she was having a complete breakdown", a source told People magazine.
Employees at the Beverly Hills Hilton hotel told entertainment gossip website TMZ and People magazine the US singer was found "partially submerged in the bathtub of her room" and "unresponsive" by one of her entourage.
While no illegal drugs were found in Houston's hotel room, Beverly Hills police reportedly found bottles of prescription drugs, TMZ said.
The 48-year-old had been taking Xanax, a prescription drug used to treat anxiety and depression, the website added, quoting the singer's family.
Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina was reportedly in the lobby of the hotel when her mother died, People said, quoting a source.
"[Bobbi Kristina] was screaming, 'What's wrong with her? What's wrong with her?," the source said.
At the New Jersey church where her singing career first took flight, fans and admirers gathered to celebrate the life of Whitney Houston and mourn her passing a day after the pop music diva died in a Beverly Hills hotel.
Cards and flowers were tied to the railings of the New Hope Baptist Church, and congregants hugged and cried at the entrance. Among those paying their respects was the Reverend Jesse Jackson, the civil rights activist.
"The suddenness of it all leaves us traumatized," said Jackson, who watched Houston grow up and sing at New Hope. It was this large but modest looking, red-brick house of worship on a quiet backstreet near downtown Newark where Houston's career began as a soloist in a gospel choir in the 1970s.
"We must lean on our faith. Our hearts are heavy today," Jackson said.
Houston, whose soaring voice lifted her to the top of the pop music world but whose personal decline was fueled by years of drug abuse, died on Saturday afternoon US time in a Beverly Hills hotel room. She was 48.
Houston's only child, daughter Bobbi Kristina, 18, who was reported to have been suffering from severe anxiety, was taken from the hotel by paramedics to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a Beverly Hills Fire Department spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman declined to disclose any information about Kristina's medical condition but said she was "awake and talking" at the time she was transported.
Personal anguish over Houston's death was manifest in a brief statement issued through her spokeswoman on behalf of her family.
"We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Whitney. This is an unimaginable tragedy and we will miss her terribly," it said. "We appreciate the outpouring of love and support from her fans and friends."
In a separate statement issued through People magazine, Houston's former husband, R&B singer Bobby Brown, with whom she had shared a long struggle with substance abuse, said, "I am deeply saddened at the passing of my ex-wife, Whitney Houston."
Brown, who is Kristana's father, was described by an unnamed relative as "beside himself" with grief, according to the magazine.
On the West Coast, the First AME Church of of Los Angeles, the city's oldest African-American congregation, held a special moment of silence in Houston's memory.
"Many of us were rooting and pulling for her because she has been a blessing to this generation with talent, with a special anointed voice," Pastor John Hunter told parishioners. "We will miss her. This world will miss her."
Several cards left at the church in Newark extolled Houston's roots in that city, where she was born in 1963. One read: "Newark loves you and will always love you."
"We are all heartbroken," said Jacqueline Kimble, 45, who remembered Houston from her days at the church. "She was our jewel. This is a sad day for Newark and the whole world."
Up to 200 people attended the Newark church's three scheduled services, portions of which were devoted to Houston and her family.
"We prayed for the family, " said Denise Dean, 57, who said he once heard Houston sing at the church and still has her faded autograph on an old check book.
DEATH EXPECTED TO DOMINATE GRAMMY SCENE
Houston died on the eve of the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles at the same hotel where her mentor, record mogul Clive Davis, was holding a pre-event party with music industry celebrities.
Beverly Hills police said they were called to the hotel where Houston's body was found in a fourth-floor room. Police said there were no obvious signs of criminal intent.
Los Angeles County coroners removed Houston's body after midnight through a back door to avoid the crush of media set up to cover her death.
Typically, coroners conduct an autopsy within a day or two, at which point they might release some preliminary information about the death. If drugs or alcohol are involved, however, an official cause of death would not be issued until after toxicology tests, which could take six to eight weeks.
Los Angeles police and coroners officials offered no update this morning.
Houston's death is now expected to be a central focus of today's Grammys, and Jennifer Hudson is scheduled to sing a tribute during the program.
Houston's songs were already dominating Internet music sales early on Sunday. Her album "Whitney Houston - The Greatest Hits" was the top seller in the music category on Amazon.com and her signature hit, "I Will Always Love You," was the No. 1 download at iTunes.
Over the course of a 30-year career in which she established herself as one of the most-admired and influential singers of her time, Houston won six Grammys, 30 Billboard awards and 22 American Music Awards.
The soundtrack for the hit movie in which she starred, The Bodyguard, was among the best-selling film soundtracks ever.
By the early 1990s, Houston's success on stage was accompanied by an increasingly troubled personal life. In 1992 she married singer Bobby Brown and their tumultuous 14 years together were marred by drug abuse and domestic violence.
The last 10 years of Houston's life were dominated by drug use, rumors of relapses and trips to rehab.
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