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Post by rick on Feb 11, 2012 20:13:51 GMT -5
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Post by erik on Feb 11, 2012 20:17:25 GMT -5
I just heard about this too. Even though I think there were many signs that she was headed for an untimely end, as had happened to Elvis and Michael Jackson, to die at age 48 is an enormous loss for the music business, for her fans, and of course for her family.
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Post by fabtastique on Feb 12, 2012 4:03:59 GMT -5
Oh dear ... What a waste of a life and a beautiful voice.
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Post by Dianna on Feb 12, 2012 10:53:00 GMT -5
very very sad news. I keep thinking of the whitney I remember from the 80;s and early 90's. I blame her ex husband bobby brown and even clive davis for putting her out there in concert when he knew that her voice was less than stellar. just sad, I feel really bad for her daughter and mother and of course her fans.
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Post by rick on Feb 12, 2012 17:29:19 GMT -5
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Post by Dianna on Feb 12, 2012 17:54:55 GMT -5
I am glad Jennifer Hudson will pay a tribute that will be nice for whitney's fans to remember her by.
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Post by jeffmeister on Feb 13, 2012 14:45:47 GMT -5
Of course, they will be playing "I Will Always Love You" ad nauseum. Every time I hear it, I'm struck again by how much I dislike her version. How sad it makes me that the Whitney of the 80s was so, so superior to the Whitney of the 90s.
She was a beautiful and talented woman. Unfortunately, she became too concerned with showing off in the 90s; thus making it even more obvious when her voice deteriorated. One of the few celebrity deaths that actually made me cry and still makes my throat tighten every time I think about it.
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Post by erik on Feb 13, 2012 15:19:47 GMT -5
Quote by Jeffmeister:
The big problem I have is this sudden hagiography the media has surrounding her in death; it's much the same as it was for Michael Jackson in a way, and for what might likely be the same reason. And it's not exactly the complete, let alone unvarnished, truth.
One thing I didn't like when it came to Jackson's death is how Al Sharpton b****ed about how the media was treating Jackson worse than they ever did Elvis or Sinatra when they died, and I consider that utter bulls***. Much still gets made about Elvis' weight gain at the end of his life, and Sinatra's womanizing and connections to the mob. In contrast, Jackson seemed to have been elevated to sainthood, and the media seems to be doing the same with Whitney, which I think is very unwise.
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Post by Dianna on Feb 13, 2012 15:47:49 GMT -5
In contrast, Jackson seemed to have been elevated to sainthood, and the media seems to be doing the same with Whitney, which I think is very unwise. well Elvis in my recollection started the elevated to sainthood trend among fallen artists.. It will probably always be like this for certain artists.
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Post by erik on Feb 13, 2012 18:26:54 GMT -5
Quote by dianna:
True, though I will say that the more one reads about Elvis, the more one feels that he was prey to the same kinds of failings we all go through in life, and much more; it doesn't diminish his accomplishments, if anything it enriches them. In time, I think it'll be the case for Whitney, but only if the media would actually start that process now, instead of sensationalizing every last bit of her life, or going to the other extreme and accentuating the pop diva aspect of her, until people get sick of hearing about the whole thing.
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Post by vikingfan on Feb 13, 2012 19:10:41 GMT -5
If we had the same 24 hour cable news and the internet when Elvis died I think his life and death would have been as scrutinized as Michael's or Whitney's....
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Post by philly on Feb 13, 2012 19:20:18 GMT -5
soooo....will she be swept into the RRHOF? She wasn't a songwriter so that alone should preclude her, at least according to the current unwritten rules. Of course that presumes the RRHOF isn't run by publicity whores...
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Post by Dianna on Feb 13, 2012 19:26:01 GMT -5
If we had the same 24 hour cable news and the internet when Elvis died I think his life and death would have been as scrutinized as Michael's or Whitney's.... I think yes. I was young when Elvis died but I remember everything during that moment the newcaster made the announcement. There were still the tabloids out in 1977, I remember seeing those, even after his death, with a lot of crazy stories surrounding his death.
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Post by FEDUPSTADT on Feb 13, 2012 22:28:20 GMT -5
I am very sad at the loss of Whitney Houston, one of the world's greatest voices and it seems a tortured soul. May she rest in peace and may her family find the strength to continue without her.
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Post by rick on Feb 14, 2012 4:24:39 GMT -5
In contrast, Jackson seemed to have been elevated to sainthood, and the media seems to be doing the same with Whitney, which I think is very unwise. well Elvis in my recollection started the elevated to sainthood trend among fallen artists.. It will probably always be like this for certain artists. In following this thread, it occurred to me that Elvis was probably not the first. In 1969, Judy Garland died of an overdose. And she was only 46 years old. She also died at a time when the police were raiding gay bars in Greenwich Village and gays were fed up and, with Judy's death, they fought back. This was one of the events that fueled the Stonewall riots. Judy Garland was a gay icon and, for all of her personal demons, she was beloved and remains so. But I remember, being six years old, watching "The Wizard of Oz" during its then-annual broadcast, and my Mom and Dad walking by the TV set, seeing "The Wizard of Oz," and Garland as Dorothy and one or both of them nonchalantly saying, "She's a drug addict," and keep on walking. Of course, being six, I didn't know what they were talking about, but it was pretty common knowledge then. And on A&E and other contemporary biographies of Garland, I've seen archival interviews with her from the 1960s and she is asked point-blank if she is hooked on drugs, and she laughs, shrugs it off and says something like, "People say I'm hooked on carpets." And before her, there was Marilyn Monroe who died and has been immortalized in posters and in Elton John's "Candle in the Wind," etc. We know these people weren't saints. And they had their problems. But it's not like these were well-kept secrets even back in the '60s. Like Erik, I am in Southern California, and besides the cable networks being wall-to-wall Whitney Houston, the local L.A. news has been consumed with Whitney stories since Saturday afternoon. And, as Erik articulately pointed out before about the "sudden hagiography" surrounding her death.. where were all of these people who thought she was so great and so wonderful and the best singer of all time when she was in trouble? One more thing. Saturday night, one of the Linda Ronstadt playlists was on my iPod and a thought that I try to keep out of the forefront of my mind would not go away. When it is her time, and, God-willing, I hope it is a long time from now, will she even get one minute on the network nightly newscasts?
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Post by erik on Feb 14, 2012 10:09:15 GMT -5
Quote by rick:
You know, Rick, that has been on my mind as well ever since I heard the news about Whitney. And my answer to your question is, a definite Maybe. It may sound very cynical and cold-blooded of me to say this, but I am of the opinion, based on the coverage afforded to both her and Michael Jackson, that you almost have to die a spectacularly ugly, and early, death for the media to splatter your name all over creation.
In Linda's case (and I too hope it doesn't happen for a while), I think the coverage will be much more restrained because, while she has never denied having used drugs back in the day (everybody she knew did), she had also seen how drugs could kill people she knew personally (Janis Joplin; Lowell George; Gram Parsons), and those she idolized as a youngster (Hank Williams; Elvis). Beyond this, the media will be forced to focus on her music, her peers, her fans, and her activism, because that is the kind of fame and appreciation she has worked so hard to achieve. She lets her work speak for itself.
The other thing about Linda is that she doesn't let fame and stardom go to her head, and I think that's where a lot of celebrities go wrong, sometimes, as with Whitney and M.J., with fatal results. I don't buy into the notion that Hollywood destroys people. I think celebrities let it happen, and we have seen the latest example of that in Whitney.
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Post by Dianna on Feb 14, 2012 12:35:46 GMT -5
The other thing about Linda is that she doesn't let fame and stardom go to her head, and I think that's where a lot of celebrities go wrong, sometimes, as with Whitney and M.J., with fatal results. I don't buy into the notion that Hollywood destroys people. I think celebrities let it happen, and we have seen the latest example of that in Whitney. I don't think Hollywood destroys people either and when a public figure passes, the subject of death, stirs up a lot of emotions. Some of which, are the memories of our own personal life losses or fears of our own mortality. Addiction is an illness. That is not an opinion, but a medical diagnosis. And ,for me, gets the same amount of compassion and empathy, as all the other illnesses that plaque mankind. It must be tough celebrities are supposed to be role models and set example, but they are no less human than you and I are.
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Post by rick on Feb 14, 2012 16:40:45 GMT -5
The other thing about Linda is that she doesn't let fame and stardom go to her head, and I think that's where a lot of celebrities go wrong, sometimes, as with Whitney and M.J., with fatal results. I don't buy into the notion that Hollywood destroys people. I think celebrities let it happen, and we have seen the latest example of that in Whitney. I don't think Hollywood destroys people either and when a public figure passes, the subject of death, stirs up a lot of emotions. Some of which, are the memories of our own personal life losses or fears of our own mortality. Addiction is an illness. That is not an opinion, but a medical diagnosis. And ,for me, gets the same amount of compassion and empathy, as all the other illnesses that plaque mankind. It must be tough celebrities are supposed to be role models and set example, but they are no less human than you and I are. Erik, first, I agree with you that Linda does not and has not let celebrity get to her. I think it's why she doesn't put her kids in the limelight and shelters them. As for drug use Linda may or may not have had back in the day... I can remember in the 1970s, when people heard that I was a Linda fan, somehow they had to tell me these stories such as "Oh, you know, she has done so much cocaine that she had to have her noise rebuilt completely." I believe that you are right that she saw what such excesses did to other people in the business. I can't imagine Linda being caught up in the trappings of excess and success. To Dianna, please understand I am not picking on Whitney Houston. Her death has brought up a discussion here that could have easily happened during the time of Michael Jackson's passing, or another celebity who met an untimely end. But there was a woman being interviewed on some station last night. She said she was doing an E! network "Behind the Music" program about Brandy -- and she was to interview Whitney at 6 p.m. Of course, before the interview took place at the Beverly Hilton, news arrived that Whitney had passed. And during the interview, the E! producer just matter-of-factly described how they had all of Whitney's "wants" met (she wanted a special kind of chair, etc.). Now that is not particular to Whitney Houston. But I can't imagine Linda demanding that someone go through and removing all of the green M&M's in a dressing room, etc. We're all different. As for the aspect of addiction being a medical diagnosis, and you're stating that as a fact. I have friends who are in recovery and who have been in recovery for many years -- both AA and NA. Their sobriety is very important to them. I know that the success rate for a program like AA is something akin to 16% because, sadly, too many people can't/won't/don't stick with it. As the Grammys were starting Sunday night, I had this wish for someone like James Taylor to come out there and discuss his battles with addiction. It reminds me of the line in his song on "Hourglass" where he talks about finally getting that monkey off his back. He did make it to the other side. My friends who are in program tell me that AA and NA are, as they put, "programs of attraction, not promotion," so, therefore, that's why you don't see them advertise or proselytize on something like the Grammys. But in watching a rebroadcast of Diane Sawyer's 2002 interview with Whitney Houston, it made me uncomfortable. And I remember it making me uncomfortable when watching it 10 years ago, but to see it now after Whitney's passing, it makes it seem all the more like there was a train wreck occurring in slow-motion and everyone else was powerless to stop it from happening. I saw that this Thursday night on Oprah Winfrey's OWN Network, she is going to rebroadcast her 2009 interview with Whitney in which Whitney admits to using drugs. I remember that Oprah told Whitney how angry she (Oprah) was at Whitney for basically throwing away what was a voice that was a gift from God. The more liberal/libertarian part of me thinks, "Who is Oprah to tell Whitney that?" And then another part of me thinks if more people had been as forthright with her... well, who knows? Dianna, books about addiction have been written and I can't go into all of that here. We all react differently to things. I am not sitting in judgment. Speaking for myself, I will say that I agree with a lot that Erik has written in terms of how someone seems to have to meet their maker in this world for a lot of attention to be paid. And as I wrote in an earlier post, where were all of these journalists and cable TV hosts and TMZ reporters the days and weeks and months and years before Saturday? Oh, right, when Whitney stumbled or made a spectacle of herself in public, they were there to catch it. Otherwise... she wasnt news. And last night I heard her extolled as "THE GREATEST SINGING VOICE OF THE 20th CENTURY!" Stepping off the soapbox. We can talk about this round and round.
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Post by erik on Feb 14, 2012 22:32:57 GMT -5
Quote by rick re. Linda's 70s flirtation with drugs:
I think those stories about Linda are, like so many thing surrounding entertainers, somewhat exaggerated. The only thing I ever heard along those lines about Linda's use of cocaine was that she had to have her nose cauterized twice, which (and someone correct me if I'm wrong about this) is somewhat different from having one's nose rebuilt completely.
Because she came into the music business in the late 1960s, though, there was almost no way Linda could have avoided using drugs at some point, and she freely admitted that she tried everything, even admitting to heroin use. Fortunately for her, and for us, she is still around, because she had seen just enough of the dark side of the entertainment business to avoid falling into an irreversible decline.
What seems to have been a recurring case is that people in the music business who abuse drugs can exhibit some of the most extreme megalomania, and, I'm sorry to have to say this, that seems to have been what happened to Whitney in a process that may have been ten years in the making. As I've said before, it's the ultimate cautionary tale about being caught up in Hollywood, but Hollywood itself isn't the problem. It's how a person who becomes a celebrity deals with it.
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Post by Dianna on Feb 15, 2012 9:54:47 GMT -5
Quote by rick re. Linda's 70s flirtation with drugs: I think those stories about Linda are, like so many thing surrounding entertainers, somewhat exaggerated. The only thing I ever heard along those lines about Linda's use of cocaine was that she had to have her nose cauterized twice, which (and someone correct me if I'm wrong about this) is somewhat different from having one's nose rebuilt completely. Because she came into the music business in the late 1960s, though, there was almost no way Linda could have avoided using drugs at some point, and she freely admitted that she tried everything, even admitting to heroin use. Fortunately for her, and for us, she is still around, because she had seen just enough of the dark side of the entertainment business to avoid falling into an irreversible decline. What seems to have been a recurring case is that people in the music business who abuse drugs can exhibit some of the most extreme megalomania, and, I'm sorry to have to say this, that seems to have been what happened to Whitney in a process that may have been ten years in the making. As I've said before, it's the ultimate cautionary tale about being caught up in Hollywood, but Hollywood itself isn't the problem. It's how a person who becomes a celebrity deals with it. I know Erik (and Rick)... but why do you think substance be it drugs or alcohol abuse affect some and others not.. I saw something on tv last night about Bobby Brown, he said something last night on tv, an earlier clip re his own drug use, he said quite simply "HE WAS BORED." thats what got him started. that may or may have not been the case for Linda as well, but she probably doesn't have an addictive personality towards those things, she says she doesn't like alcohol either. Like Rick said, about his friends struggling to stay sober. this is something you live with all your entire life, and it;s beyond great to have the willpower and desire to stop, I applaud those who can but it's difficult.. I know this because of my own personal experiences surrounding me too, and yes, it is a fact,addiction is an illness, otherwise, people would stop, regardless of the high and how peoeple feel nobody wants to be an alcoholic or drug abuser or smoker or over eater.. ect.
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Post by Dianna on Feb 15, 2012 10:10:48 GMT -5
I don't think Hollywood destroys people either and when a public figure passes, the subject of death, stirs up a lot of emotions. Some of which, are the memories of our own personal life losses or fears of our own mortality. Addiction is an illness. That is not an opinion, but a medical diagnosis. And ,for me, gets the same amount of compassion and empathy, as all the other illnesses that plaque mankind. It must be tough celebrities are supposed to be role models and set example, but they are no less human than you and I are. Erik, first, I agree with you that Linda does not and has not let celebrity get to her. I think it's why she doesn't put her kids in the limelight and shelters them. As for drug use Linda may or may not have had back in the day... I can remember in the 1970s, when people heard that I was a Linda fan, somehow they had to tell me these stories such as "Oh, you know, she has done so much cocaine that she had to have her noise rebuilt completely." I believe that you are right that she saw what such excesses did to other people in the business. I can't imagine Linda being caught up in the trappings of excess and success. To Dianna, please understand I am not picking on Whitney Houston. Her death has brought up a discussion here that could have easily happened during the time of Michael Jackson's passing, or another celebity who met an untimely end. But there was a woman being interviewed on some station last night. She said she was doing an E! network "Behind the Music" program about Brandy -- and she was to interview Whitney at 6 p.m. Of course, before the interview took place at the Beverly Hilton, news arrived that Whitney had passed. And during the interview, the E! producer just matter-of-factly described how they had all of Whitney's "wants" met (she wanted a special kind of chair, etc.). Now that is not particular to Whitney Houston. But I can't imagine Linda demanding that someone go through and removing all of the green M&M's in a dressing room, etc. We're all different. As for the aspect of addiction being a medical diagnosis, and you're stating that as a fact. I have friends who are in recovery and who have been in recovery for many years -- both AA and NA. Their sobriety is very important to them. I know that the success rate for a program like AA is something akin to 16% because, sadly, too many people can't/won't/don't stick with it. As the Grammys were starting Sunday night, I had this wish for someone like James Taylor to come out there and discuss his battles with addiction. It reminds me of the line in his song on "Hourglass" where he talks about finally getting that monkey off his back. He did make it to the other side. My friends who are in program tell me that AA and NA are, as they put, "programs of attraction, not promotion," so, therefore, that's why you don't see them advertise or proselytize on something like the Grammys. But in watching a rebroadcast of Diane Sawyer's 2002 interview with Whitney Houston, it made me uncomfortable. And I remember it making me uncomfortable when watching it 10 years ago, but to see it now after Whitney's passing, it makes it seem all the more like there was a train wreck occurring in slow-motion and everyone else was powerless to stop it from happening. I saw that this Thursday night on Oprah Winfrey's OWN Network, she is going to rebroadcast her 2009 interview with Whitney in which Whitney admits to using drugs. I remember that Oprah told Whitney how angry she (Oprah) was at Whitney for basically throwing away what was a voice that was a gift from God. The more liberal/libertarian part of me thinks, "Who is Oprah to tell Whitney that?" And then another part of me thinks if more people had been as forthright with her... well, who knows? Dianna, books about addiction have been written and I can't go into all of that here. We all react differently to things. I am not sitting in judgment. Speaking for myself, I will say that I agree with a lot that Erik has written in terms of how someone seems to have to meet their maker in this world for a lot of attention to be paid. And as I wrote in an earlier post, where were all of these journalists and cable TV hosts and TMZ reporters the days and weeks and months and years before Saturday? Oh, right, when Whitney stumbled or made a spectacle of herself in public, they were there to catch it. Otherwise... she wasnt news. And last night I heard her extolled as "THE GREATEST SINGING VOICE OF THE 20th CENTURY!" Stepping off the soapbox. We can talk about this round and round. Rick, what you said about an angryOprah telling Whitney those things.. You can have all role models around you and people telling you no, but you know what, whitney was an adult, she's gonna do what she wants to do..regardless of an oprah or her mom or her daughter (whom she would probably stop for if anything) Rick, those journalist are trash , thats what they get paid for, they could give a rats ass about whitney's wellbeing or anyone for that matter. they get their photo op and that's that. as far as comaring her to Linda and green m & m's or the right chair, Linda is not a DIVA, she never has been and never will be., , but I bet she has a nice house and drives a nice car.. lol and so what? I'M sure Streisand has a few of those demands as well. It's just really sad, because she went so young, that's what's so shocking and leaving her daughter behind. I think more emphasis needs to be placed on rehabilitation rather than dr's just writing our rx's left and right, esp for controlled substances.
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Post by erik on Feb 15, 2012 10:49:06 GMT -5
Quote by dianna:
And that's what it boils down to in the end: while it is sad that she died when she did and the way she did it, she made her own choices in life. That's why it bugs me to hear this constant whining about the "evils" of Hollywood and the entertainment business from some of the very same people who earn a living off of it. Those things (drugs; booze, etc.) are always going to be there, but they can't destroy a person unless that person allows it to happen. In the final analysis, personal responsibility is what it's all about.
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Post by Dianna on Feb 15, 2012 12:01:04 GMT -5
Quote by dianna: that's true erik, toppled with selfishness (a person'sloved ones) but it isn't as easy as that. like rick said previously, everyone is different. we are all given choices. if somebody handed me a container of beer, I would probably pass on it because I hate beer and the way it tastes, always have, the same for wine or hard street drugs. it does nothing for me and I have no experience with those.. . presciption medications, on the other hand, imo, are easier (if you let it) esp when a person has a chronic illness or pain or surgery as it is very easy to become dependent upon, nobody wants to be in constant pain all the time.. and those are very easyand cheap to come by, either by dr or on the street. I heard whitney had 3 different dr's for the same rx.. that should be monitored as medical records are easily obtained from your physician and they should have known this. You can blame whitney for her selfish behavior but with an addiction, I would also blame her dr;s..(like MJ) they know better and there are guidelines they need to follow.
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Post by erik on Feb 15, 2012 13:16:04 GMT -5
I think the investigation will invariably go to the pharmacies and the doctors because her abuse of prescription pills had been publicly known in the ten years prior to last Saturday. As happened with Conrad Murray, and back in 1980 with Dr. George Nicopholous (who was Elvis' physician), someone may find himself/herself in a little hot water at some point with the authorities.
That said, though, with all the money and power they have, celebrities can easily go around their own official personal doctors to get a prescription. Jackson probably went right around his own doctor's back to get a lot of his drugs; and Elvis certainly had docs in Vegas and Memphis who supplied him with stuff, and "Dr. Nick" could only stop so many of them from getting to him. Now mind you, we don't know yet for a fact that it was an overdose, whether prescription pills or more illicit drugs, that killed Whitney. But as the old saying goes, if it feels like it, smells like it, and looks like it, and if the coroner and the cops say it, you have to call it that way.
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Post by sliderocker on Feb 19, 2012 0:45:51 GMT -5
I thought I'd heard on the news that they didn't find a lot of medicine bottles in Whitney's room, although I did hear them say on CNN that insiders said she was exhibiting odd behavior in the days before her death. I recall some mention about her being upset about blue dress. I heard that and thought, that's odd behavior? And there was a story about a plastic surgeon passing on surgery for Whitney because she failed medical tests for the heart, kidney and liver. The surgeon didn't elaborate on what the tests revealed and why he passed on surgery - certainly drug abuse was a possibility but there could've been some other health issue that the doctor couldn't reveal. He did cite doctor-patient connfidentiality and government rules enforcement of those rules in not disclosing what exactly was wrong. Of course, the cynics, for whom every death of a pop, rock, country or soul icon was that the deceased died from an overdose, it won't matter what the coroner's verdict will say. It was a drug overdose and there's no need to try and confuse them with the true facts. They know otherwise!
What I think possibly happened with Whitney was that she possibly took some drug to put her to sleep, before she climbed into the bath, and she fell asleep and slipped under the water and drowned. And I'm guessing that's why the coroner will wait for the results of the toxicolgy report before he makes his final verdict. An accident that was totally avoidable. Of course, if the toxicology shows her system was mostly clear of drugs, then the coroner will have to consider other possible causes of death.
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Post by philly on Feb 19, 2012 3:13:27 GMT -5
Whitney is a perfect example of someone who destroyed their voice thru their own excesses. There are a couple crazy comments out there on the interwebs, on youtube, about how awful it is Linda ruined her voice The thing is, she didn't. Perforated septum or not. I certainly can't hear anything to suggest that. If she "ruined" her voice they oughta package the stuff and sell it in music stores
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Post by erik on Feb 19, 2012 13:27:41 GMT -5
Quote by philly:
I know, this stuff really drives fans like ours absolutely batty--which is why I try so hard to ignore it and say to myself, "These people don't know what the f**k they're talking about." The same goes for Linda's weight gain. It's all B.S., in the final analysis.
With respect to Whitney, you really do have to wonder, though, how Linda herself views this; because no matter how much she may have cut herself off from the spotlight, W.H.'s death had to have gotten through to her. And since she has seen this kind of fatal downfall so much in her lifetime with close friends, childhood heroes, and fellow performers, her thoughts may very well be something along the lines of "But for the grace of God go I" (even if Linda herself is not religious).
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Post by Dianna on Feb 19, 2012 16:38:04 GMT -5
What I think possibly happened with Whitney was that she possibly took some drug to put her to sleep, before she climbed into the bath, and she fell asleep and slipped under the water and drowned. And I'm guessing that's why the coroner will wait for the results of the toxicolgy report before he makes his final verdict. An accident that was totally avoidable. Of course, if the toxicology shows her system was mostly clear of drugs, then the coroner will have to consider other possible causes of death. not sure drowning was the case, Coroner tells family not enough water in singer's lungs to conclude she had drowned' 'She had already died before her head went under the water'
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Post by Robert Morse on Feb 19, 2012 16:50:21 GMT -5
May she rest in peace.
As far as what actually happened- with Whitney or anyone else - or who did or did not who what ever drugs (including Linda) we will never know the full story unless we hear it from that person. Most of what is out there is hear say that has had details added to it time and again. A hollywood vesion of the telehone game.
Perhaps if folks were not so focused on the world of celebrity as to elevate it to some kind of higer standard there would not be such a market for the pure BS we read and hear about these people day in and day out. Just saying!
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Post by rick on Feb 19, 2012 17:56:00 GMT -5
May she rest in peace. As far as what actually happened- with Whitney or anyone else - or who did or did not who what ever drugs (including Linda) we will never know the full story unless we hear it from that person. Most of what is out there is hear say that has had details added to it time and again. A hollywood vesion of the telehone game. Perhaps if folks were not so focused on the world of celebrity as to elevate it to some kind of higer standard there would not be such a market for the pure BS we read and hear about these people day in and day out. Just saying! Rob, very well said. As for as the matter of people being focused on the world of celebrity, well, that would be nice. But it seems wheter it is today with the glut of shows like "Access Hollywood" and its many incarnations, "Extra," "Entertainment Tonight," the E! Channel, TMZ, there is just this ongoing fascination with celebrity and gossip and innuendo. When I posted earlier in the thread about, back in the day, when I'd talk about being a Linda Ronstadt fan, and someone would make the comments about her nose, my point was not to "spread dirt," but how people revel in trying to tear down one's heroes/heroines. I didn't have illusions about Linda. I know that Emmylou has said that it was Linda who got her through the tough times after Gram Parsons died. Linda saw what these excesses did to people. As far as hearing it directly from the person.... of what I know about Linda, I believe she would be honest about her past. On the other hand, having two children, she might not want to go into every detail. But there are others who use and have used who have whitewashed it. Just as there is someone like Bill Maher who seems to be gleeful when discussing his use of drugs that are still not legal. I think the difference is that Bill Maher is someone who functions. Speaking of, Bill Maher had Dr. Drew Pinsky on his show "Real Time With Bill Maher" on HBO the other night to discuss addiction in light of Whitney's passing. Again, it depends on how honest the person is willing to be. As I wrote earlier, even back in the 1960s, Judy Garland would be asked on "The Today Show" about her addiction to drugs and she would answer evasively about "People might say I am hooked on .... on .... on carpets." Yes, people are more open today than they were back then. But you also have managers and publicists and the business people who advise and manage celebrities and handle them. And their livelihood and income and percentage depends on how much the star can make and if they are presumed to be a bad risk or perhaps a no-show, then it could impact their revenue. There are a lot of other factors besides "getting it directly from the horse's mouth." It depends on the horse, so to speak. Again, I'd bet on Linda to be truthful.
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