How Whitney Houston's Road to Recovery Spiraled

Whitney Houston's death connected the eve of the Grammys successful 2012 was a unspeakable shock, if not wholly without warning.

The platinum-selling vocalist and histrion had been successful possession of 1 of the all-time great voices, but her vocation wasn't adjacent to what it was astatine her highest and years of hard living had tarnished those once-sparkling pipes. She had survived a lot, including a tumultuous matrimony and a highly nationalist divorce, but her household disquieted astir her.

And yet she was still Whitney freakin' Houston, a beloved entertainer who was expected to attend Clive Davis' yearly Pre-Grammy Gala astatine the Beverly Hilton hotel on Feb. 11, 2012. Instead, the 48-year-old died successful a country upstairs, accidentally drowning successful the bathtub, and the party became an impromptu memorial. Losing an creator who breathed truthful overmuch beingness into each note, who gave truthful overmuch of herself with each performance, was unbelievably sad.

When her lone daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, died 3 years later at the property of 22, determination couldn't person been a much heartbreaking coda to Houston's story.

Over the people of Houston's 15-year matrimony to Bobby Brown, the past 2 of which occurred successful the perception-skewing shadiness of their at-times surreal reality amusement Being Bobby Brown, it became harder to discern who led whom down what road. The satellite had beauteous much assumed that her diminution was her husband's fault, but she had admittedly utilized drugs earlier she was with Brown, adjacent astatine the tallness of her success.

So, it turned retired they had walked down that roadworthy together, manus successful hand.

But careless of wherever they ended up, Brown and Houston were longtime sweethearts, first meeting in 1989 and marrying successful 1992. Until their 2007 divorce, she stuck with the R&B hit-maker through rehab, arrests, car accidents and much misbehavior (Bobby has said determination was infidelity connected some sides), truthful overmuch of which seemed to beryllium brought connected by his issues.

Houston, however, would later describe herself arsenic "what you telephone a functioning junkie."

Still, though cocaine was cited arsenic a contributing origin to her decease by drowning, Brown—a begetter of 5 surviving children who lost lad Bobby Brown Jr. to an accidental overdose successful 2020—rejected the conception that drugs killed her. "She was truly moving hard connected herself to effort to beryllium a sober person," helium told Rolling Stone in 2018. Asked what helium thought did hasten her death, the New Edition vocalist replied, "Just being brokenhearted."

The L.A. County coroner's bureau noted successful its postmortem findings that a "white crystal similar substance" was recovered successful Houston's edifice suite, on with an unfastened vessel of champagne, nutrient and different idiosyncratic items.

An autopsy determined the official origin of death to beryllium accidental drowning, with atherosclerotic bosom illness and cocaine usage "just astir apt instantly prior" to drowning listed arsenic contributing factors. Toxicology screens turned up traces of Benadryl, Xanax, traces of marijuana and Flexeril, a musculus relaxant, successful her system.

Bobbi Kristina was 18 erstwhile her parent died, and was briefly hospitalized precocious that nighttime aft mixing vino and Xanax successful a acceptable of despair. 

She, too, was an aspiring singer, calved to a showbiz household as Whitney was and trying to marque it successful the shadiness of her mother's tremendous talent. Instead, she ended up robbed of the seven-time Grammy winner's enactment and guidance.

Also similar mom, Bobbi Kristina turned to drugs astatine immoderate constituent on the way, and ended up successful a toxic relationship. Just however toxic would beryllium a substance of debate, with her household firmly of the judge that it yet killed her.

Gordon, who was successful and retired of treatment before dying of a heroin overdose connected Jan. 1, 2020, astatine the property of 30, denied being thing different than devastated by Bobbi Kristina's death. A friend of his stated successful a deposition, filed arsenic portion of the ineligible proceedings against him, that Bobbi Kristina "smoked marijuana, she astir apt smoked ace often, and besides did heroin."

Alex Reid, a adjacent person of Bobbi Kristina's, told E! News successful 2015 that the young pistillate had been surviving successful fearfulness of Nick, who, she alleged, was abusive and controlling.

"Krissy felt isolated from the full household and that near her wholly babelike connected Nick for everything," Alex said. "It was conscionable her and Nick and that was it."

She was successful a coma oregon different unresponsive for astir six months and died at a hospice installation connected July 26, 2015.

The autopsy results remained sealed for a twelvemonth until a section quality presumption successfully petitioned to person them made public, aft which it was learned that Houston and Brown's lone kid together had died of a operation of drowning and cause intoxication. Traces of marijuana, alcohol, a cocaine byproduct, morphine and a sedative/anxiety attraction medicine were recovered successful her body.

The Fulton County aesculapian examiner couldn't regularisation connected whether her decease was an mishap oregon not, oregon whether the hint of morphine meant she had been a regular heroin user.

"I blasted myself for not getting to Krissy speedy capable that day," helium besides said. "I can't blasted myself for different addict's addiction but I consciousness similar I failed her. She didn't marque it. I privation she got help...I privation she got my spot [in rehab]. I did not support her the mode that I was expected to, adjacent if it was from herself."

Gordon further claimed that, the nighttime earlier Houston died astatine the Beverly Hilton, Bobbi Kristina had fallen asleep in the tub successful her room, with the h2o running. It was her parent who saved her from thing atrocious happening.

"Whitney recovered her, pulled her retired and slept successful her furniture that night," he said.

In September 2016, Gordon was recovered liable successful Bobbi Kristina's decease (a justice ruled for the plaintiffs aft the suspect missed aggregate tribunal dates) and 2 months aboriginal was ordered to pay her estate $36 cardinal successful damages. But it was to stay a mostly symbolic—and hollow—victory.

Brown, who started a home maltreatment prevention foundation called Bobbi Kristina Serenity House, told ABC News earlier that year, referring to his daughter's fate, "It's not a enigma to me. The aforesaid happening that happened to my girl is what happened to Whitney...There's lone 1 idiosyncratic that was astir some occasions. "Only 1 idiosyncratic who says they were determination to support them…and helium didn't."

On the fifth day of her death in July 2020, Brown wrote connected Instagram, "There's nary mode to explicate however I feel. I miss you truthful overmuch small miss you enactment successful my bosom connected my caput each time daddy loves you."