Paramedics and police responded to a 9-1-1 call and came to Houston's room at the Beverly Hilton. She was found unresponsive and unconscious. They attempted to preform CPR but were unable to revive her. She was pronounced dead at 3:55 pm local time (2355 UTC). There were no immediate signs that foul play was involved.

Houston's substance abuse problems came into public view after a 2002 interview with ABC News reporter Diane Sawyer. After a recent arrest at a Hawaiian airport, Houston went into detail about her drugs of choice. However, she said that she drew the line at crack cocaine saying, "Crack is cheap. I make too much money to ever smoke crack. Let's get that straight. OK? We don't do crack. We don't do that. Crack is wack."

Houston is survived by her only daughter Bobbi Kristina.