10 YEARS ON...‘WHITNEY WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN'

TIME MAY PASS, BUT THE WORLD WILL ALWAYS LOVE THE ICON

And just like that, a decade has flashed by since one of the greatest voices of all time was silenced by a tragic and avoidable death.

On February 11, 2012, Whitney Houston died aged just 48 years old. Her body racked by cocaine abuse, she was found unresponsive in a bathtub at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Entertainment reporter and New Idea columnist Richard Reid was nearby at a West Hollywood gym on that fateful day.

“I could hear the buzzing of helicopters outside when I looked up at the TV and saw the breaking news banner that Whitney had died,” Richard recalls. “It was a scene out of a movie, complete with paparazzi, camera crews, ambulances, police barricades and fans.”

Today, how the ‘I Will Always Love You’ singer slid from iconic diva to an out-of-control addict is a cautionary tale for the ages.

Growing up around music in church, Whitney went from just another singer to the ultimate pop diva under legendary record impresario Clive Davis’ tutelage.