>> she was religious. i wouldn't say religious, i would say she had a relationship with jesus christ, and there is quite a difference in rereligion ee osity and having a relationship with jesus christ and you don't know how people are on their knees behind closed doors, how they're praying, how they have been prayed for, how they have been prayed through, and whitney has been prayed for and through, and she also knew how to pray for herself. >> lajoyce you were a publicist for her. you saw the ups and downs. did you ever think about reaching out to her and giving her advice? >> certainly i reached out to her privately and reached out to her crew privately, no advice is needed because they certainly knew what to do as well, but you know, sometimes we all fall down, but it is how we get up. whitney was in the process of making that transition. you know. when our lives play out in public, and hers did, then you know, we're just under the scrutiny of the magnifying glass of the public. so you know, sometimes yo

she was so much fun. >> she seemed so approachable . of fame, you have to surround yourself with handlers and people and so forth. but the aura she put out was a woman in touch with the people who were buying her muc. >> very much so. very much so. and if you stand around her, you might have to start dancing and she was always moving and always in the moment and always put you first. she was a very, very sweet, giving person. and when she walked in the room and she lit the room up. just a beautiful woman, oh, my goodness. >> did fame change her that much? >> did you see the affect of her. this is arguably the top selling most awarded female artist of all time. >> i don't know if it changed her, i know she went places that a lot of people don't have a chance to go. thosaltitudes. when i met her, she was grounded and sweet and you know, always wanted to know how i was doing and how my family was doing this are my memors that i take from her. >> 170 million records sold . >> unbelievable. >> most awarded female art of all time. six grammie

whitney was mysterious. she never was honest with the media, she said she wasn't doing drugs, crack was whack, then we find in 2009 interviewed by oprah, she comes on, said she was doing drugs. i think people were waiting for her to fail, but they wanted her to be more honest. they wanted to know what was wrong with whitney. why are we seeing her out and about, making sporadic, you know, incoherent comments and looking disheveled. we later learned it was drugs, it was alcohol use. she talked on oprah that she spent so much money on drugs, she can't even recall how much she spent through the years. >> unbelievable. >> i think the public just wanted to know what was up with whitney all those years. >> you think the public would have responded to more honesty? >> they would have responded to that and i think they would have helped her instead of like al sharpton said looking for her to fall on her face. >> do you think she was still relevant? clive davis was going to have her sing a solo tonight. >> i think she was

she was a fantastic artist. an incredible singer. she fell into the wrong crowd, no question of that. and god, i wish that had never happened. but there's nothing we can do about that. but i want to remember her when she was at the very, very top, because we all love stars like this. >> simon, if you could hold on the line for one moment. we're going to go back to don lemon in atlanta. he's going to give a quick news update. >> piers and simon, thank you very much. stand by, everyone, who is watching around the world. i'm don lemon in atlanta. thank you for watching. breaking news tonight. one of the greatest voices of her generation, whitney houston has died. the grammy winning entertainer was just 48 years old. we've learned that from the beverly hills police department, and we have been honoring her all evening here, as soon as we got the information and mourning the loss to the world in general. i'm joined by piers morgan, my colleague here on cnn. if i could ask simon a question. i'm noticing on twitter and from the reaction i'm

was she on tour again recently? that was back in 2009 that she released the single and that she was touring. again, that tour did not go as planned. she had to cancel concert dates because she was really just physically not up to the point you have to be when you are going to be performing on tour. something has been going on along with her and really a sad thing to watch. she has won six grammies. one of the most accomplished musicians out there. actresses. just finished wrapping up the movie sparkle and she is somebody that has so much potential and all just kind of went down the drain. >> judge jeanine: and we are hearing now there were attempts to resuscitate her in l.a. but, of course, they failed. when you look at some of these magazines i'm looking right now at the "national enquirer," the most recent one that whitney collapses. strung out. broke. it is worse than any one thought. and they show these incredible photos. i mean did she -- look, she had music royalty in her blood. we are talking about, you know,

she was very studious in doing that. well, there is no recognized profession or school that you can go to to become a queen, so she came at it really with no experience at all, but she really successfully created a position in which she was both monarch, wife and mother. but most of all i think in a royal family that had been so rocked a scandal -- actually it was one scandal that was the one that put our onto the throne and that was the marriage of edward the eighth to the twice divorced wallace simpson so he abdicated in order to do that and that placed our directly in line to succeed to the throne. and then on top of that, she had three divorces and our family. three of our children now have been divorced. the lives of who -- heard two daughters-in-law diana and camilla have both been in the gossip columns over and over again and it has been something that she so successfully created our own distance from and she has by all reports, and i think you will certainly feel this when you finish the book, is a well well-respe

she thought it was fine. but she didn't see queen. >> thank you. >> she made a pact with tony blair as far as i can tell she's holed up her out in any way. [inaudible] >> no, no, that she was told about it. >> i think one of the things that people talk about being criticized a bit about, not lacking compassion about, one of the things is the continuing gravitation between her and the royal family and the two can duchess of one third. chavez time that they should be invited to family greetings and they were always excluded. there is a comment about the time. >> there is each romantic moment when humbert the eighth her father became king he had not been prepared for it and he wept to is that there is trained as a naval officer. he did learn to be an admirable king. and acting they -- well i think they were tough on them. i think one of the difficulties was the possibility that the duke and duchess of windsor could have lived though it is sad that would have been an ax came someplace else during the war. after is

my mother was 47 when she passed away. presence like that for a lifetime. and when one person embodies it all, well, it takes your breath away. and that's the way i felt in 1983 when in the middle of your act at sweet water, cissy, your daughter stepped forward and shattered me with her version of "the greatest love of all." and that night we connected, and we connected with each other every night thereafter. i thought of that just this past week, when whitney and i spent tuesday afternoon in my bungalow at the beverly hills hotel. i looked at her on the couch, saw that she had applied a little makeup and was once again taken aback. she was one beautiful woman. we talked nonstop music, a subject that we both fervently loved. and as we spoke, i couldn't help but silently reminisce about all that we had shared together over the years. in the past, every hit we shared was pure joy. neither of us could believe the incredible worldwide explosion when it happened. when she broke that all-time record of seven consecutive number on

what she was doing which was filming a remake of a film that she loved for years. and wanted to put out there for a new generation of young fans. >> greta: you wrote an article that was supposed to come out about now? >> it was supposed to come out next month, in ebony magazine, obviously we have to go back and re-create what the story is. at the time what i wrote was this is the whitney is that you fem in love with. you are meeting her for the first time. one thing i kind of witness order set of sparkle which was shot in the detroit, she and her fellow classmates, jordan sparks they had a dance contest and were having fun and joking. they are singing do-wop music and when i saw her get in front of the camera she was the whitney houston we saw in the bodyguard. if you talk to her cast members about the performance that she turns in in sparkle, it was nothing short of brilliant. >> greta: you saw her on thursday, a very different whitney houston on thursday? >> i did. it really wasn't the whitney houston i met in november back in detroit. i was interviewing clive dav

she was comfortable with who she was and meeting new people. i was shocked by that. he height of her career. she didn't have any walls up, she was very comfortable with her fame. and i think for me that meant so much being that i sort of grew up watching her and seeing her in "17" magazine, i she was a model first. i remember seeing a short-haired girl, chocolate girl, in the pages of "17" in junior high school. to meet her when she was an iconic singer was amazing to me. i never thought that she would welcome me in so freely as she did. >> were you at the beverly hilton when he you heard that she was dead? >> yes. i was actually doing a vh-1 interview, she was coming right after me to do an interview for "behind the music" they were setting up for her, we have to speed this up because whitney's coming in 30 minutes in the middle of my interview someone kept knocking on door saying whitney can't come, they're like whitney's dead. we were all -- just shocked because we just -- you know they were setting up, they're like she's going to be here in 30 minutes, she's going

she wanted to know what was wro wrong. running, and it was streaking down her face, and she was devastated. she didn't feel like the makeup we had he' put on her was enough so she'd wiped it off and put on the makeup she was used to wearing in her music videos, it was much thicker and the hot lights had melted it. (laughter) >> she asked if anyone had saw. i said i didn't think so. (laughter) >> it happened so quick. she seemed so small and sad at that moment and i asked her why she did it. she said, i just wanted to look my best. it's a tree we could all hang from, the burden with fame, call it doubt, call it fear, i've had mine, and i know the famous in the room have had theirs. i asked her to trust me and she said she would. a half hour later she went back in to do her screen test and the studio fell in love with her. the whitney i knew despite her success and fame thought am i good enough, am i pretty enough? will they like me? it was the burden that made her great and the part that caused her to stumble in the end. whi

she was, a grown woman. oices and decisions she made for her life, i think had she been spared, would have made her a greater human being. >> have you talked to the family? >> yes. i've been in touch. i'm a good friend with whitney's mom, cissy. >> how is she? >> she's -- she's coping, she's coping. she's, you know, she's also, you know, for, i'm sure, many times, had fear for her daughter's life. i know my mother did and my little girl did. my son. so i know what this world that we're living in, this business, particularly, can do to one. >> you were, i think, going to go to the clive davis party. >> yes. >> it was a surreal event where whitney's body was still in the hotel and a party where half the room were in tears and the other half partying. what did you feel about that? >> i thought that was complete insanity. and knowing whitney, i don't believe she would have said, the show must go on. she was the kind of woman, stop everything, uh-huh. i'm not going to be there. you know. i don't know what could mo

what kind of woman was she? st people earning you the caricature of the newspapers and the magazines and so on. what was she like. >> the whitney i remember was this absolutely stunningly beautiful young girl with this golden voice. smiling, laughing all the time. a church girl who came out of the choir singing with her mother, cissy, and emulating and looking up to the greats like aretha who was her godmother and her cousin, dionne warwick. she was a happy go lucky soul. that's the whitney that i knew. then of course there was a lot of personal tragedy that she was going through the last few years that i am sure created so much stress for her. how important is it when you are somebody of this stature and fame that can protect you from the problems and issues that arise and come with that status? >> it's critical. because there always tremendous amount of people who are quick to say yes in anybody's career. it's a critical thing for someone to look you in the eye and tell you what's right and wrong. don't forget

she was finding that spark again. the spark she said she always got when she was here in the junior choir singing for god in her words. it seemed she was heading back on the right path. the question why now, why not get that second chance that she was sort of looking for, and you can see this video of her as a young girl. she said this is where she learned to sing. this is where she says, quote, i learned everything i ever needed to know right here in the junior choir. she learned how to sing when the tempo changes in the middle, she learned how to do a four-part harmony and how to sing ac ka pella. it's where she mastered this integrity and extraordinary voice and a lot of people now missing her and, of course, her mom, members of the family, they are grieving a very, very deep loss. fredricka? >> a lot of her fans thought they were seeing the parallels, you know, of her real life compared to her role in "the preacher's wife" where it did talk about that, kind of unveiled, you know, the power of the singing in the chu

because she was so much -- i mean she was the epitome of music she was music. >> she had great personalitylooks, a great performer and she was one of the best singers i've known she had pretty well everything you could want in an artist. >> she set the bar for female vocal lists very high and head herself a gold standard even though people -- most singers cannot do what she did technically as a vocalist everybody tries. >> we've all learned of the unspeakable tragic news of our beloved whitney espousing. >> as the man who dis-- passing. >> as the man who discovered her, put it all in perspective. >> whitney was a beautiful person and had a talent beyond compare. so simply put, whitney would have wanted the music to go on. >>> new details are emerging several outlets are reporting her bodyguard pulled her out of her hotel bathtub she was under water. >> tmz say pill bott 8s were in the room and -- pottles were in the room and paramedics tried to resuscitate here. results will not likely be released until toxicology results are available. >>> bobby christina, was rushed to hospital in hollyw

>> guest: it was fascinating the neighborhood she growth which was east the in nairobi as much as she described in her book and infil and i did have a funny encounter at one point i wanted to -- she mentioned in one of her books that she used to attend these meetings of the muslim brotherhood at a muslim community center which was near the school that she attended so i went to this muslim community center thinking i would try to see if there's anyone who knew her or remembered her and so i was ushered into this women's section of the community center and i had a copy of ayaan's book with me and is said infidel on the front of it. one of these young women said what is that a book? infil, who is this? they didn't remember her at all but they were fascinated by the book and she said she's going to be like salman rushdie if she's calling herself and infidel she can get herself killed. and it was like someone out of the pages of her book was speaking. >> host: so you got a sense of what it is like on the ground. did you get a sense of this tribal society that she's coming from? >> guest: w

she was fighting. she was absolutely fighting, and she was winning. because she really looked great in the previews that i saw come i ing. and i thought that it was a wonderful thing that they gave her that opportunity to come back in that way. what a wonderful thing. >> you have lived your life in the public eye. you're performing tomorrow night in charlotte. you're still a very, very active performer. what type of toll does it take on a legend like you are, and like whitney houston was, not only the actual tour dates, but also having the paparazzi and people watching your every move? >> well, i think for the more experienced artist, one is pretty much used to that. but for a young artist, perhaps of whitney's age, it may have been very disconcerning to her. i don't don't know. >> you will be perform iing tomorrow night. will you be doing some sort of tribute to whitney? >> yes. there will be a moment of silence and tribute for whitney houston here in charlotte. there's one other thing i would like to say though before i hang up. and that is this. i w

she was not behaving well. been drinking, looked kind of messy, and you know, we're going from there. >> you had heard the reports she was led out of a club last night? >> led out of a club? we're working on everything we can. but that wouldn't surprise me. you know, just my first thought looking back on this whitney houston story is that these drug rumors have been around her for well over ten years. it was the interview with diane sawyer that "crack is whack" the statement has aged profoundly over the years, as we've watched her get further and further into trouble. >> how would you characterize her for the last couple of years? ? she's been struggling. "i look at you" another album came out in 2009 which had some singles that did very well, "i look to you" and "million-dollar bill" entered to number one and sold very well, first number one album since "the bodyguard" which has the most number of weeks at number one of all-time. so you know, she would kind of get back on track and do good work and then she wou

and they did. >> when she was in her late 30's, her family was sold away from ler, and she had heard that her daughter was brought to denver, and after she was freed after a lifetime of servitude, she came to denver, and every time when someone came to the town, white or black, she asked them, have you seen my daughter, this is her name, this is what she looks like. >> i promised myself that i would find eliza jane again before i died. >> aunt clara never gave up on finding her daughter. toward the end of her life, she took a trip that finally let her lay that burden down. >> i couldn't believe my eyes! for who had come to meet me at that train, but eliza jane! i was so happy. it had been 47 years since i seen her, but when i saw that gap in her mouth, i knew that was my baby, and that day was the best day in my life. >> aunt clara had some other good days. when she became the first black inductee to the colorado society of pioneers, got a memorial seat at the central city opera house and stained glass window in her honor at the state capitol. her legacy more than the awards, good dee

she was polished, engaging, she was witty, she was funny, and the narrative that she wanted to put out was very clear, and it was i am back, i am better than ever. >> reporter: but then, you just saw her two days before her death, this past thursday. how did she look then? >> clothing was a little disheveled. she spoke in rapid fire succession, which was a little odd and kind of threw me off a little bit. just was not the whitney that i had just talked to a few months before. ♪ o, say does that star-spangled ♪ >> reporter: whitney had been to rehab three times. so, was this the end of a long battle with addiction, or was it something else? that toxicology report could take six to eight weeks to come back. we are also getting word today that the medical examiner here in los angeles has now released whitney houston's body so her family can come claim her remains when they'd like. there are unconfirmed reports they may fly her body back to atlanta. we'll keep you posted on that. meanwhile, investigators are questioning all of whitney houston's entourage to figure out what happened in thos

to say that the legacy that she left was music. but what she left for you was her love for god. elly to come. [ applause ] ♪ ♪ as i lay down ♪ heaven hear me now ♪ after giving it my all ♪ winter storms have come ♪ and -- my sun ♪ after all that i've been through ♪ ♪ who on earth can i turn to ♪ i look to you i will look to you ♪ ♪ after all my strength is gone in you i can be strong ♪ ♪ i look to you i look to you ♪ ♪ and when melodies are gone in you i hear a song ♪ ♪ i look to you when all my strength is gone ♪ ♪ in you i can be strong ♪ i look to you ♪ i look to you ♪ and when melodies are gone in you i hear a song ♪ ♪ i look to you >> we love you, whitney. rest in peace. [ applause ] >> i would like to share a few words with you. the words that i feel are quite appropriate. for how i feel about my nippy. don't grieve for me for now i'm free. i'm following the path god laid for me. i took his hand when i heard him call. i turned my back and left it all. i could not stay another day to laugh to love to work or play. tasks undone must stay that way i found that peace at close o

to me she was the queen of pop. ic and everyone who knee and loved her music. >> what's interesting is when michael jackson died, there was an extraordinary effort to resuscitate him and it was hours before he was formally pro nounsed dead. it's striking how fast this all happened today here. i think it's interesting and it may reveal about what happened. they were able to pronounce her dead so quickly. >> one of the other things -- >> continue. i was going to say i have a home not far away from where this event is going on tonight. the first i knew, i was going to go down to this event at the inviting a of clyde davis and heard all these helicopters and a lot of activity around the beverly hilton and then the reports that whit me houston had died. inviting a of clyde davis and heard all these helicopters and a lot of activity around the beverly hilton and then the reports that whit me houston had died. she was due to go there tonight and maybe would have performed. the grammys tomorrow. it's really an extraordinary

but she was once the protege. re say look at her 1995 tribute to her mentor, ella fitzgerald. ♪ finding another another world ♪ ♪ ♪ >> pretty amazing talent. whitney houston's star power was at times eclipsed by her public struggle with addiction. she opened up about the issue during a 2002 interview with diane sawyer. >> is it alcohol? is it marijuana? is it cocaine? is it pills? >> it has been at times. >> all? >> at times. >> if you had to name the devil for you, the biggest devil among them -- >> that would be me. it is my design. it is my heart. it is what i want. and what i don't want. nobody makes me do anything i don't want to do. it is my decision, so the biggest devil is me. either my best friend or my worst enemy. and that's how i have to deal with it. >> do you think of yourself as an addict? >> i am addicted to a few things. >> like? >> making love. >> that interview with diane sawyer back in 2002. so whitney houston's fame spanned generations and crossed the oceans. earlier i talked to our he editoria

and today i stand to say that the legacy that she left was music, but what she left for you was her lovehat you taught her to believe in. i promise you, she did. [ applause ] >> i am going to ask r. kelly to come. [ applause ] ♪ ♪ as i lay me down heaven hear me now i'm lost without a cause after giving it my all ♪ ♪ winter's storm has come and after all that i've been through who on earth can i turn to ♪ ♪ i look to you i look to you ♪ ♪ after all my strength is gone in you i can be strong i look to you i look to you ♪ ♪ and when melodys are gone in you i hear a song i look to you ♪ ♪ when all my strength is gone in you i can be strong ♪ ♪ i look to you oh, i look to you ♪ ♪ and when melodys are gone in you i hear a song ♪ ♪ i look to you we love you, whitney. rest in peace. >> i would like to share a few words with you. the words that i feel are quite appropriate of how i feel about my -- don't grieve for me for now i'm free. i'm following the path god laid for me. i took his hand when i heard him call. i turned my back and left it all. i could not stay another day to laugh, to love, t

she was totally committed to what she did. the importance of telling stories and writing new matter what. that was her life. she told me she was on a story that was important and she wanted to finish it and that she would leave today. it is really hard because in just -- it is just one day. >> in tripoli a year ago, colonel gaddafi's people nominated two reporter to interview him beside her. she chose me and christiane amanpour of abc news. >> reet spoke with the fierce urgency of right now. she was on the front lines of trying to get the word out. the people she was covering -- but with the most important thing to her. >> on monday, she said the an e- mail from homs. she wrote, "yet today the -- they are killing with impunity. it is sickening." >> the talented and respected foreign correspondent for the sunday times, marie colvin, has been killed in syria. this is a sad reminder of the risks journalist take to inform the world of what is happening. >> in her e-mail to me, she had a chuckle about the way she was smuggled into s

was her career at this point? i mean, this movie that shee? >> you know, she had that album come out in 2009, she hadn't really been doing much, she did sing at a party the other night on thursday night out in l.a. as far as recording more music, that hadn't really been discussed. but the movie was going to be her big comeback. everyone was very excited to see her back on film. she was excited about it. i think this could have been a really big moment for her. >> we talk about her music but she had a great acting career, too. the preacher's wife and the bodyguard. >> exactly. so this sparkle movie was going to be a very big deal for her. >> and i always wonder what the take away in these things is. so many people struggle with the same thing in a public way. what's the take away? >> we heard her say the problem is me. but really with addiction the problem is that people need help. treatment works, intervention works if you can step in and help somebody, not just expect them to do it on their own. that's the best thing you can do to help some

i was working on the book and then after she was captured she was being held in jail and she wasn't allowed to see the media but i did go to her trial and i sat just a few rows behind her and was able to see her in action as it were in the courtroom. >> host: when you into their societies in kenya for example, you must have talked to many people in somalia. what did you take from those interviews? >> guest: well, it was fascinating. the neighborhood where she grew up was called nairobi. it was much as she described it in her book in infidel and you know i did have a funny encounter. at one point i wanted to, she mentions in one of her books that she used to attend the meetings of the muslim brotherhood at a muslim community center which was near the school where, that she attended. so i went to this muslim community center thinking i would try to see if there was anyone who knew her or remembered her so i was ushered into the women's section of the community center and i had a copy of ayaan hirsi ali's book with me and it said infidel. one of the young women said, oh, what is that book? inf

she was a stradivarius, she was pure, she was strong, and i am talking about her voice, and she was -- she had finesse and power and when you saw her live you heard the church in her, but you also heard the clarity of pop in her, and that combination is what made her so appealing worldwide. >> rose: ray kelly, danielle smith and jon pareles when we continue. >> funding for charlie rose was provided by the following.çó >> rose: additional funding provided by these funder. >> and by bloomberg, a provider of multimedia, news and information services worldwide. >> from our studios in new york captioning sponsored by rose communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. >> rose: ray kelly is here, he is new york city's longest serving commissioner of the police. he first served under mayor den kins in the early 1990s mayor bloomberg appointed him in 2002, he held, under his command the city sustained a downward trend in crime and reached historic lows, his response to the world center attacks is a counter-terrorism bureau and one of the largest anti-terrorism places

she was like a laser beam. e made that song and the other songs i did for "the bodyguard" and kenny did, too she's be working 12 hours a day and come into the studio and rip off her coat and sing like -- >> what happened? >> i don't know what her life was like before clive discovered her. she had demons for sure. i do disagree. i said on the break, i think everybody is responsible for themselves on a much lower, lesser scale, we're all sort of -- i saw those chocolate chip cookies there in, i would love to eat every last one of them. i know if i do that everyday i will be fat. so you just -- you know, i don't mean to simplify addiction, food is an addiction, too. >> i said on twitter, if you want to tell me what you think, send me your views now. there's definitely more people agreeing with what you're both saying, the responsibility should start with whitney. my issue isn't so much who was to blame for her drug problems, i don't like what was happening last week. i don't like the fact one of the world's most fa

that is really hard. >> she was a generous colleague. in tripoli, colonel gaddafi's people asked them to nominate two reporters to interview beside her. she chose me and an american reporter with abc news. >> she was a warrior for the truth. she was on the front lines of getting the word out. the word about the people she was covering. that was the most important thing to her. >> she sent me an e-mail talking about the powerful piece that she had fired off for the previous day. she wrote "yesterday's piece was one those we goton into journalism for. they are killing with impunity here. it is sickening." >> the talented and respected reporter marie colvin has been killed in a bombing in syria. this is a desperately sad reminder that the risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and the dreadful events in syria and the thoughts are with her family and friends. >> she had a chuckle about the way she was smuggled into syria. she wrote "it was kind of fun going across the fields on a dirt bike. hope to see you soon." >> f

she was an angel.a franklin was too sick to perform. she was called the godmother by many members of the fap family. that would have been nice to add to the extraordinary mix. >> i thought they would do the virtual thing. >> dee d she sent a message her leg was bothering her. >> she is dealing with health consequences. >> we are looking at pictures as people are streaming their way out of the church, new hope baptist church which did a wonderful job hosting. literally today we are on this relatively saulish church here. >> not a small city. >> no. big city. >> i thought marvin winans, what do you call that, a eulogy, a sermon? >> black folks call that having church. >> it was free spirited and uplifting. anyone watching would have felt so engaged. >> i like the way he said, god says, i got you. it's prioritizing, the message of today. so relevant, obviously. >> there is a story i heard many times about the set of "the preacher's wife." whitney sang a song and they were like, cut, cut. miss penny, with

i knew she was going to be there for me. and she was. her being there, she decided to come up on the stage and after we embraced each other she said give me the microphone. >> now the grammy producers said that they wanted the tribute to whitney to be appropriate and not over the top. and you know what, kyra, i think it was just that. it's hard to kind of put into words still for so many people that that legendary voice is gone. >> yeah. and i tell you, it -- even though singer adele was last night's big winner, we don't want to overshadow that of course, it was really hard to compete with the news of whitney houston and the tributes to her. >> yeah. you know, it was. and there was so much talk about whitney. the rest of the show was kind of overlooked. but you have to talk about adele, because her return to the stage was very impressive last night. listen. ♪ we could have had it all ♪ rolling in the deep >> adele took home six grammys last night. she won every single category she was nominated for, including the try biggest of the night

she was very alert when she talked to me. she was her own woman. she made her own choices, and she was adamant about that. she was strong, and she loved hard. and to celebrate her is the only way for me to know her because even if there were some wrongs or downfalls, i celebrated her because i know the true whitney. >> reporter: had she beaten those struggles? >> you know, i didn't see her struggle. >> reporter: okay. >> i always met her at a time that she was pulling through whatever it was. that was our conversation. and so i only know her to be a fighter, and for whatever it was, whether it was personal or something that she was trying to hide or whatever normal people do, she always -- sissy, i know you got me, that was her nickname because we loved each others a sisters. she wasson overcomer and as i sang to her on the bt honors, she was a survivor and she'll always be that and i love her. >> reporter: i remember seeing that and i remember her getting up around rushing to the stage and rushing to you and you coming to her and you getting right

she knew she was great. you didn't have to tell her she was great. ere was an elegance to her and a loveliness to her, but i think could you also see another side through the sequin dress with the heels and whitney was not one to play with and if you disrespected her, you know, you would get pushed back into your place very quickly, i mean in aware of herdefinitely a sitting on a throne. >> what was it like being there with clive davis and whitney houston? what was their relationship like? >> their relationship was very close because clive davis is one of the great record men of all-time, and he's known for having ears. he's not just a marketer, but he can hear a raw talent, and whitney is one of those who he heard of before she was known, before anybody was really, you know, looking at her and he was like that's the one. she can be a superstar and he helped make her a superstar and she's one of the reasons but perhaps one of the key reasons why he is considered one of the great record men of all-time, so i mean they had a very close friendship, you k

she was perfectly okay. she was having a good time. she was laughing.eting the other artists. it became a big moment, i think, because like myself, other artists, when they were around whitney houston, recognized she was whitney houston and it was an honor for any other artist, no matter who they were, to be in her presence. >> there are a lot of different reports what happened that night, a report she had a run-in with another woman at the club. pictures of her with what appear to be blood dripping down her leg. do you know any of that? >> i don't know anything about any blood dripping down her leg. i know that at a point, there was wine that spilled and glass that broke. i don't know anything about any blood. i don't know anything about an arsment that took place. i didn't see one. i sat at the foot of the stage all night long because i sang almost in between every performance of every other artist. she was there with me with bobby chris, with her brother, with her sister-in-law, who is also her manager and we were there together. my husband, who is a