# What killed Whitney Houston? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 12, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581 "2012-02-12T03:51:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BeaMyra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@BeaMyra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeaMyra)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/61 "2012-02-13T09:20:35Z")
It looks like a simple drowning in a bathtub. It’s sad when someone can’t stay sober long enough to take a bath \ ---
**Author:** ![spankthecrumpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@spankthecrumpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spankthecrumpet)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/62 "2012-02-13T12:30:21Z")
> [@spankthecrumpet](#): > > I say drug overdose. If I had to guess I would expect benzodiazepenes of some kind, possibly with alcohol Goddamit crumpet, you’re a [genius](http://www.tmz.com/2012/02/13/whitney-houston-cause-of-death-prescription-drugs-drowning-atlanta/) ---
**Author:** ![benbo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@benbo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benbo1)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/63 "2012-02-13T12:48:36Z")
alcohol, a depressant - benzodiazapines, also depressants * * * lowered heartrate, slow respiration - and if enough quantity, stopped heart ----\> cardiac arrest ----\> death ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/64 "2012-02-13T12:53:26Z")
She saw the infomercial for Mike Huckabee’s history videos for children, and her brain exploded. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/65 "2012-02-13T13:07:36Z")
I have no idea what killed her, but I will not be the least bit surprised if it had nothing to do with drugs, legal or otherwise. Yes, she had her problems, and entered rehab a few times, but I’ve known people who have done serious amounts of drugs for decades who are still walking around seemingly no worse for the wear and tear. I’ve seen no evidence that she had a life-long, all-consuming addiction that has been alluded to in a number of online sites. If you’ve read Keith Richard’s bio _Life_, you well know how you can do copious amounts of drugs and survive. With him it’s not just hearsay; he chronicles it in detail. ---
**Author:** ![BeaMyra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@BeaMyra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeaMyra)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/66 "2012-02-13T13:13:21Z")
The Israeli Mossad. It’s quite obvious she was helping Iran build nukes ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/67 "2012-02-14T16:53:23Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Where was her bodyguard?? You are so going to hell. Look me up, we’ll party.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/68 "2012-02-14T17:11:34Z")
Hell has has all the best parties, ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/69 "2012-02-14T18:44:51Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > Why does everyone want to blame Bobby Brown? She was 30 years old when they married, a grown-ass woman. Just because she had some angelic image and he was the _bad-boy_ doesn’t mean he corrupted her. > > She made her own decisions poor as they were. > > I loved her too. Word. It wasn’t as if she was a stranger to the party lifestyle before she married Bobby. Clive Davis cleverly painted her as the (Black) girl next door, while she in fact had a quite a wild side from jump. Brown and Houston both had addictive personalities and were (are?) addicts. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/70 "2012-02-15T04:05:50Z")
As I’m a town over from where the church ceremony is being planned, I’m hearing all the dirt at work: Invites are hotter than Super-bowl tix and _supposedly_ people are trying to climb atop the church to camp out to see who shows up. 3 things to note: 1. This sort of mob was usually reserved for Jesus & Free Health-care\* 2. Unless she pops up Lazarus style & belts out some hits, there’s gonna be some people who’ll be Awfully disappointed. 3. What kills Whitney? My money is on a roof collapse… \*God. Socialist since Creation. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/71 "2012-02-15T15:06:15Z")
Came out of a drug-induced haze unable to remember what she had done for the last several years. Popped a tape of “Being Bobby Brown” into the VCR to catch up. Died of embarrassment. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/72 "2012-02-15T17:58:40Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Her lifestyle no doubt. She survived longer than most. Probably. Long-term drug users tend to drop dead at a relatively young age. Would you believe that Jerry Garcia was only 53 when he died? He looked to be more like 70, and that’s 'cause of all the drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/73 "2012-02-15T18:59:33Z")
Apparently, it was Andrea, the wife of my coworker Jesus. Whitney Houston was quoted as recently saying “she wanted to meet Jesus.” I know Andrea, and she will \*not \*put up with _that_. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/74 "2012-02-15T19:05:52Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Where was her bodyguard?? She wasn’t what he needed. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/75 "2012-02-15T19:39:38Z")
I blame Drew Peterson. It fits his M.O. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/76 "2012-02-15T19:41:55Z")
For some reason, I actually think it’s more sad if she _wasn’t_ on drugs. What a shame to work to get clean then keel over in a bath tub. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/77 "2012-02-15T20:29:13Z")
2 Things that killed Whitney Houston: 1. The ‘depressive to respiration’, effects of some prescription drug, enhanced by the intake of alcohol, possible a bad diet, and a hot bath. She just stopped breathing, and slid, into the bath, in my opinion. 2. Bobby Brown. She was raised and protected by loving parents experienced in what the industry can do to a young person. They raised her up to adult hood before letting sign a contract and helped, through their own experiences, to guide her to success without terrible exploitation. She was gifted with remarkable beauty, a spectacular instrument, acting ability and a loving and protective family. Then along came Bobby Brown, all gansta, street cred, cool, arrogant and domineering. He swept into her life like a plague. He brought into her life everything her parents had shielded her from, and fell, head first into it with fists full of cash. They had a child, who got a front row seat to the co dependent, addictive, abusive, dysfuntion, 24/7, right down to the reality show. That child is now motherless, and is left with Bobby Brown. God help her. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/78 "2012-02-16T01:22:27Z")
To be fair, given her income and enablers, I wouldn’t have made 35. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/79 "2012-02-16T01:59:09Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > To be fair, given her income and enablers, I wouldn’t have made 35. You know, I’ve always said this when people talk about Dylan, and Clapton, and the like. Put me at 30 years old with all the money and fame and fortune in the world and see how I’d fare. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581/80 "2012-02-16T02:18:43Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > To be fair, given her income and enablers, I wouldn’t have made 35. That’s why I didn’t cry when Warren Zevon died. He cheated death many times. 56 was a good run. He was only ineligible for the 27 Club because he didn’t get famous until he was 29. As it was, he was lucky he made it to 30. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-killed-whitney-houston/612581.md?page=5)