Whitney Houston, the troubled superstar who ruled the pop world before disappearing into a haze of drug abuse, is undergoing treatment at a Houston drug and alcohol center, a representative for the singer confirmed. Her rep told the Associated Press that the 47-year-old diva isn’t caving to the pressures of Johnny Law: the treatment is apparently a voluntary measure and part of Houston’s “long-standing” recovery process. Further details were not disclosed. TMZ quoted a music industry source who saw Houston recently: “She was plastered and she was a mess.” TMZ reports that the program allows her to go out in public, as long as she has a monitor. In 2009, she announced she was clean and sober, then embarked on a disastrous overseas tour, cancelling dates and disappointing fans with shaky renditions of her hits.
As The Fix has noted before, it’s a process the public has long been semi privy to. Though Houston told Diane Sawyer that “crack is whack” in a now-infamous 2002 interview, she may not have heeded the call, for she found herself in rehab in 2004. Then, in 2005, her mother Cissy Houston petitioned a Georgia court to force her into rehab again. In 2009, Whitney told Oprah all about what led up to it. Here’s to a comeback, Britney-style. She was last seen publically at a Prince Concert in Los Angeles last week, where she sang onstage with Chaka Khan.
