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Whitney Houston Enters Drug Rehab Center submitted by: Lisa D. source: Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse Date: March 16, 2004 LOS ANGELES - Grammy-winning pop singer Whitney Houston has entered a drug rehabilitation facility, her publicist said. Houston "thanks everyone for their support and prayers," publicist Nancy Seltzer said in a statement Monday. She declined to offer any further details. Houston, 40, admitted in a December 2002 television that she had abused drugs in the past, but told interviewer Diane Sawyer on ABC's "Primetime" that she had gotten beyond that time through prayer. Houston's husband, R&B singer Bobby Brown, was sentenced to 60 days in jail in late February for violating probation. One of the violations included a December misdemeanor battery charge for allegedly striking Houston, leaving her with a bruised cheek and a cut inside her lip. In January 2000, Houston left behind a bag at Keahole Kona International Airport in Hawaii that allegedly held less than half an ounce of marijuana and three partially smoked marijuana cigarettes. In 2001, a petty misdemeanor drug charge relating to the incident was dismissed against Houston after a drug counselor filed an assessment with prosecutors stating that Houston did not require treatment for substance abuse. Brown and Houston have been married since 1992 and have a 10-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina. Singer Whitney Houston Enters Drug Rehab Program By Gina Keating LOS ANGELES - Pop star Whitney Houston has entered a drug rehabilitation program in an undisclosed location, her publicist said on Monday. The Grammy winning singer and actress, who is married to singer Bobby Brown, "thanks everyone for their support and prayers," publicist Nancy Seltzer said. The couple, married since 1992, has a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, who was born in 1993. Seltzer would not disclose what facility Houston had chosen or how long she expected to be in treatment. During a 2002 interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, the 40-year-old pop diva admitted to using alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and prescription drugs but denied rumors that she had used highly addictive crack cocaine. She told Sawyer she had stopped taking drugs with the help of a spiritual advisor. "I'm beyond it. It's past. It's done," she said then. The interview followed a string of canceled appearances -- notably the 2000 Academy Awards telecast -- erratic behavior and a dramatic weight loss that provoked rumors that Houston was ill or dying. In 2000, airport screeners in Hawaii said that they found marijuana in her bag, but Houston never faced drug charges after court officials determined she did not need treatment. Brown, 35, who has a history of run-ins with the law dating back to his youth in Boston, was sentenced to 60 days in jail last month for violating probation on a drunken driving case. In December, he was charged with battery after a domestic dispute with Houston, in which police said she suffered facial injuries that included a bruise on her left cheek. He is due in court in May on the misdemeanor charge. Houston, considered one of the biggest pop stars of all time, was just 21 when her first album became the biggest selling female debut in history. She has since won six Grammy awards and is the first artist ever to have seven consecutive singles hit No. 1 on the Billboard music survey. In 1992, she starred in her first feature film, "The Bodyguard," opposite Kevin Costner, and sang the theme song "I Will Always Love You." While the film performed respectably at the box office, the song became the biggest selling single in music history at that time. She went on to star in "Waiting to Exhale," and "The Preacher's Wife" with Denzel Washington in the mid-1990s, and in recent years released two compilation CDs of her hits. Singer Whitney Houston undergoes drug rehabilitation LOS ANGELES - US pop diva Whitney Houston has checked into a drug rehabilitation clinic, her publicist said, providing a new twist in her long battle with drug addiction. Houston, 40, has "chosen to enter a facility for rehabilitation," her publicist said in a terse statement that provided no further details of the type or location of the treatment, but which contained a message for her fans. "She thanks everyone for their support and prayers," the statement said. The six-time Grammy winning singer and star of the 1992 movie "Bodyguard" with Kevin Costner reportedly checked into a clinic on Monday. The diva and her husband controversial R and B singer Bobby Brown have long been the subject of tabloid headlines linking them to drugs. In a television interview in late 2002, Houston acknowledged hard drug use, saying that she had abused cocaine, marijuana, alcohol and prescription drugs, but denying that she had used highly addictive crack cocaine. In 2000, she was charged with a drug offence after authorities at a Hawaiian airport seized her handbag and allegedly found a small quantity of marijuana inside it. The charges were later dropped. Houston said in the 2002 television interview that she had since managed to overcome her problem through prayer and faith. Brown also has a history of drug, as well as legal, problems. Last August he was fined for traffic and drug offences only hours after being released early from jail. He served half of a two-week sentence for violating probation from a previous drink-driving conviction and was then fined for possessing 28 grams of marijuana, speeding and driving with no licence or proof of insurance. In December, Brown was charged with a domestic violence offence and admitted hitting Houston and cutting her lip at their Georgia home. In addition to a slew of Grammy Awards, Houston has brought home 21 American Music Awards, more than any female recording artist, and 15 Billboard Music Awards. In February 1998, "Soul Train" bestowed its prestigious Quincy Jones Career Achievement Award upon Whitney; and in March 2000, she was honoured with the "Soul Train" Music Award as Female Artist Of the Decade. Site design by: Dolphin Webpage Designs © 1996-2004