娱乐英语新闻:Whitney Houston dies of drowning, heart disease, cocaine use

LOS ANGELES, March 22 (Xinhua) -- The Los Angeles County coroner's office revealed Thursday that U.S. pop icon Whitney Houston died of "drowning and effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use."

The coroner's office determined that Houston's death was an " accident."

The singer of 48 was found in the bathtub of her Beverly Hilton Hotel room on Feb. 11.

The toxicology report said that "Cocaine and metabolites were identified and were contributory to the death.

Houston was an award-winning singer, actress, producer and a former model best known for her chart-topping single "I Will Always Love You" which led to the production of an award-nominated film "The Bodyguard" in 1992. She was also known for musical hits including "How Will I Know" and "Saving All My Love for You."

As one of the most successful pop singers in modern music history, Houston garnered a total of 415 awards including six Grammy Awards, 22 American Music Awards and countless other accolades during her lifetime, according to Guiness World Records.

She was often referred to as "Queen of Pop" or simply "the voice," and is also one of the best-selling music artists in the world, having sold more than 170 million albums and singles before her death.

The singer had a history of drug abuse. In 2004, following years of rumored drug abuse, Houston entered a rehab during her first stint. She returned for second stint in the following year. In March 2011, the singer checked in for the third treatment of the problem.

The singer's voice sounded ragged and off-key when she appeared on "Good Morning" to promote her new album "I Look To You," which triggered suspicions that she had lost her treasured gift as the drug and alcohol problem took its toll. Some of the dates of her world tour were forced to cancel which triggered suspicion that she was still using drug.