The death of American pop music icon Ms Whitney Houston on Saturday has no doubt shocked the world and plunged the entertainment fraternity into deep mourning.

In fact, so great was the loss that it cast a pall over the annual Grammy Awards, the music industry's biggest night, staged on Sunday in Los Angeles, California.

Although the Grammy Awards was already planned, the organisers fittingly made a few adjustments to pay tribute to Ms Houston, a six-time Grammy winner who was regarded as a sensation from the release of her very first album in 1985 and who was one of the world's best-selling artistes from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s.

An Associated Press report on the Grammys told us that the evening's most moving moment came as Ms Jennifer Hudson — who called Ms Houston an inspiration and one of her biggest idols — emerged to sing one of Ms Houston's signature songs, a cover of Ms Dolly Parton's I Will Always Love You.

"Dressed in black, with only the accompaniment of a piano, Hudson appeared to fight back tears as she sang the song, ending with the line, 'Whitney, we will always love you'," said the AP report.

Throughout the night, other artistes paid tribute to the singer who awed millions of people across the world "with soaring but disciplined vocals rooted in gospel and polished for the masses", the AP reported.

Her vocal prowess, we are told, was regarded as a bridge between the earthy passion of her godmother, Ms Aretha Franklin, and the bouncy pop of her cousin, Ms Dionne Warwick.

Throughout her career Ms Houston sold more than 170 million records, had 11 number one hits in the 1980s and 1990s and won an impressive string of awards.

However, her glittering career started what was to become an irreversible plunge as she battled with substance abuse during her stormy 15-year marriage to fellow American singer Mr Bobby Brown.

Many of Ms Houston's fans have criticised her for entering the union with Mr Brown, while others have blamed Mr Brown for her downward spiral. We, however, from this distance, cannot make a judgement either way.

What we suspect, though, is that Ms Houston became a victim of the merciless pressures of stardom. For she was indeed one of the best singers ever to have graced this planet, and as such would have been in high demand by show promoters, not unlike her late compatriot Mr Michael Jackson.

Ms Houston, of course, joins a lenthening list of illustrious stars who departed this life too early, succumbing to the demons that often afflict people in the entertainment industry.

While we accept that her fans are devastated by her sudden passing, we would encourage them to use her life as a guide to embracing what is good and avoiding that which can prove detrimental to one's health.

It is probably most telling that before she died Ms Houston finished working on the remake of the 1976 film Sparkle, which poignantly tells the story of a singing group dealing with the troubles caused by fame and drugs.

Maybe the Creator, in His wisdom, guided her to that project in order to send us a message.