Celine Dion is convinced drugs are to blame for Whitney Houston's untimely death, insisting years of abuse sent her down a dangerous path of self-destruction.
The I Will Always Love You hitmaker passed away at her Los Angeles hotel on Saturday (11Feb12) - the night before the 54th annual Grammy Awards - and although Houston's autopsy reports have proved inconclusive, Dion has already written off the tragedy as another unfortunate drug-related death.
Mourning the loss of her idol on U.S. breakfast show Good Morning America on Monday (13Feb12), she said, "Whitney has been an amazing inspiration for me... I wanted to have a career like her, sing like her, look beautiful like her. It’s just really unfortunate that drugs, bad people or bad influence took over. It took over her dreams. It took over her love and motherhood.
"Taking pills to go perform and taking pills to wake up and taking pills to go to bed. It’s so unfortunate...
"When you think about Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse, to get into drugs like that, for whatever reason. Is it because of the stress and bad influence? What happens when you have everything? What happens when you have love, support, the family, motherhood? You have responsibilities as a mother and then something happens and it destroys everything."
And veteran singer Dion confesses she purposely avoids the spotlight out of fear she'll fall into bad habits - like her tragic peers.
She adds, "There's something that happens that I don't understand and that's why I'm so scared. I'm scared of showbusiness, I'm scared of drugs, and I'm scared of hanging out. That's why I don't do parties."
Houston battled drug issues for many years and checked into rehab for a second time just last year (11).
Prescription pill bottles were found in her room at the time of her death but officials are awaiting the results from toxicology tests to determine whether or not her passing was drug related.