Grammys To Honour 'Remarkable' Houston

The Grammys will include a tribute to music legend Whitney Houston, the Recording Academy has announced, after the singer was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel.

The tribute will be performed by singer Jennifer Hudson, as the awards show executives scrambled to cope with the sudden death of the star.

The singer, who won six Grammys during her career, has died in Los Angeles. Her body was found just before 4pm on the eve of the awards show, which she was in LA to attend.

Her body was found in her Beverly Hilton hotel room, the same hotel where a pre-Grammys party hosted by Clive Davis, the record mogul who discovered her, was being held.

TV host Ryan Seacrest tweeted: "At Grammys rehearsal hearing Whitney Houston has passed away at 48. Everyone here is absolutely stunned."

"At the Grammys, the only person on our minds will be Whitney Houston," wrote Maroon 5's Adam Levine on Twitter.

The awards' executive producer Ken Ehrlich told the LA Times that Jennifer Hudson would perform a "respectful" musical tribute to Houston during the CBS awards telecast.

Houston presented Hudson with her own Grammy at the awards show in 2009.

Mr Ehrlich told the paper: "It's too fresh in everyone's memory to do more at this time, but we would be remiss if we didn't recognise Whitney's remarkable contribution to music fans in general, and in particular her close ties with the Grammy telecast and her Grammy wins and nominations over the years."

The Grammys were mainly anticipated otherwise for a performance by Adele in the wake of her vocal surgery.

At the pre-Grammys gala at the Beverley Hilton, which went on as planned, Mr Davis asked for a moment of silence as an image of the singer was shown on the screen.

"I am personally devastated by the loss of someone who has meant so much to me," Mr Davis said.

"Simply put: Whitney would have wanted the music to go on."

The 79-year-old mogul was seen being comforted by singer Alicia Keys outside the hotel.

Stars attending included Dr Dre, Adam Lambert, Serena Williams and Kim Kardashian. Others such as Kelly Osbourne and her mother Sharon cancelled their appearance at the event, with Kelly tweeting to say she would not attend any pre-Grammy parties as "I don't feel that it is appropriate".

Producer Jimmy Jam said Houston's death was a "bittersweet irony" given that Mr Davis introduced Houston to the world at the event more than two decades ago.

Jam said it "may be appropriate we're saying our first goodbyes to Whitney at a Clive Davis event".

The Recording Academy president Neil Portnow said: "Six-time Grammy winner Whitney Houston was one of the world's greatest pop singers of all time who leaves behind a robust musical soundtrack spanning the past three decades.

"Her powerful voice graced many memorable and award-winning songs.

"A light has been dimmed in our music community today, and we extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends, fans and all who have been touched by her beautiful voice."

He continued: "We will do something appropriate tomorrow, and nothing could be more appropriate than having Jennifer Hudson sing on stage for Whitney.

"In our community, we celebrate things... let's celebrate Whitney Houston."