A fashion model turned singer, Whitney Houston was once America's reigning pop diva with an unprecedented run of seven consecutive No 1 records during the 1980s. And then she met Bobby Brown. The pair engaged in a classic love/hate relationship throughout the '90s, with Brown eventually serving time in prison for allegedly abusing her.

In between the flare-ups, the couple were caught with a bag of marijuana at a Hawaii airport, and Houston dipped down to an anemic seven stone before publicly admitting she had a drug problem and checking herself into rehab. With her erratic behaviour and dramatic weight loss, it's little wonder that several radio stations erroneously reported her death in September 2001.