Whitney Houston Enters Drug Rehab

Troubled pop and soul diva Whitney Houston has entered a drug rehabilitation center, according to a statement released Tuesday by representatives of the singer.

The statement thanked all of Houston's fans for their "hope and prayers" but did not elaborate on the condition of the superstar, singer of worldwide hits such as 1992's "I Will Always Love You".

Houston first came clean about a long-rumored drug problem in December 2002, telling ABC television that she had overcome an addiction "through prayer".

Her damage-limitation appearance on the channel however left some celebrity watchers shocked at the thin appearance of a woman once voted "one of the world's most beautiful" by People magazine.

Houston rejected speculation that her drug problems had physically and mentally almost destroyed her. "I'm not the kind of person that wants to die", she told interviewer Diane Sawyer. "I'm the kind of person that has life in them and that wants to live."

Asked whether she had abused alcohol, marijuana, cocaine or pills, Houston said "Yeah, I'll grant you, I partied."

Houston's stated desire to overcome her drug troubles without recourse to rehab appears to have been out of her grasp, as, for the time being at least, does a return to musical form.

Her husband, R&B singer and former member of New Edition Bobby Brown, received a 60-day prison sentence in late February for violating probation. Among the violations was an alleged December assault on his wife that left Houston sporting a cut lip and a black eye.

The couple, married since 1992, have a ten-year-old daughter.