I wasn't a fan. I didn't have anything against her unquestionable talent or personality; I just wasn't a big fan.
But her passing is sad, especially given the struggles she had throughout life. One would have hoped for a better ending. One would have hoped for her to age gracefully and become the Grande Dame of Something. Sadly, it was not to be, and we all feel diminished by her passing.
There’s a real sickness running rampant in the right wing; the Fox News comment thread on Whitney Houston’s death is yet another disgusting deluge of outright racism: Singer Whitney Houston Dies at 48 | Fox News.
There are almost 5000 comments posted in the thread — these are from the first few pages. Notice that the racist bastards deliberately misspell their slurs or insert random spaces, so they aren’t caught by word filters. And many of the worst comments have numerous “likes” from other commenters.