Sharpton calls for national pray in honor of Houston

LOS ANGELES (AP) – The Rev. Al Sharpton says he will call for a national prayer Sunday morning during a service at Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles in honor of Whitney Houston.

The pop icon died Friday on the fourth floor of the Beverly Hilton hotel. She was 48. The cause of death isn’t known but police say there were no obvious signs of any criminal intent.

Sharpton says the “morning of the Grammys, the world should pause and pray for the memory of a gifted songbird.”

Recording Academy President and CEO Neil Portnow says Houston “was 1 of the world’s greatest pop singers of all time.” He says she “leaves behind a robust musical soundtrack spanning the past three decades.”

Houston’s success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like “The Bodyguard” and “Waiting to Exhale.” Her image was tarnished later in life by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown.