Tonight (Feb. 11) had been surprisingly quiet in the rock world for a night right before the Grammy Awards, but that changed immediately with the shocking news of iconic pop star Whitney Houston’s untimely demise. The body of Houston, just 48 years old, was discovered at the Beverly Hills Hotel; attempts to revive her were unsuccessful. A cause of death has not yet been determined.

Bret Michaels was one of the first musicians to react to the news, quickly taking to his Facebook page to post the following note. The Poison star recalls a few chance encounters he had with Houston over the years:

My deepest condolences to Whitney Houston’s family and friends.

I first met Whitney when we were in Rome on tour. I couldn’t sleep so I

went down to the lobby. There she was sitting on the couch reading a book,

apparently she couldn’t sleep either. We sat and hung out chatting for

quite a while. She was awesome. Over the years, we ran into each other at

several other events, the most memorable being when we were performing in

Rio for the Hollywood Rocks festival. I happened to walk up to my room from

the pool where a bunch of us had been sitting and saw the news about the

Northridge earthquake. I remember telling her, the guys from Aerosmith and

others about the news…

Again… what a great person with a great voice and amazing talent. She

will be missed.

While Houston had few musical ties to the rock world, her own fame was so massive it was unavoidable. You may remember her from movies such as ‘The Bodyguard’ and ‘Waiting to Exhale’ or hits like ‘Greatest Love of All’ or ‘I Will Always Love You.’ Check back with Ultimate Classic Rock as more rockers react to this sad, sad, news.

More From The Moose 94.7 FM