Grammy Stars reflect upon Whitney Houston’s life

Stars on the Grammy red carpet including Fergie and Tony Bennett discuss Whitney Houston and how she influenced their lives and the lives of others.

One of the last people to share a stage with Whitney Houston was R B singer Kelly Price, who stopped on the Grammy Awards show's red carpet Sunday night to reminisce.
While others have said the singer appeared disheveled when she showed up Thursday (09 FEB 2012) to rehearse for music mogul Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party, Price said that wasn't the case when she saw her later that night at a party where the two sang together.
"She stood on her feet for over three hours, she cheered on every singer that hit the stage," said Price, who sang a duet with Houston on "Yes, Jesus Loves Me."
Houston died Saturday.    
When she wasn't singing, Price said, Houston was dancing, either by herself or with others, including her 18-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown.
"We had a wonderful time," Price said. "She celebrated me. She told me she was proud of me, she told me she loved me,"
The pair's friendship dates to 1998 when Houston heard Price on the radio and invited her to sing with her on "Heartbreak Hotel."
Also reflecting on Houston was the Black Eyed Peas' Fergie, who said she met the pop icon at Davis' party several years ago.
"I mean I just love her. I had looked up to her for so many years. I told her this," Fergie said. "I'm sure she's heard that from everyone but she really -- she said 'Thank you.' And we were just talking and she complimented me. It was the biggest deal for me in my life. I used to emulate her tone. There was nobody who had a tone like Whitney -- that thick, that warm tone. She could just belt forever with that smile that went just for miles across her face, and that confidence. I would just see her up on that Grammy stage and I was so inspired as a child."
Tony Bennett, who kicked his own cocaine habit 30 years ago, made a pitch for the legalization of all drugs as he reflected on the death of Whitney Houston, whose drug problems have been well documented.
"In Amsterdam they legalized drugs and it calmed everybody down," Bennett said Sunday on the Grammy Awards red carpet. "It stopped a lot of gangsters who sneak around and get people to take drugs. Everybody gets wounded that way. By legalizing it, you won't have that problem."
The 85-year-old crooner acknowledged his call for legalization is controversial.