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Dionne Warwick says Whitney Houston was the “little girl” she “never had”.
The 71-year-old singer – who was the late star’s cousin: explained she saw the “I Will Always Love You” hitmaker as her own daughter, and her tragic death last month still hasn’t “sunk in”.
Dionne said: “Whitney basically was the little girl I never had. She is and always will be very, very much alive here.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet. I have not really had an opportunity to mourn or completely break down, which I will do. I know that. I think the comfort comes in knowing she’s in good hands now.”
The “That’s What Friends Are For” singer explained she spoke to Whitney on the morning of her death and the troubled star seemed “happy” and had “everything in the world to live for” as she prepared to attend a pre-Grammy function held by producer Clive Davis.
Dionne added in an interview with “Good Morning America”: “She was up and ready and happy. I spoke to her that morning.
“She said: ‘You’re here, aren’t you? You’re coming to the party, aren’t you?’ I said: ‘Yeah, I’m going to be there’ and she said: ‘Thank you, I want you to be here. You’ve got to be here for me.”
“She had everything in the world to live for. She had everything in the world to live for. She had a new film, that was an absolute dream to make and do, and completed that, thank God. She was getting ready to go back into the studio to record, she was getting her vocals together.”

Dionne Warwick.

Whitney Houston’s kin is confident the late singer was in a good mental place prior to her unexpected death February 11, her famous cousin Dionne Warwick revealed on “Good Morning America” Thursday.
“I spoke to Whitney the day that she passed” – the music legend told host Robin Roberts. “I spoke to her that morning.
“She said: ‘You’re here, aren’t you? You’re coming to the party, aren’t you?’
“I said: ‘Yeah, I’m going to be there,’ and she said: ‘Thank you, I want you to be here. You’ve got to be here for me.’ ”
Later that day, Houston (48) was found dead in the bathroom of her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, reportedly from a deadly mixture of prescription drugs and alcohol.
Warwick (71) who referred to Houston as “the little girl I never had,” said she was confident the troubled singer had been getting back on the right track.
“She was so up and ready and happy” – the five-time Grammy winner said on the morning show. “She had everything in the world to live for. She had a new film that was an absolute dream to make and do.
“She was getting ready to go back into the studio to record. She was getting her vocals together.”
The family has similarly come together, Warwick noted.
Houston’s mother (and Warwick’s aunt), Cissy, has been “holding up so very well,” the singer reported, adding that “she has her moments, of course … it’s not an easy thing for a parent to lose a baby.”

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Dionne Warwick has revealed that she spoke to her cousin Whitney Houston just before she died.
The 71-year-old singer (who is best known for her hit songs “Walk on By” and “I Say a Little Prayer”) said that Houston was “happy” and “ready” for a comeback just before she passed away in the bathroom of her hotel room on the night of Clive Davis’s pre-Grammys party last month.
Warwick told Good Morning America – “I spoke to Whitney the day that she passed. I spoke to her that morning. She said, ‘You’re here, aren’t you? You’re coming to the party, aren’t you?’
“I said, ‘Yeah, I’m going to be there’, and she said, ‘Thank you, I want you to be here. You’ve got to be here for me’. I spoke to her that afternoon and that was it.”
Referring to Houston as “the little girl [she] never had”, Warwick added – “She was so up and ready and happy. She had everything in the world to live for. She had a new film that was an absolute dream to make and do. She was getting ready to go back into the studio to record. She was getting her vocals together.”
Warwick described Houston’s death as “very, very surreal”, saying – “It hasn’t really sunk in yet. I have not had an opportunity to really mourn or completely break down, which I will do, I know that.”
She said of Houston’s mother Cissy – “I am so proud of her. She’s really holding up so very well. She has her moments, of course, and will continue to have her moments. I think she’s coming to terms with it just about now. It’s going to take quite a bit of time.”
Warwick also said that she will support Houston’s daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown through the mourning process, adding – “That’s the one thing I love about my family. We are family. She has the support that she actually needs.”