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According to celebrity gossip website TMZ.com, pop icon Whitney Houston was already dead before her head slipped under the water in a hotel bathtub Saturday. TMZ had previously reported that Houston, 48, drowned in the tub after ingesting a cocktail of prescription anti-anxiety pills mixed with alcohol already present in her system.

But a family member has confirmed to TMZ that, according to the LA coroner’s office, Houston died of a prescription drugs overdose. This is the same cause of death that was told to Sandrarose.com exclusively by a family friend in the hours following Houston’s death.

The record label exec, who was on his way to Houston’s hotel to be with the Houston family, reached out to Sandrarose.com to correct misinformation that was in the news media. Specifically, he wanted our readers to know that Houston’s leech, Ray J, was not with her when she died, and that Whitney died of a drug overdose.

Knowing I was one of the few bloggers with this info, I immediately logged onto Twitter.com to inform my followers — who responded by attacking my source’s integrity.

This is why credible sources have a hard time giving accurate information to blogs, because people who read blogs often have difficulty processing the truth — you would rather believe ridiculous rumors.

According to TMZ, Whitney’s mom has arranged to have the singer’s body flown back to Atlanta, as early as tomorrow. The funeral will be held here in Atlanta — the city that she loved.

Update I, 12:19PM ET:

CNN reports that Whitney’s funeral will be held in her hometown of New Jersey on Friday or Saturday.