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Whitney Houston's friend writing book

Jun 15, 2012, 10:01 GMT

Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston's friend is writing a book about her.

Gospel singer BeBe Winans - who performed at the 'I Will Always Love You' hitmaker's funeral in February - will release 'The Whitney I Knew' on July 31, with the tome including never-previously seen photographs of the pop superstar.

Whitney - who had a history of substance abuse problems - was found dead in the bath of her Beverly Hills hotel room in February and BeBe has promised to use the book to reveal 'heart-breaking accounts that led to her ultimate defeat.'

It was recently confirmed that Whitney's mother Cissy Houston will release a book about her daughter next February.

She has signed a multi-million dollar deal to write with 'candor, honesty and respect' about her daughter, who died as a result of accidental drowning in her bath and effects of heart disease and cocaine use in February.

Gospel singer Cissy said: 'When I lost my daughter Nippy [the nickname Whitney's family gave her], the world lost one of the most beautiful voices and an extraordinarily beautiful and charitable woman.

'In sharing our story in this book, I hope to give her fans something to treasure, the way we all treasured Whitney. We are still receiving thousands of letters each day from her fans, and I hope reading this book will provide a deeper understanding into my daughter's true story.'

Whitney famously spiralled into drug addiction alongside her husband Bobby Brown - the father of her 19-year-old daughter Bobbi Kristina - in the 90s and Cissy will talk about the issues which this caused in her book.