Whitney Houston died in accidental drowning, but drug abuse and heart disease were also factors, Los Angeles coroner has ruled today.
Coroner’s spokesman Craig Harvey said drug tests indicated Whitney Houston was a chronic cocaine user.
The announcement ends weeks of speculation over the cause of Whitney Houston’s death.
Whitney Houston was found submerged in the bath of her Los Angeles hotel room on the eve of the Grammy Awards on February 11.
In a statement, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office described Whitney Houston’s manner of death as an “accident”, adding that “no trauma or foul play is suspected”.
Whitney Houston’s cause of death was cited as drowning and “effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use”.
Other drugs found in her blood included marijuana, as well as Xanax (anti-anxiety) drug, Flexeril (muscle relaxant) and Benadryl (allergy medication).
But these were not factors in her death, the coroner’s statement said.
Immediately after the death, it was widely thought that drinking binges combined with prescription pills combined to make the star lose consciousness and slip under the bathwater.
But the toxicology tests did not show any significant amount of alcohol in Whitney Houston’s system.
Patricia Houston, the singer’s sister-in-law and manager, told the Associated Press news agency: “We are saddened to learn of the toxicology results, although we are glad to now have closure.”
Whitney Houston was laid to rest at a cemetery in her home state of New Jersey after a funeral that was attended by celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey and Mary J. Blige.
Whitney Houston, who was one of the world’s best selling artists from the mid-1980s to late 1990s, had a long battle with drug addiction.
