- NEW YORK (AP) - The
devil made him do it, representatives for R&B singer Houston said in
a statement explaining how his eye was seriously gouged.
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- Houston's publicist issued a statement Thursday night
denying reports he tried to take his life by jumping from a London hotel
window last week. The statement said Houston "found himself in the
midst of a spiritual battle against the evil that runs rampant in the entertainment
industry."
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- Houston, whose 2004 single I Like That was used
in a McDonald's commercial, was found in his London hotel room with a serious
eye injury. He was briefly in hospital.
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- "I went to check on him before going to bed and
I saw blood on the floor," Houston's bodyguard, Marco Powell, said
in the statement.
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- "Houston was lying on his bed with a towel over
his face and I removed the towel to find his eye hanging out. He said he
had to get the devil off of his back and that's the only way he could kill
the devil."
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- Houston, whose full name is Houston Summers, is a Los
Angeles resident. He was raised strictly Christian and was "constantly
at odds with the temptations that come with success in the music business,"
the statement said.
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- The incident prompted a statement from Bushwick Bill
of the rap group The Geto Boys. In 1991, a severely intoxicated Bushwick
forced his girlfriend to assist him in a suicide attempt. She shot him
in the eye but he miraculously survived.
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- "Fame will make you crazy," Bushwick's statement
said.
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- "I want Houston to know that he is in my prayers
and that I will ask God to give him peace of mind and peace of heart and
I hope his eye heals as well as his mind and his emotions."
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- Houston was recuperating Friday at his Los Angeles home.
The condition of his eye was not known.
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- "I still love all my fans. Please pray for me and
know I'll be back with some more hits," Houston said.
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All rights reserved.
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- http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2005/02/04/920907-ap.html
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