R&B legend Dionne Warwick was a guest on ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ this morning. Speaking to GMA host Robin Roberts, Warwick said her cousin, the late singer Whitney Houston “basically was the little girl I never had.”
Warwick, 71, said she spoke with Whitney the day she died, and that Whitney was in a good mood as she prepared to host the pre-Grammy party held annually by recording honcho Clive Davis.
“She had everything in the world to live for,” said Warwick. “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.
“It’s very surreal,” Warwick said. “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.”
In her last Will and Testament, Whitney left all of her “tangible property” including furniture, cars, jewelry, clothing and shoes to her “surviving children,” — Bobbi Kristina.
Whitney left detailed instructions that the money from her estate (royalties, insurance policies, sales of real estate, etc.) be placed in a trust to be dispensed in portions by a trustee to Bobbi Kristina when the 19-year-old turns 21, and again when she turns 25. At age 30, Bobbi will receive all of the money held in the trust.
But before that time, she will be allowed to withdraw funds from the trust for specific reasons, such as giving birth to a child, buying a house, school tuition, starting a business, etc. Whitney’s mother, Cissy Houston, will receive some of Whitney’s tangible property as well. But Whitney’s ex-husband, singer Bobby Brown, will only receive money and tangible property if both Cissy Houston and Bobbi Kristina dies.
Warwick, a 71-year-old mother of two sons, said Whitney’s daughter Bobbi Kristina — the primary beneficiary of Whitney’s will, as we reported Wednesday — “has the support she needs.”
Gesturing to her heart, the “That’s What Friends Are For” singer told Robin Roberts, “Whitney is and will always be very, very much alive here.”
Acknowledging the grieving process has been especially painful for her to deal with, Warwick said, adding she’s “heading towards being OK.
“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,” said Warwick, also known for her Psychic Friends Network fame of the 1990s.
The five-time Grammy winner, who was seen with Whitney’s mother (and her aunt) Cissy in the days following her death, said Cissy has been “holding up so very well.
“I am so proud of her: She has her moments, of course … but I think she’s coming to terms with it, just about now, the realization that it has happened — it’s not an easy thing for a parent to lose a baby.”