Whitney Houston memorial photo (Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images)

Whitney Houston’s mother, Cissy Houston, admitted to having a premonition that Whitney would not live a long life.  That’s one of the insights  found in an emotional letter Cissy Houston wrote… to her daughter, that was included in the  church booklet at last weekend’s “home going” service.

The letter also tells of Cissy Houston hearing her door bell ring several times the day of her daughter’s death, only to find no one there when she went to answer.

Cissy Houston is  herself a successful singer,  who was a member of the Grammy- award winning gospel group The Sweet Inspirations,  and sang back up for Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin and others.

The gossip website “That Grape Juice” has posted a copy of letter, which you can read below.

kevin winter/gettyimages

The Boss has been giving fans a taste of his new album “Wrecking Ball” on a dialy basis.  On Monday Bruce kicked things off with “Easy Money”. “Shackled and Drawn” was released yesterday and “Jack Of All Trades” was posted today on Bruce Springsteen.net.

 The remaining eight tunes will roll out until Friday March 2nd. “Wrecking Ball” will be officially released on March 6th.

Gareth Cattermole, Getty Images

Believe it or not, there are still some members of the American public who don’t own Adele‘s ’21′ album. However, that pool is a lot smaller than it used to be, after nearly three-quarters of a million people purchased the record last week, giving ’21′ by far its biggest sales week yet.

As reported by Billboard, the 730,000 copies eclipses the album’s previous best week, when it sold 399,000 during the Christmas shopping season. The surge in sales comes after Adele was the star of the 2012 Grammy Awards, taking home all six awards for which she was nominated, including Album of the Year.

Appropriately, ’21′ has now spent 21 weeks at No. 1 on the album chart. That passes the 20-week reign of Whitney Houston‘s ‘The Bodyguard’ soundtrack. It ties for the 8th-most weeks at No. 1 in history with MC Hammer‘s ‘Please, Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em.’ The next targets for Adele: Prince‘s ‘Purple Rain’ and the ‘Saturday Night Fever’ soundtrack, which both spent 24 weeks atop the chart.

Here’s another interesting piece of trivia: Not counting albums that have been out for less than a month, and excluding the Christmas season (when album sales typically go through the roof), the 730,000 copies Adele sold of ’21′ this week are the second-most by any album in any week in history, behind only the 848,000 the ‘Titanic’ soundtrack sold during Valentine’s week in 1998.

Adele’s debut album, ’19,’ also sees a huge sales surge, shooting up to No. 4. The remarkable vocalist’s remarkable success just won’t quit!

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Here’s a look at this year’s nominees in the major categories. Let your voice be heard and tell us who you think will win!

‘Hugo’ leads the way with 11 nominations. Will it end the evening with the most wins? You tell us:

Paramount/DreamWorks/DreamWorks

Frazer Harrison/Kevin Winter/Kevin Winter, Getty Images

Kevin Winter/Carlos Alvarez/Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

Frazer Harrison/Jason Merritt/Jason Merritt, Getty Images

Jason Merritt/Frazer Harrison/Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

Gareth Cattermole/Valerie Macon/Jamie McCarthy, Getty Images

DreamWorks/DreamWorks/Blind Wink Productions

This year, Americans will throw away about 8 tons of this.  What is it? Take your best guess Thursday @ 7:20 a.m.

See past Impossible Trivia questions and answers

Jason Merritt, Getty Images

Whitney Houston may have had one of the most recognizable voices in pop music, which brought her great success, fame and fortune. Apparently, the singer’s financial resources may have dwindled down to almost nothing, since her family sold footage of her celebrity-attended funeral to a variety of global media outlets.

Apparently, the family elected to sell the footage in order to raise money for the singer’s sole heir, daughter Bobbi Kristina, 18. That’s why it would seem that Houston didn’t leave much behind.

The funeral took place on Saturday, Feb. 18 in Houston’s Newark, N.J. hometown. She was eulogized by her ‘The Bodyguard’ co-star Kevin Costner and serenaded by Alicia Keys. The funeral aired on CNN and several online outlets via The Associated Press, but all footage was offline and non-viewable the very next day.

A spokesperson for the family told TMZ that the executors of Houston’s estate “agreed to license footage to several media outlets for customary fees.” Those “customary fees” are being set aside to “maximize the estate for the benefit of Bobbi Kristina.”

Hmm, that sounds like jargon-heavy way to say that Houston was broke and/or didn’t leave much behind for her only child in terms of money. Why else would the family need to sell private footage on Bobbi Kris’ behalf?

At least this money-making endeavor is for a good cause, since Bobbi Kris is in a lot of pain over the loss of her mother at such a young age; Houston was just 48. However, an auction of Houston items is set for next month, and that feels a little tacky and entirely too soon after the pop diva’s death, even though the auction house claims that their sale is helping to preserve the singer’s legacy and history.

Yeah, there’s a better way to preserve Houston’s legacy and history. Those are called albums.

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Madeline Fox/Flickr

This is your invitation to join me this summer on a once-in-a-lifetime experience trip to Alaska!  The last frontier awaits for us to discover as part of a 13 day vacation sponsored by YMT Vacations and Norwegian Cruise Lines.  Here  are some fun facts I’ve discovered about Alaska…

• At one time, Alaska had three time zones. Because the hassle, they have taken an average and dropped it down to one timezone.
• Alaska is two times bigger than Texas.
• Alaska has over 44,000 miles of coast line, enough to almost go around the world twice.
• Alaska has over 100,000 glaciers, 3,000 rivers, and 3,000,000 lakes.
• 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the US are in Alaska, including the highest, Denali.
• Eight of the top ten largest US islands are in Alaska.

Here is a quick overview of the trip I’m hosting for Lite Rock listeners leaving July 13th, 2012.

After flying to Seattle,  we’ll board the Norwegian Jewel… for a seven-day cruise of the historic inside passage; visiting Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway.

We’ll see the amazing Sawyer Glacier and Prince Rupert, British Columbia. We’ll try panning for gold and eat salmon in Ketchikan, “The Salmon Capital of the World”!

After our cruise you’ll board your own  Amtrak Roomette Sleeper Car Train to wine country!  You’ll experience the Napa valley, visit two premiere wineries and taste world class wines.  Then, it’s on to the the City by the Bay- San Francisco- to see all the sites…Fisherman’s Wharf, The Golden Gate Bridge and more.

It’s  13 days in all, from just $2699 plus tax, including airfare, hotel, cruise, train,  and  on-board meals.  Contact YMT Vacations at 1-800-922-9000, and tell them you want to discover Alaska this summer with Eddie Davis!

Check out this really amazing video footage of  Alaska’s glaciers and imagine seeing these breathtaking sights in person…

Flickr user Holly Ford Brown

Atlantic City’s Steel Pier has received final approval for a $6.1 million loan from the state agency tasked with turning around the seaside resort.

The pier’s owners will use the money from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority to renovate and expand the historic site. The three-year project — expected to cost about $102 million — calls for new rides, a midway and a food court.

The owners also plan to add a restaurant/nightclub and turn it into a non-casino attraction that will be open nearly year-round.

The loan approval was one of several acts the CRDA took Tuesday.

It also approved $1.2 million to buy 990 trash and recycling bins for the Boardwalk and other Tourism District areas. Another $1.7 million will go toward the ongoing demolition of dilapidated properties.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Dave Hogan, Getty Images

Move over, M.I.A. You’re not the only one who can give a one-finger salute at a major music event. Fresh off the aforementioned rapper’s bird-flipping incident during the 2012 Super Bowl Halftime, British diva Adele did the same at the BRIT Awards this evening (Feb. 21.) But while M.I.A.’s gesture seemed immature, out of place and a foolish attempt to grab a headline, Adele was merely reacting to being cut off when making her acceptance speech.

The singer had just won the award for British Album of the Year for ’21′ and was making a genuine, from-the-deepest-recesses-of-her-heart speech, according to Spinner. She was saying, “Thank you very, very much. Nothing is better than coming home with six Grammies and winning Album of the Year. Nothing makes me prouder than to be British.”

That’s when host James Corden cut her off. Not only did he receive a chorus of boos from the crowd, but he got that one-digit salute from the beloved ‘Rolling in the Deep’ singer.

At a post-awards press conference, Adele commented on her reaction, saying, “I was cut off during my speech but I wanted to thank the British public for all their support. I was held up with my voice and troubles but the album kept walking without me. I flipped the bird for the suits at the BRITS who cut me off. Sorry if I offended anyone but it was for them, not for the fans.”

That explanation of her action should further deepen the love her fellow Brits have for her. Notice we said Brits, not BRITS! Adele is truly a pop star of the people, for the people and by the people.

The Album of the Year award was preceded by a win for British Female Solo Artist.

Giving the bird was not the sole reason people were talking about Adele’s fingers tonight. She also sported a large rock on her left hand, prompting talk of an engagement to her BF Simon Konecki. There’s obviously been no confirmation of that. Perhaps Adele bought herself a nice piece of jewelry to celebrate all those Grammys and BRITS?

Watch Adele Give the Finger

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