By Breaking Celebrity News Staff

The circle of life continued to swirl in 2012, and the losses included a number of icons in the musical field, including a once-in-a-generation singer, a diva hailed as the queen of her genre and a promoter who knew how to put it all together.

As part of our annual On Your Breaking Celebrity News feature series, Breaking Celebrity News has photos and details on the celebrities we lost over the past year -- so sit back, remember and say goodbye to the stars who are now shining even brighter above us in the sky.

No death rocked the entertainment world harder than that of Whitney Houston, the singer whose amazing talents were wiped out by her ongoing demons. The 48-year-old was discovered unresponsive in the bath tub of her Beverly Hills Hotel room on February 11, 2012. Houston's death was ruled accidental and was caused by "drowning due to effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use." In addition to her musical legacy, Whitney left behind a daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown.

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