R&B Singer Houston Gouges Eye Out

[Bullet Tooth Tony]

After being thwarted in a suicide attempt in a London hotel room, R&B singer Houston gouged his own eye out.

On Thursday Houston attempted to jump out of a 13th-floor hotel window but was stopped by his security personnel, sources close to the singer said. He was moved to a lower floor and locked in his room, where he injured himself. Additional details are still coming to light, and photographs of his injury are circulating online.

The Los Angeles native, born Houston Summers IV, was overseas for a series of performances when the incident occurred. He scored a hit last year with "I Like That," which featured Chingy and Nate Dogg and was used in a McDonald's commercial (see "Houston Scores Club Hit With Help From Chingy, Nate Dogg"). His debut album, It's Already Written, was certified gold a month after its release in August.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Houston during this tragic time," a Capitol Records spokesperson said.

Los Angeles radio station KKBT-FM's K-Sly, who appeared in the "I Like That" video and is close to Houston's camp, said the singer had been under psychiatric care last year for manic depression. Another source corroborated that claim, adding that Houston had also struggled with PCP.

"I was told he wanted to commit suicide and stabbed his eye out," K-Sly said. "He was telling people he was Jesus and wanted to go home to his Father."

The singer is now back in Los Angeles.

— Rashaun Hall, with additional reporting by Sway Calloway and Joseph Patel

Source: MTV.com

If you're squemish in ANY way do not look at this pic....http://img27.exs.cx/img27/3500/houston4fj.jpg

[BorderEevilIII]

when I saw the subject title R&B Singer + Houston made me think of......

http://us.ent1.yimg.com/images.launch.yahoo.com/000/003/489/3489178.jpg



As for the OTHER Houston looks like he needs a lot of help.....
And ouch on the attached pic :eek:

Fellow schmoes don't be eating anything when viewing the pic.....:D

[James Logan]

Originally posted by Bullet Tooth Tony

"I was told he wanted to commit suicide and stabbed his eye out," K-Sly said. "He was telling people he was Jesus and wanted to go home to his Father."


This is the part where I went...woah-ho-ho!

I mean, the rest just made me go "damn, that's sad". I mean, I'm not a fan of the guy or his music, but it's never fun when someone tries to jump out a window. But thinking he was Jesus...?

[B1rd_Po0p]

Was he stoned? Or having a psychotic break-down? (Manic Depression is some seriously scary stuff.) Yikes. Poor guy - I hope he gets the help he needs and that he appreciates his security people for saving his life.

[B1rd_Po0p]

Originally posted by James Logan
But thinking he was Jesus...?

One of the symptoms of a really bad manic episode is thinking you are someone you're not: and it's usually someone like Jesus, or Elvis, or Mother Mary... Etc. He needs meds.

[James Logan]

I guess that's a good point. Still -- damn.

[Patrick Bateman]

Jeez!

Sounds like some serious manic depression to me. But he might have been stoned. Still..... I mean ... wow.

Not really a fan, but I hope the guy gets some serious help for whatever his problem is.

:eek: <----- my reaction to that pic! Damn.

[Twisted Sister]

Absolutely bizarre story. And that photo... damn.

[thedudeman69]

No wonder he stabbed his eye out, he must've heard his song! :D

in seriousness, I feel that is one of the strangest things I have ever read.

[Cronos]

shit, he needs some serious psychiatric help, that is one fucked up thing to want to do to yourself

[DRbeauty]

Whatever happened to slitting your wrists? Wow I know they saved his life but I can't believe these people let him be around objects that he could hurt himself with.

[Scarface98.9]

Someone needs to make that pic an "Owned!" pic

[B1rd_Po0p]

Ok, I waited until I was home from work to look at the photo and holy cow --- that looks PAINFUL. He'll be lucky if he doesn't lose his sight in that eye - if he hasn't already...

[Heavenley]

OMG (about the pic).....

[<3mekthx]

Holy shit, that's some nasty puss in that socket.

[Lord Nikon]

Why the hell do these rich celebs always do something stupid. Why the hell can't I be a rich celeb and just not fuck it up? Im sure he had a tough life, you know, have sex with hot chicks, having money, and getting everything paid for him. I bet thats gotta be hard. Moron!

[ComeNightfall]

I've never heard of Houston, but that's just really sad. I hope he gets the help he needs.

I wouldn't be a celebrity for anything. You may have the money and the sex and the fame, but one day you're on top and the next nobody gives a shit about you and tries to bring you down.

[Lynn Minmei]

I didn't think I heard of Houston at first, but then I remembered that he sang on the song "I Like That" that dominated Top 40 radio this summer. Pretty shocking, in my opinion. I know him from nothing else but that, but from the interviews I saw with thim he seemed to be a fairly down to Earth guy, which is rare in the music business.

The music video for "I Like That" was played on MTV and assorted TV stations close to a million times this summer, and it's definitely a memory of the past year for me.

[Tweek]

Im sure he had a tough life, you know, have sex with hot chicks, having money, and getting everything paid for him. I bet thats gotta be hard. Moron!

If it turns out he's mentally ill and wasnt hopped up on drugs, i hope you realize it's a chemical imbalance, one that is uncontrollable without help (and obviously he didn't have it... Damn... HIS EYE! OUCH!)

[Lynn Minmei]

The MTV news stories on this say that he was diagnosed with Schizophrenia and was really messed up. Essentially just a bit after "I Like That" exploded, Houston was in treatment for his illness.

[The Heart Collector]

LOL!

insane news, even if I have no clue who "Houston" is.

[RavenBlade]

I know what it's like to have the illness, I still suffer from it, damn lousy brain of mine, but I don't see what's so funny about someone suffering from this debilitating illness. Was it his eye that made you laugh?
Was it the fact that he considered himself Jesus? Seriously
it's not that funny, it's a serious illness that claims alot of lives.
Houston got lucky that his life was saved, though it's a bad boo boo,
on the security teams part for not removing any harmful objects from the room.

Houston, I don't like your music, don't take it personally, but you'll be
in my prayers.


Raven

[B1rd_Po0p]

Originally posted by RavenBlade
I know what it's like to have the illness, I still suffer from it, damn lousy brain of mine, but I don't see what's so funny about someone suffering from this debilitating illness. Was it his eye that made you laugh?

I hate how mental illness still has a stigma attached to it when so many of us have to deal with fucked-up brain chemistry AND have to try to hide it and 'blend' in with 'normal' society. People who don't know what it's like can't even begin to understand. (I have bipolar disorder and until I got the right mix of meds my life was hell - and it was even worse trying to cope with people who didn't have a fucking clue.) It has got to be even worse for a high profile person to have to deal with it because when they break everybody knows about it... And people laugh. That is tragic.

[jeo4]

I hope this young man gets the counseling, medical treatment and relief he needs. It's obvious he is struggling.

[DoCk]

the fucked up part is that he has damaged himself for life and is it just me or does it not look like this guy is in pain in the pic?????

[DRbeauty]

Originally posted by B1rd_Po0p
Ok, I waited until I was home from work to look at the photo and holy cow --- that looks PAINFUL. He'll be lucky if he doesn't lose his sight in that eye - if he hasn't already...


There's no way he'll be able to see out of that eye, I'm sure they'll have to remove it anyways. He could die from the infection that has caused him. I've seen people lose their eyes from less then that so my heart goes out to this guy because for once this wasn't a drug induced mania.

[DoCk]

"The night of the incident, we had dinner at the hotel," Powell recalled. "After dinner, he went to his room to read the Bible. He is an avid reader of the Bible. After I finished eating, I went upstairs to check on him and I noticed blood on the floor. Houston usually has really bad nose bleeds. So I asked him, 'Are you OK? Is your nose bleeding?' He said, 'Yeah, my nose is bleeding but I'm cool. I will see you in the morning. I can't wait to get back to L.A. with my family.' He was lying on the bed with a towel over his face, so something told me it was more than [just a nose bleed]. So I walked into the room to talk to him, I pulled the towel off of his face, and that's when I saw that he had gouged his eye out.

"He showed no pain and he had no remorse," Powell added. "He said he had to do it. He said that that had freed him from everything. He was happy after that. He said he was changed and was ready to go. That symbolic statement basically freed him from all the pain he was in. He feels like he is closer to God now."

Billie Summers, Houston's sister, also says the suicide rumors are untrue.

"Houston is a Christian and he does know that if he attempted anything like that he'd be doomed," Summers said. "His managers, Reno Rankin and Andrew Rowe of On Point Productions, are no longer his managers, so they are trying to slander his name. While Houston was on the road, their contract [with him] ended and there were rumors that they were going to try and slander my brother's name. I believe they're the ones calling up the radio stations, MTV and BET and giving false info."

However, On Point's Rankin and Rowe offer a different portrait of the singer.

"Houston has a sickness," Rowe said. "There's nothing to hide. He needs to be treated so he doesn't harm himself worse than he did, or someone else."

According to Rankin, he, Rowe and a Capitol Records representative took Houston to a psychiatrist themselves while the family remained in denial. They say the singer was even treated at UCLA Medical Center prior to his trip overseas.

"In September Houston was hospitalized," Rowe said. "We had to cancel everything from October to the end of the year. He was diagnosed as schizophrenic. He was supposed to be in treatment and on medication, but we had clearance by the family and doctors to work half the time.

"He was out of control, just doing things that were off the wall — things that normal people don't do," Rowe added. "So when he went to London, we were told he blew it on the Choice FM Awards and that he was starting to regress. He was carry a Bible around and just doing things that just weren't normal."

The On Point duo said Houston's actions made them worried about sending him overseas. "Houston wanted to work like any other artist because there was money on the table," Rowe recalled, "but there was concern, and that's why I requested a doctor's note."

"Capitol was requesting him on the road to do promo over in London," Rankin said. "So Houston's family sent us a doctor's note, stating that Houston was able to work, and we took the note and faxed it over to Capitol."

While Rankin and Rowe are not sure if a lack of medication is what caused the incident, they say things quickly took a turn for the worse.

"They finally got to Dubai [in the United Arab Emirates], barely, and that's where he got real bad," Rowe said. "[Houston] wanted to hurt himself bad and he was on the brink. When he got back to England was when I finally got the call that he stabbed himself in the eye. He was so off guard that he was trying to kill himself."

Summers acknowledged that her brother was injured while overseas but called it "an accident." "He is all right and in good spirits," she said. "He's not depressed, on any medications or under any psychiatric care. He was just in surgery and he will be coming home soon, in a day or two. Everything is well."

She said he's in Los Angeles now and that she doesn't know the details of the accident.

"We haven't mentioned anything to Houston, but we're going to talk to him about what exactly happened," Summers said. "Houston would never inflict any harm on himself. He was under a lot of spiritual stress, and a lot of that pressure, I believe, came from the music industry.

"I just want everyone to pray for him. He is going through trying times. ... This is the last thing he needs," she added.

Meanwhile, Rankin and Rowe said they haven't had any direct contact with their former client since he returned to the States.

"We decided that we didn't want to continue," Rowe said. "We feel like our contract could have been extended, but that's not important. The kid needs help more than anything else. His health is our biggest concern."

The two said they're also concerned with how Houston's finances are being managed.

"We have a serious problem with the way the family is handling this kid's situation," Rowe said. "There's no reason for this kid to have no money. They passed on a publishing deal that could have helped him out right now. They got involved and we tried everything [we could], but at the end of the day, Houston was loyal to his mom. I don't have a problem with that, but they are not capable of handling a kid like that. The kid was a star. He had a great opportunity laid out, so he should have had proper housing and a nice car."

"The kid still lives where he lives when we met him — in a two-bedroom apartment with four other people," Rankin said. "They spent all the kid's money."

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1496566/20050203/houston_rap.jhtml?headlines=true

[B1rd_Po0p]

... His family isn't doing him any favors at ALL... what a shame. Thanks DoCk.

[James Logan]

Originally posted by B1rd_Po0p
... His family isn't doing him any favors at ALL... what a shame.

Got a point. The poor dude's got hell ahead of him if all people care about is his reputation.

[DRbeauty]

His family is sad. These are the kind of people that used to try to exorcise schizophrenics because they thought they were possessed. You know there are such things as mental illnesses dumbasses. I feel really sorry for him now. I hope he gets the help he needs despite his ignorant family members

[Tweek]

Summers acknowledged that her brother was injured while overseas but called it "an accident."


GRRR!!

[Strider]

Fucking hell! That was a disturbing picture.... :eek:

I feel very sorry for this guy. I hope he gets the help he requires.

Strider

[KLash]

Ouch...talk about the cringe factor in that picture!

He must be very depressed to be able to do that to himself :(

[Bullet Tooth Tony]

I'm not a fan o R&B and I had to struggle to remember what songs he had done that being said. This whole story is sad and very bizzare with his family in denial about how sick he really is. A sad, sad story and he needs help and support at the moment...something his family arent providing.