LOS ANGELES, Feb 13: As fans await autopsy results that may not come for weeks, speculation raged on Monday that pop legend Whitney Houston may have died from a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs and alcohol.

Houston, who possessed one of the greatest ever voices and sold more than 170 million albums, singles and videos, fought a long and public battle with substance abuse after her career and personal life went off the rails.

She was found dead on Saturday afternoon, at the age of just 48, in her bath tub in a luxury suite of the Beverly Hilton hotel as preparations were under way for the Grammy Awards, the highlight of the music industry calendar.

An autopsy on her body was completed on Sunday but the toxicology probe is said to be ongoing and a “security hold” has been placed on its results, which officials say may not be released for six to eight weeks.

Houston's body will be released to her family in the coming days, assistant chief coroner for Los Angeles County Ed Winter told reporters, refusing to speculate on any initial indications found in the star's blood or urine.

Family sources told CNN that Houston's body was to be flown to her native New Jersey for a funeral expected to be held on either Friday or Saturday.

Asked several times if coroners knew the cause of death but were just withholding it from the public, Winter said there might be “a suspicion” of the cause but that everyone must wait for official results to be released.

“You can look at a body and not know what the cause of death is. You might have a suspicion. But the person could have suffered a heart attack or an embolism or something,” he explained.

Celebrity website TMZ said it had learnt from unnamed “family sources” that the singer died from a lethal combination of Xanax and other prescription drugs, mixed with alcohol.

TMZ said the source had revealed that there was not enough water in the singer's lungs to show drowning as the cause of death — as had first been rumored — and that she had died before being submerged in the water.

A friend who saw Houston on Thursday, two days before her death, told CNN that the superstar seemed “upbeat and joyful” and not apparently under the influence of drugs.

But the Los Angeles Times reported that Houston had behaved erratically during an appearance on Thursday at a rehearsal for a Grammy Awards party.

Though she greeted people with a warm smile, she appeared dishevelled, with mismatched clothes and dripping-wet hair, the newspaper said.

According to the report, the singer flailed her hands frenetically as she spoke, skipped around the ballroom in a childlike fashion and wandered aimlessly about the lobby.

In a 2009 interview with TV talk show hostess Oprah Winfrey, Houston blamed the emotionally abusive and jealous ex-husband Bobby Brown for many of her problems, admitted that she laced her marijuana with rock cocaine, and revealed that she'd spent time in rehab.

Houston's death, on the eve of the annual star-studded Grammy Awards, where she had been set to appear, led to a grief-stricken outpouring from fans and fellow icons alike.

Grammy host LL Cool J said at the start: “We've had a death in our family.”

Singer Jennifer Hudson — who was presented with a Grammy by Houston in 2009 — gripped the audience in silence with a classy rendition of “I Will Always Love You,” the smash hit from Houston's film “The Bodyguard.”

Contemporary singing star Beyonce issued a statement late Sunday describing Houston as “the ultimate legend” and “the ultimate woman”.

“Not only was she confident, poised, stunningly beautiful and intelligent, but she was sincere and kind,” she said in a statement to MTV News. “She took the time to make everyone feel like they were very important to her.”

Sales of Houston's records have soared after her sudden death, with “I Will Always Love You” the top seller on iTunes and her songs appearing 42 times on iTunes Top 200.

On the Amazon charts on Monday, Houston occupied 10 spots in the top 20 album chart.

Houston's family issued a statement before the Grammy show, saying: “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Whitney. This is an unimaginable tragedy and we will miss her terribly.”

Her cousin, singer Dionne Warwick, postponed her Valentine's Day show in Pennsylvania.—AFP