Brandy Says It Was Hard to Accept Whitney Houston's Death and 'Placed a Lot of Blame' on Others

Brandy is reflecting on life after losing Whitney Houston.

In the foreword of journalist Gerrick Kennedy's new book, Didn't We Almost Have It All: In Defense of Whitney Houston, the 42-year-old Grammy winner opened up about the painful process of grieving her idol, who died nearly a decade ago.

"It's natural for people to want to place blame. I placed a lot of blame on a lot of people too, when it came to Whitney," Brandy wrote. "We loved her so much and needed something or someone to attach blame to because it was so hard to accept that she was gone."

On Feb. 11, 2012, Houston died at 48 after drowning in a hotel bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The Los Angeles County coroner's office confirmed her cause of death was due to accidental drowning, and drugs were found in her system at the time.

Looking back, Brandy said she'll always remember Houston with love and respect.

"We don't really have the right to speak on anything that she had to go through in her life," she wrote. "No one knows what she was running from. No one knows what she was trying to overcome. No one knows the costs that came with being Whitney Houston. That level of fame, that level of expectation, that level of pressure."

"Whitney's voice could bring you closer to God," she wrote in part. "She has inspired generations of little girls all over the world to sing from their hearts and guts. That was her magic, and that's her legacy. And we'll never see another Whitney Houston."

Throughout the years, Brandy has been forthcoming about her admiration for Houston. The "Boy Is Mine" singer previously collaborated with her idol on the 1997 movie musical Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, in which Brandy was cast in the title role, while Houston co-produced and played the part of the Fairy Godmother.

"My childhood dreams were to be a singer, touch as many people as I could and to meet Whitney Houston, just meet her," Brandy told PEOPLE in August 2020.

"So to meet her, hang out with her and sing with her," she added, "it was unbelievable. For her to cast me in such a role, the first Black princess, I don't know the words to really describe what that feels like."

Over the weekend, the star paid homage to the "I Will Always Love You" singer with style. At the NFC Championship game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on Sunday, Brandy performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" in a red, white and black Prada tracksuit, appearing to channel the late Houston's sporty attire from her iconic 1991 Super Bowl performance.