Larry Busacca/Getty Images; The Grammy folks are tearing up the script to Sunday's show in the wake of Whitney Houston's shocking death Saturday.
The show's producers confirmed to E! News that Jennifer Hudson will be leading a musical tribute to Houston, a six-time Grammy winner.
According to Ken Ehrlich, the show's executive producer, the plan is to honor Whitney's life with a "respectful musical tribute."
"It's too fresh in everyone's memory to do more at this time, but we would be remiss if we didn't recognize Whitney's remarkable contribution to music fans in general, and in particular her close ties with the Grammy telecast and her Grammy wins and nominations over the years," he said.
Recording Academy President Neil Portnow told me that Houston's death galvanized the entire organization and sent them scrambling to do something appropriate.
"Whitney was a friend. I worked with Clive [Davis, Houston's longtime mentor and producer] in the beginning, and we put her album out when she was 19...There's only one Whitney Houston, and we'll miss her terribly.
"The Grammys because of the size of the production and all the elements, it's a difficult show like the Titanic to move in the 11th hour," he said.
He said he has the "A-team" to work it out. "We're in the process of deciding creatively what might be approporiate, and what we can do tomorrow. Certainly she will be in our hearts."
Indeed.
(Originally published Feb. 11, 2012, at 10:07 p.m. PT)