Last fall, Vibe magazine teased a profile on breakout R&B star Houston with the headline "All Eyes on Me."
This week, all eyes are indeed on Houston, and they're there because of an eye--the one the singer's bodyguard found "hanging out."
There were conflicting accounts as to how Houston seriously injured an eye while in London for a concert.
MTV.com initially reported Houston gouged out the eye following a thwarted suicide swoon from his hotel room window. A statement from his publicist said the injury occurred during a presumed metaphorical "spiritual battle against the evil that runs rampant in the entertainment industry." And Houston's sister referred to the incident as "an accident."
All parties seemed to agree Houston is recuperating back in his native Los Angeles. The state of the injured eye was not known.
Capitol Records, which released Houston's debut album, It's Already Written, last August, said its "thoughts and prayers are with Houston during this tragic time."
In a press release, Houston's camp said the Usher-style singer, a devout Christian, was "constantly at odds with the temptations that come with success in the music business."
While the statement denied the suicide attempt, it confirmed the eye-gouging, quoting bodyguard Marco Powell as saying he found Houston lying on his hotel-room bed with a towel over his face.
"I removed the towel to find his eye hanging out. He said he had to get the devil off of his back and that's the only way he could kill the devil," Powell said in the statement.
To MTV.com, Powell said Houston had earlier tried to explain away the blood on the floor of his hotel room as the product of a nosebleed.
The bodyguard told the Website that Powell did not appear to be in pain after the gouging, and actually seemed relieved. He likewise denied his employer was suicidal, saying he dined with him at the hotel the night of the gouging and that Houston retired to his room to read the Bible.
Billie Summers, sister of the entertainer formally known as Houston Summers IV, acknowledged to MTV.com that Houston has been under a lot of "spiritual stress," but refuted the notion he had tried to kill or intentionally harm himself. On the Website, she called the eye gouging "an accident."
"He is all right and in good spirits," Summers told MTV.com. "He's not depressed, on any medications or under any psychiatric care."
Summers mentioned her brother had undergone surgery, and noted "everything is well."
Houston made his name last year with the hit, "I Like That," featuring contributions from Chingy, Nate Dogg and I-20. Boosting its cash-register appeal, the song was featured in a McDonald's TV commercial.
"It's been a while since I've heard anyone from the West with his kind of talent," Nate Dogg told Vibe last year.
In the statement from his publicist, Houston promised he'd be back with more hits.
"I still love all my fans," Houston said. "Please pray for me."