Jennifer Lopez: 'Whitney Houston was a voice of our time' - video

Jennifer Lopez has paid tribute to the late Whitney Houston, describing her as one of the greatest voices of all time.

Houston passed away on Saturday, February 11 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles just hours before she had been scheduled to attend mentor Clive Davis's pre-Grammys party at the venue.

During an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Monday, Lopez said: "I met her a couple of times and obviously when I heard the news I was as shocked and devastated as everybody else."

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Lopez added: "She was such a big part of me growing up and musically everything I knew. She was kind of the pinnacle of a voice of our time and our generation. It's just so sad.

"I couldn't believe it. I was in my living room and was on the phone with my manager. We'd just hung up and he called back one second later... I hate talking about it, it's sad."

The American Idol judge was one of the numerous stars to pay tribute to Houston via Twitter after news of her death broke, writing: "Such a loss. One of the greatest voices of our time. Sending out prayers to her family... #R.I.P.Whitney. (sic)"

Recent reports have speculated that a public memorial for Houston could take place at the Newark Prudential Centre on Friday (February 17), with a private memorial scheduled for the day before.

Watch Jennifer Lopez talking about Whitney Houston below: