Jordin Sparks had the daunting task of singing the Whitney Houston classic "I Will Always Love You" at the Billboard Awards -- and she told us that she got two thumbs up on her performance from the people who really matter ... Whitney's family. 

Sparks told our photog she got a chance to talk to Whitney's daughter, Bobbi Kristina, and sister-in-law, Pat Houston, after the tribute in Las Vegas on May 20. Sparks said it was the first time she met Bobbi and Pat, both of whom told Sparks her performance was epic

The former "American Idol" champ also says she's gotten great feedback on her duet with Whitney from the upcoming movie "Sparkle."

And best of all ... she gave our a photog a little XYZ moment as she walked away. 

Tyler Perry is calling BS on reports Whitney Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina walked off the set of his TV show "For Better Or Worse" -- claiming the rumors are "not true at all."

Bobbi Kristina has a small recurring role on the show -- but reports have been circulating she called it quits before wrapping the season, storming off the set in tears. 

Now Tyler -- the creator of the show -- has taken to his website to dispel the rumors, writing, "There is no way that she could have walked off the set because we have finished taping the season."

Tyler writes, "Were there tough days for her? Yes of course. Not because of the acting or any job-related issues but because of the fact that she had just lost her mother."

He adds, "So yes she was grieving, but grief aside, she managed to finish her obligation and did a great job at the same time."

How convenient ... just hours before TMZ posted a story about a stylist suing Ray J over designer clothes that went missing from Whitney Houston's death room in February, the singer found them.

We posted it a few hours ago -- Ray J's being sued by an L.A. stylist named Marc Littlejohn, who claims he gave Ray J $2,880 in designer threads for a Grammy event ... and they were never returned. According to the lawsuit, they were left in the Beverly Hilton hotel room where Whitney died and haven't been seen since.

But now Ray J's rep tells TMZ the mystery was solved last night when one of Whitney's associates handed the clothes over to the singer. Sources tell us the items were taken from Whitney's room along with the rest of her belongings. We're told Whit's people couldn't get in touch with Ray J because he changed his phone number.

The pricey fabrics include two suits and one jacket.


We're told Ray will be reaching out to the stylist today to settle the pesky legal matter.

When Whitney Houston died, a little bit of Ray J went with her -- well, Ray J's clothing anyway ... and now he's being sued for the expensive items that mysteriously disappeared from room 434 at the Beverly Hilton.

In recently filed legal docs, L.A. Stylist Marc Littlejohn claims he was hired to do Ray J's wardrobe styling on February 10 for a Grammy related event ... problem is, he alleges all the duds he let the singer borrow were left in Whitney Houston's room.

Houston died the next day in that room and, according to the lawsuit ... the pricey clothes haven't been seen since.

Now Littlejohn is suing Ray J for $2,880 -- the cost of the missing clothes -- insisting he's reached out to both the singer and his mother/manager repeatedly to get some cash or the threads.

So far, he has neither.

Ray J crashed and burned the morning after the Billboard Music Awards ... and landed in the hospital ... TMZ has learned.

We're told Ray J was extremely upset after his confrontation with Whitney Houston's family -- notably Pat Houston -- during the awards ceremony. On Monday morning, someone went into Ray J's hotel room and realized the singer was "out of it" and couldn't get out of bed.

We're told Ray J was extremely disoriented and was immediately taken to the hospital by ambulance.

As for what happened ... it's looking like a combo of exhaustion and dehydration. Ray J had just returned from a quick, 32-hour round trip to China for business and when he landed he immediately drove 4 hours to Las Vegas for the awards show.

Ray J is still in the hospital. No word on when he'll be released.

The VERY last song Whitney Houston ever recorded has finally been released ... a duet with Jordin Sparks ... which Whitney performed just 4 days before her death.

The song is called "Celebrate" -- from her upcoming movie "Sparkle" in which she plays Jordin's mother.

After Whitney died, officials found evidence of hardcore drug use in her hotel room and in her system ... but producer Harvey Mason Jr. didn't seem to think her addiction had an affect on the quality of her performance.

Mason Jr. told People.com, Houston was "really positive" during the recording ... saying, "We ended the session dancing around the control room while she said 'Turn it up! Turn it up!' She was so fun-loving."

The movie is scheduled to be released in August.

Ray J was almost physically removed from the Billboard Music Awards last night after angry members of Whitney Houston's family ordered their security to get him away from them ... TMZ has learned.

Pat Houston's blood was boiling because she, Bobbi Kristina and other family members were seated next to Ray J, the person Pat believes was a very bad influence on Whitney. Minutes before the tribute to Whitney, Pat asked her security to remove Ray J from his seat, but he refused to budge.

Our sources say ... Pat's security summoned hotel security, along with several uniformed officers to physically remove Ray J. 

Just before push was about to come to shove, security warned Pat that things would likely get physical and it would almost certainly be caught on video, just as Whitney was about to be honored.  Sources say Pat then grudgingly recanted and Ray J kept his seat.

For his part, Ray J groused to friends, "Pat ruined what was a great opportunity to honor the woman who I loved."



11:40 AM PDT -- A rep for the Houston family tells TMZ ... Pat's assistant DID ask for Ray J to be moved from his seat ... but only after an official from Billboard told the family they needed to move to the seat that Ray J was already using.

Since Ray J had a ticket with the proper seat number, he refused to budge ... so Pat's assistant called for security to help sort out the situation.

The Houston family rep insists Pat does not have a problem with Ray J.

Whitney Houston's sister-in-law -- Pat Houston -- is waging war against Bobbi Kristina because she desperately wants to accept Whitney's Billboard Music Award on her behalf ... and only BK is standing in her way.

Sources closes to the situation tell TMZ ... Pat is trying to force herself into the spotlight by accepting Whitney's Millenium Award at the ceremony in Las Vegas tonight ... and producers of the show are pissed.

We're told the show really wants BK to accept the award and make the speech on the late singer's behalf ... but Pat won't stand for it and is making life hell for them as she tries to worm her way into the segment.

Sources tell us ... the show's producers feel BK is the best choice to represent Whitney's legacy and they're convinced Pat is simply exploiting the situation to get publicity for her upcoming reality show.

Bobby Brown has debuted a new song he wrote about life since Whitney Houston's death ... in which Bobby admits he "messed up pretty bad" and begs his late ex-wife ... "Don't let me die."

An emotional Brown -- sporting sunglasses and leather pants -- performed the song on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" ... featuring the lyrics, "I didn’t realize that every breath I took was from you ... You were my air.”

Brown also sings,"I guess I messed up pretty bad ... I didn’t know who you were ... I didn’t know what we had. Now I’m stuck living in the past ... trying to get the pieces back ... but I guess now you’re gone."

Brown is releasing the song on his new album, which drops in June ... just 4 months after Whitney died.

One of Whitney Houston's close friends -- a mysterious man who's been widely accused of supplying the singer with coke before her death -- is declaring war on media outlets that ran with the drug story ... and now, he's on a crusade to clear his name.

The friend -- an enigmatic celebrity sidekick named Raffles van Exel -- tells us, he is "neither the architect nor the culprit of the sudden demise of Whitney Houston."

Raffles was with Whitney in the hours before she died at the Beverly Hilton hotel in February -- and there were widespread reports strongly insinuating he was the singer's secret cocaine supplier.

There were other reports suggesting Van Exel was also the one who snapped the infamous picture of Whitney's body in a coffin ... and sold it to a tabloid newspaper.

But for the first time ever, Van Exel is adamantly denying all the reports -- and has begun taking aggressive legal steps to save his reputation.

Van Exel has started firing off cease and desist letters to media outlets reporting any nefarious connection between him and Whitney's death -- demanding full retractions asap ... or else.

Van Exel -- who describes himself as a "private consultant to the stars" -- has also been linked to Michael Jackson around the time of the singer's 2005 molestation trial, as well as jazz legend George Benson.

No one really knows who he is or what he does.

If Bobby Brown didn't sound too supportive of Bobbi Kristina doing a reality show with Whitney's family ... it's because Bobby wanted his daughter on his upcoming reality show ... sources close to BB tell TMZ. 

According to our sources, Bobby has no problem with Bobbi K doing a reality show ... and he has been trying to get her to appear on his show for months. But our sources say that was NEVER going to happen. 

We're told Bobbi K has cut off all lines of communication with Bobby, so he's been calling Pat Houston (Whitney's sister-in-law/manager) in an effort to reach out to Bobbi. Our sources say Bobbi never even considered doing her father's show and the rest of the family feels Bobby was only trying to use her to make his upcoming show more marketable.

Our sources say Bobby found out about the Houston family show yesterday like everyone else did.