Amber Riley - Amber Riley Thrilled To Be Paying Tribute To Whitney Houston On Glee

The young star, who met Houston for the first time last week (ends10Feb12) - just days before her death, will sing her biggest hit I Will Always Love You on the show.

She says, "(Creator) Ryan Murphy had been trying to push me to sing it for such a long time and it's such a song that's close to my heart and it's very challenging, vocally, and he said he wanted it in this Valentine's Day (14Feb12) episode and I went for it and it's very befitting that we're doing it this Tuesday.

"We were celebrating her in life when we recorded it and now that she's died, we're celebrating her passing and her legacy."

And Riley tells E! she's refusing to pay attention to gossip suggesting her idol was spiralling out of control in the days leading up to her death on Saturday (11Feb12).

The former TV talent show star says, "She was very, very sweet to me and I can only see her as the beautiful person that I watched on television... and I'm glad that's the memory that I'm gonna hold for the rest of my life."

Riley insists rumours that there will be a spoken tribute to Houston during the upcoming episode of Glee are just that.

She adds, "As far as I know the episode is going to be as it stands."