Elton: I could have ended up like Whitney

LOS ANGELES, March 29 (UPI) -- British pop star Elton John says he could have "ended up like Whitney Houston" if he hadn't kicked his drug habit in 1990.

Houston drowned Feb. 11 in a hotel bathtub after using cocaine. She was 48.

"I could have so easily ended up like Whitney Houston," John told E! News Thursday.

"It's a miracle I didn't," the 65-year-old singer said. "Because I'm sure I did as much cocaine as she ever did."

John chalked his recovery up to the willpower to take back his life.

"I would not be the person I am today [if I hadn't]," he said. "I wouldn't have [my son] Zachary, [my husband] David [Furnish]. I wouldn't have anything. I'd probably be dead."