Stars, family and friends gather to mourn Whitney Houston
- 12 years ago
Stars, family and friends gather to mourn Whitney Houston at her funeral Saturday, a week after the sudden death of the singer whose spectacular voice made her one of biggest pop stars of her era.
Guests crowded into pews at the invitation-only service at the New Hope Baptist Church in a modest neighborhood in her native Newark, New Jersey.
Houston's cousin Dionne Warwick.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) DIONNE WARWICK SAYING:
"Don't grieve for me for me for now I am free. I am following the path God laid for me. I took his hand when I heard him call. I turned my back and left it all."
Her co-star Kevin Costner spoke about the Whitney he knew
(SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR KEVIN COSTNER SAYING:
"The Whitney I knew, despite her fame and despite her success wondered am I good enough? Am I pretty enough? Will they like me? It was the burden that made her great and the part that caused her stumble. Whitney, if you could hear me now, I'd tell you weren't just good enough. You were great. "
Musician Stevie Wonder also paid tribute to Houston.
Houston died in a Beverly Hills hotel room last week. She was found underwater in a hotel bathtub on the eve of the music industry's Grammy Awards.
Houston was among the greatest singers of the 1980s and 1990s, but her personal life and marriage to singer Bobby Brown was tumultuous. She admitted to heavy use of cocaine, marijuana, alcohol and prescription pills.
The cause of her death has yet to be determined.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters
Guests crowded into pews at the invitation-only service at the New Hope Baptist Church in a modest neighborhood in her native Newark, New Jersey.
Houston's cousin Dionne Warwick.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) DIONNE WARWICK SAYING:
"Don't grieve for me for me for now I am free. I am following the path God laid for me. I took his hand when I heard him call. I turned my back and left it all."
Her co-star Kevin Costner spoke about the Whitney he knew
(SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR KEVIN COSTNER SAYING:
"The Whitney I knew, despite her fame and despite her success wondered am I good enough? Am I pretty enough? Will they like me? It was the burden that made her great and the part that caused her stumble. Whitney, if you could hear me now, I'd tell you weren't just good enough. You were great. "
Musician Stevie Wonder also paid tribute to Houston.
Houston died in a Beverly Hills hotel room last week. She was found underwater in a hotel bathtub on the eve of the music industry's Grammy Awards.
Houston was among the greatest singers of the 1980s and 1990s, but her personal life and marriage to singer Bobby Brown was tumultuous. She admitted to heavy use of cocaine, marijuana, alcohol and prescription pills.
The cause of her death has yet to be determined.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters