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Whitney Houston Funeral Live

February 18, 2012 by · Comments Off on Whitney Houston Funeral Live 

Whitney Houston Funeral Live, Whitney Houston, one of the world’s biggest music artists who died last Saturday at age 48, is set to be remembered today at New Hope Baptist Church in her hometown of Newark, New Jersey today at 12pm EST. Daughter Bobbi Kristina, ex-husband Bobby Brown and around 1,500 other members of her family and friends are expected to attend the private funeral service today.

“The Bodyguard” co-star Kevin Costner and longtime producer Clive Davis are also set to speak at the funeral, as well as Aretha Franklin, CeCe Winans and Stevie Wonder, who will sing.

TMZ posted photographs of daughter Bobbi Kristina, who was with Houston in Los Angeles when she died, arriving in New Jersey last night. Outside of New Hope Baptist Church, fans have been laying down balloons, flowers, cards and other commemorative material. The streets surrounding the church have also been been shut down to the public for the service.

Houston is set to be buried next to father John Houston, in Westfield, New Jersey. The hearse carrying Houston’s casket was seen departing from Whigham Funeral Home for the church Saturday morning at around 10am.

Whitney Houston Funeral Televised Time

February 18, 2012 by · Comments Off on Whitney Houston Funeral Televised Time 

Whitney Houston Funeral Televised Time, A close friend of Whitney Houston’s family may have said it best: They would have loved her, even if she couldn’t sing.

But how she could sing. Houston, the six-time Grammy Award winner and only artist to consecutively chart seven No. 1 hits, will be remembered Saturday in the Newark, New Jersey, church where she performed as a child in front of her family and community.

In addition to her family, those expected to celebrate Houston’s life at New Hope Baptist Church will include entertainment mogul Tyler Perry; “The Queen of Soul,” Aretha Franklin; Grammy Award winner Stevie Wonder; and Academy Award winner Kevin Costner.

The fact that Houston’s funeral will bring a coterie of “A-listers” together is hardly surprising. After all, she had worked for nearly 30 years with the best in the business.

But it isn’t her fame that will be most celebrated at the invitation-only funeral beginning at noon, said family friend and Pastor Marvin Winans.

Instead, the message to the 1,500 mourners expected to fill the red-brick church — and the millions more watching on television or online — will be reminiscent of words from Paul the Apostle.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

For a few hours Saturday, the story won’t be about Houston’s reported drinking days before she died or about the prescription pills being tested as investigators seek a cause of her still-unexplained death a week ago at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.

In Newark, 2,700 miles away from Los Angeles, they will remember the 11-year-old girl nicknamed “Nippy,” who followed in the footsteps of her mother, Cissy, by singing in the junior gospel choir. They will remember Houston the superstar, returning for Easter Sunday services, never losing her roots after making it big.

They will remember, through tears and joy, that incredible voice.

Houston’s family will be comforted by neighbors and fellow church members in what the family is calling a “home going” service, according to the funeral invitation that features a photo of a smiling Houston.

Whitney Houston Funeral Televised

February 17, 2012 by · Comments Off on Whitney Houston Funeral Televised 

Whitney Houston Funeral Televised, As preparations continue for what’s expected to be a star-studded funeral for Whitney Houston, New Jersey police have urged fans to stay away from the private service.

On Thursday, Newark police said that six square blocks around the New Hope Baptist Church, where Houston began singing as a child, would be cordoned off on Saturday and that fans would not be allowed in.

Newark police director Samuel DeMaio advised fans to stay home to watch the funeral, which will be broadcast on TV and streamed online. He also said there would be no procession from Newark’s Whigham Funeral Home, where Houston’s body is resting, to the church.

However, as of Friday morning, fans and media had already gathered outside the church.

In New Jersey, devotees have left flowers, photos, messages and other tribute items to the singer at the church, the funeral home and the school renamed for Houston. Fans have appealed for a public memorial where they can also unite to grieve the singer.

The singer’s final resting place will be next to her father, John Russell Houston Jr., at the Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, N.J. following Saturday’s funeral, a source close to the family told The Associated Press.

Whitney Houston Funeral

February 13, 2012 by · Comments Off on Whitney Houston Funeral 

Whitney Houston Funeral, Though her fans and family are still reeling from the shock of Whitney Houston’s sudden death, the wheels are already in motion to make sure the singer can rest, and quickly, in peace.

Funeral plans are reportedly already under way for the legendary Grammy winner, and a service is expected to take place later this week in Newark, N.J.

According to NBC New York, Houston’s body, which has reportedly already left the morgue and is being handed over to the care of her family, will be flown back East as early as tonight.
Though early speculation centered around Houston’s funeral taking place in the Atlanta-area church at which Whitney was active over the years, according to the network affiliate the 48-year-old will actually be buried by the Whigham Funeral Home in New Jersey.

The location choice, if indeed it proves true, is hardly surprising as Houston was born in Newark and got her start singing in the city’s New Hope Baptist Church, where her mother Cissy Houston served as musical director and cousin Dionne Warwick also sang.

So far, the family hasn’t commented on any funeral plans, though this morning the Los Angeles County Coroner said that arrangements were being made to hand over the body so that a memorial could take place.

Meanwhile, the Beverly Hills Police Department also held another press conference this morning to seek to clarify some of the erroneous reports about Whitney’s death.

Lt. Mark Rosen ran through the facts of the case so far, confirming she was found underwater and unconscious in the hotel bathtub at the Beverly Hills Hilton at roughly 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

She was found and pulled from the tub by a member of her staff; no foul play is suspected and there were no signs of trauma on the singer’s body.

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