Celebs Speak at Whitney's Funeral

Houston's service taking place in New Jersey, being live-streamed
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 18, 2012 9:15 AM CST
Updated Feb 18, 2012 3:20 PM CST
Whitney Houston Fans Gather for Funeral
A coffin holding the remains of singer Whitney Houston is carried into the New Hope Baptist Church.   (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

Celebrities are flocking to Whitney Houston's funeral service today in New Jersey, where Houston's cousin Dionne Warwick is presiding, MSNBC reports. (It's being streamed here.) Among the remarks made by America's entertainers:

  • Tyler Perry spoke about a constant in Houston's life: a "grace that kept on carrying her all the way through, the same grace led her all the way to the top of the charts. She sang for presidents."

  • Kevin Costner recalled a co-star in The Bodyguard who "still wondered, 'am I good enough? Am I pretty enough? Will they like me?'" Uncertainty about her fame "was the burden that made her great and the part that caused her to stumble in the end."
  • Gospel singer BeBe Winans remembered Houston's "craziness"—and the day she offered at the top of her fame to sing services to him, saying, "Y'all are broke, right?"
Houston's daughter, Bobbi Kristina, held up Houston's mother Cissy in the front row. At the end, when Houston's casket was carried out, "I Will Always Love You" played over the speakers. Bobbi Kristina sobbed and Houston's mother cried out: "My baby!" (More Whitney Houston stories.)

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