Music News
Whitney Houston's life is celebrated
Saturday 18 February 2012
The deeply moving ceremony celebrating the singer's life and faith featured stunning gospel music and solo performances.
Stevie Wonder and Alicia Keys sang at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark where Whitney Houston sang as a child in the choir with her mother Cissy.
Among those who paid tribute to the singer were cousin Dionne Warwick, actor-director Tyler Perry and Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard co-star Kevin Costner.
In his powerful and crafted eulogy, Costner said: "Whitney, if you could hear me now, I would tell you, you weren't just good enough, you were great. You made The Bodyguard the picture that it was. A lot of leading men could have filled my part. But Whitney, you're the only one who I believed could have played [the character of] Rachel Marron at that time. I was your pretend-bodyguard once long ago, and now you're gone too soon."
Visit our Whitney Houston tribute gallery: http://www.rte.ie/ten/2012/0212/whitneyhouston.html.
Whitney Houston's sister-in-law and manager, Patricia Houston, said: "Even when she was tired and a bit lost, she gave and gave, and then gave some more. When she didn't want to do things, she did it anyway, and we are so much better because of it."
Whitney Houston's mentor, record producer Clive Davis, also spoke of her brilliance and radiance, as did her personal bodyguard, Ray Watson.
Davis said: "I loved her very much. Whitney was purely and simply one of a kind. Yes, she admitted to crises in her life. Yes, she confessed to Oprah about her searing battles. But when I needed her, she was there for me. An eternally loyal friend."
The service ended with the recording of Whitney Houston's rendition of I Will Always Love You being played in the church.
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