Whitney Houston to be laid to rest Saturday
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E-mail Xinhua, February 16, 2012
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A fan holds a picture of Whitney Huston during a candlelight vigil in memory of Whitney Houston in Leimert Park in Los Angeles, the United States, on Feb. 13, 2012. Pop icon Whitney Houston was found "underwater and apparently unconscious" in the bathtub of her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton on Feb. 11. |
A private funeral for Whitney Houston will be held on Saturday at a New Jersey church in her hometown of Newark, where the pop diva honed her singing skills on her way up to stardom, according to media report on Wednesday.
The invitation-only service will be held at noon at the New Hope Baptist Church, where Houston once sang gospel in the choir growing up, a family spokeswoman said.
Gospel singer Marvin Winans, a Grammy Award winner and longtime family friend, has been chosen to give the eulogy.
Houston, 48, was found dead underwater in a bathtub in a Beverly Hills hotel, according to police. An autopsy was completed and authorities said there were no indications of foul play and no obvious signs of trauma on Houston.
A final death report is pending completion of an official investigation and toxicology reports that may take weeks.
The R&B vocalist's death shocked the music world, her fans and her family.
Dozens of fans lit candles to greet the hearse carrying the beloved singer's body flown to New Jersey on Monday night from Los Angeles.
Houston, a sensation from her first album, was one of the world's best-selling artists from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, winning six Grammys and more than 400 other awards in a 25-year career.
She turned out such hits as "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," ''How Will I Know," ''The Greatest Love of All" and "I Will Always Love You."
Her powerful and majestic voice was later marred by battles with cocaine and alcohol and she couldn't hit the high notes.
Houston left behind one child, 18-year-old daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, from her marriage to singer Bobby Brown.
Internet sales of Houston's songs have surged following her death. "I Will Always Love You," was the No. 1 download on iTunes on Tuesday.
