Whitney Houston's voice soars at hometown funeral

NEWARK, New Jersey — After all the testimonials from relatives and friends, the songs from legends and pop stars, the preaching and even laughter, the raw emotion of Whitney Houston’s funeral came down to just one moment: The sound of her own voice.

As the strains of her biggest record, “I Will Always Love You” filled the New Hope Baptist Church at the end of the nearly four-hour service Saturday and her silver-and-gold casket was lifted in the air, the weight of the moment was too much for her mother, gospel singer Cissy Houston, to bear. As she was held up by two women, she wailed, “My baby! My baby!” as she was led out the church behind her daughter’s body. A few steps behind her was the pop icon’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina, also crying uncontrollably as she was comforted by Houston’s close friend, singer Ray J.

It was the most searing scene on a day with mixed moods as family, friends and A-list celebrities — sometimes one and the same — came to the humble New Hope Baptist church to remember one of music’s legends, but also a New Jersey hometown girl.

Houston died last Saturday in Beverly Hills, California, on the eve of the Grammys at the age of 48.

The service at New Hope was filled with about 300 mourners, including Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Forest Whitaker, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan, Diane Sawyer. Houston’s cousin, Dionne Warwick presided over the funeral.

“You wait for a voice like that for a lifetime,” said music mogul Clive Davis, who shepherded Houston’s career for decades.

Kevin Costner, her co-star in “The Bodyguard,” said for all of Houston’s beauty and success, she was still yearning for approval from the public. “It’s a tree we could all hang from — the unexplainable burden that comes with fame,” he said. “Call it doubt. Call it fear. I’ve had mine. And I know the famous in the room have had theirs.”

Fittingly, music played a major role in the send-off to one of music’s greatest voices. Stevie Wonder rewrote lyrics to “Ribbon in the Sky” for Houston and Alicia Keys sang “Send Me An Angel”. Aretha Franklin, whom Houston lovingly called “Aunt Ree,” had been expected to sing at the service, but said early Saturday she was too ill to attend.

Bobby Brown briefly appeared at her funeral, walking to the casket, touching it and walking out. He later said that he and his children were asked repeatedly to move and he left rather than risk creating a scene.

As the funeral began, mourners fell quiet as three police officers escorted Houston’s casket, draped with white roses and purple lilies. A program with a picture of Houston looking skyward read “Celebrating the life of Whitney Elizabeth Houston, a child of God.”

“I never told you that when you were born, the Holy Spirit told me that you would not be with me long,” Cissy Houston wrote her daughter in a letter published in the program. “And I thank God for the beautiful flower he allowed me to raise and cherish for 48 years. Rest, my baby girl in peace,” the letter ends, signed “mommie.”

To the world, Houston was the pop queen with the perfect voice, the dazzling diva with regal beauty, a troubled superstar suffering from addiction and, finally, another victim of the dark side of fame. To her family and friends, she was just “Nippy.”

Houston’s death marked the final chapter for the superstar whose fall from grace was years in the making. Houston had her first No. 1 hit by the time she was 22, followed by a flurry of No. 1 songs and multi-platinum records. But her struggles with drugs with ex-husband Bobby Brown, were among the many valleys in her life.

Her last album, “I Look To You,” debuted on the top of the charts when it was released in 2009 with strong sales, but didn’t have the staying power of her previous records. A tour the next year was doomed by cancellations because of illness and sub-par performances. Houston is to be buried today next to her father, John Houston, in nearby Westfield, New Jersey.