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Watch: Whitney Houston's Livestream Funeral Today
By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 18, 2012
Modified Feb 18, 2012
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 18, 2012
Modified Feb 18, 2012
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Whitney Houston's body was transported inside a gold hearse from Whigham Funeral Home to New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, NJ early this morning, where her funeral will take place today. The funeral is open only to invited guests, but starting at noon ET, you can watch the official AP livestream of it here. CBS also has a livestream of the procession, which you can watch below the jump.
Rev. Jesse Jackson had stopped at Whigham to view Houston’s body earlier, and he spoke to the media about the loss of Houston, who died last Saturday at the age of 48. "There is a heaviness of heart. We've lost a lot, yet we rejoice,” Jackson said. “She covered as much ground in 48 years as many people cover in 96. When she was on stage she reached unfathomable heights. We have no idea the depths of her pain. What we mostly knew about her is she sang so beautifully...This is a day of mercy, this is a day of celebration, this is a day of rejoicing."
Among the celebrities who are expected to attend include Aretha Franklin, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Kevin Costner, Elton John, Bill Cosby, Chaka Khan, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Oprah Winfrey, NJ Republican Gov. Chris Christie and Democratic Newark Mayor Cory Booker. Costner, her Bodyguard co-star, will speak, as will her mentor Clive Davis. Franklin and Wonder will perform, according to reports.
Houston's family—including mom Cissy, teenage daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, and cousin Dionne Warwick—chose to bury her at New Hope Baptist Church, where Houston got her start singing. She will be buried Sunday at Fairview Cemetery in the same plot where her father is buried.
Yesterday and early this morning, fans gathered in Newark in the blocks surrounding the funeral home to pay tribute to the singer. Family friend Lauretta Malloy said the family recognized the importance of the ritual to her fans: "It's going to be hard. I thought coming here would help work it out of my system. I see the love," she said as she looked over at the mini shrine fans made in the church's fence. "I came over here to recognize this is real. Because everyday I kept saying, it didn't happen, it didn't happen."
You can see some fans singing "The Greatest Love Of All" outside of New Hope Baptist Church yesterday below:
Update:According to CNN, Aretha Franklin will not be able to perform today because she has fallen ill. There will be performances by Stevie Wonder—who will sing "Ribbon in the Sky"—as well as R&B star R. Kelly, Alicia Keys and gospel greats Kim Burrell and BeBe Winans.
Tagged
funeral
livestream
Music
newark
Whitney Houston
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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