On February 18, Whitney Houston’s funeral was celebrated in Newark at the N.J.’s New Hope Baptist Church. What was actually a private service, with 1,500 of Whitney Houston’s loved ones, was broadcasted in its entirely on TV and online in order to give Houston’s worldwide fans the chance to say farewell to the beloved star.

The funeral went on for almost four hours; it was a celebration of Whitney Houston’s life and legacy. Several friends and family members took the stage to share their memories and pay homage to the late diva. Unfortunately, Houston’s godmother, Aretha Franklin, was unable to attend the service due to health problems. Furthermore, Whitney Houston’s ex-husband, Bobby Brown, left the church before the beginning of the service. Aside from these two unfortunate elements, the celebration was glorious. An amazing gospel choir gave a very touching farewell.

All of the people who had the chance to participate in the ceremony shared something special and emotional. Donnie McClurklin sang ‘Stand’, and Tyler Perry passionately described Houston’s personality and her love for the Lord. BeBe Winans, standing with his sister, CeCe, by his side, sang the song ‘I Really Miss You’ right before Bishop T.D. Jakes spoke.

The pastor underlined how love is greater than death, ending his speech with, ‘Love will last forever, for God is love.’ Kim Burnell then gave a touching performance of ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’, adapting it to a description of Whitney Houston’s approach to life and faith.

One of the sweetest speeches was given by Houston’s friend, actor Kevin Costner. He shared with the crowd personal and funny moments. He stressed how he and Houston, despite different thoughts, were very similar. ‘The church was our private bond,’ Costner said. He also talked about the infamous movie ‘The Bodyguard’, which starred Costner and Houston together.

He told the whole story: how he choose her in the first place and how not all of the people involved in the movie’s production were ready to go along with this decision, due to Houston’s inexperience with acting and her race. During his speech he looked very emotional and deeply connected to the late artist and her family. He also described Whitney Houston’s insecurity. He explained how she would often worry about not being good enough or pretty enough and how she was afraid people did not like her.

‘People didn’t just like you, Whitney, they loved you,’ said Costner. ‘God himself wonders how He created something so perfect […] When you sing in front of Him, don’t you worry, you’ll be good enough.’ Alicia Keys then sat at the piano, visibly moved, and talked about how important the 48-year-old singer’s life was. She passionately sang ‘Prelude To A Kiss’, ending it by singing, ‘Whitney is an angel.’

Next, Clive Davis went through a memory of his personal relationship with the artist and her long career, and he talked about being her mentor and producer. He closed his speech by saying, ‘I loved her very much […] Whitney was purely and simply one-of-a-kind […] When I needed her, she was there […] Bobbi Kristina, always be proud of your mother.’

Ray Watson, Houston’s brother-in-law and longtime bodyguard, gave a touching speech and stated, ‘We gotta give back to our entertainers; treat them well, with dignity, treat them with love, and stop ridiculing them.’ Stevie Wonder gracefully took his place at the piano, thanking God for letting him live at the same time as Whitney Houston.

He added that he had a little crush on her when they worked together and said, ‘We loved her so much, and that won’t stop.’ Wonder sang an alternate version of ‘Ribbon in the Sky’, which he modified on his way to the funeral, then concluded with a joyful performance of ‘Love Is in Need of Love Today.’

Patricia Houston gave a long, moving speech, underlining the positive attitude that characterized the late singer, as well as her respect for the Lord. R. Kelly, visibly heartbroken, performed ‘I Look to You’ with the choir.  It was a song he had written and that Whitney Houston had sung in her last studio album. Houston’s cousin, Dionne Warwick, who presided over the funeral, introduced speakers and singers, then read a poem, right before CeCe Winans sang ‘Don’t Cry For Me’ and ‘Yes, Jesus Loves Me’.

After this, Rickey Minor explained how Whitney Houston changed his life and how lovable the artist was from every point of view. As a conclusion, Pastor Marvin Winans sang with his entire family before he started preaching. The ceremony ended with the casket of Whitney Houston leaving the church while her famous performance of ‘I Will Always Love You’ embraced the congregation.

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The 54th edition of the Grammy Awards was permeated by a sense of respect and sadness, due to the sudden death of the 48-year-old singer Whitney Houston.

The announcement of Whitney Houston’s death was given by her publicist on February 11. The pop singer died in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. Although the cause of death is not yet totally clarified, sources tell TMZ that a lethal combination of prescription drugs and alcohol could have led Whitney Houston to death.

The Grammy Awards responded to the shock generated by the loss of the late Diva, with a tribute paid by soul singer Jennifer Hudson. The 30-year-old singer gave an emotional performance of Houston’s signature song ‘I Will Always Love You,’ leading single of ‘The Bodyguard’ movie’s soundtrack.

As usual in this event, the show paid respect to the musicians and music executives passed away during the past years; the remembrance started showing 27-year-old British singer Amy Winehouse, while her music played. It then went on showing pictures and playing music belonging to many of those who enriched the music scene, as Motown executive Esther Gordy Edwards, soul-music architect Nick Ashford and rapper Heavy D, just to cite few.

This commemoration ended with an extract of Whitney Houston’s performance at the Grammy Awards in 1986, after winning her first award for the song ‘Saving All My Love For You’. As the image of the beloved singer faded away, a spotlight discovered a graceful Hudson.

The artist delivered the first a cappella lines of ‘I Will Always Love You’; Hudson then carried on the performance in an extremely elegant and respectful way. In the virtuosity of Hudson’s voice, all the influence of the late Whitney Houston could be retrieved.

Although Jennifer Hudson showed to comfortably go through the song, a certain sense of emotion appeared clear in her eyes. The performance ended with the appearance of all the photos of the music artists and executives at the back of a humble Hudson, who was standing in front of the audience’s standing ovation, and who then turned around to send a kiss to the late music people who passed away during last year.

Due to the timing of Houston’s death, no long planning was possible for her tribute during the show; this might have been one of the things that contributed to make the tribute so special. There was nothing fancy or extreme, but just a very elegant, sweet, but at the meantime full of music talent, commemoration. It was something great, without the need of exaggeration. It was exactly as Whitney Houston was: talented, elegant and graceful.

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The world is grieving the departure of one of the most talented artists in music history. Whitney Houston died on February 11 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA, during the Grammys week-end; the party event yesterday was hosted by Whitney Houston’s talent scout and mentor Clive Davis.

Whitney Houston was the voice, the grace, the elegance, the body and the femininity of pop. During her glorious career, Whitney Houston broke several records, both of sales and charts success. She is the most-awarded female act of all time, as cited by the Guinness World Records; she indeed won 415 career awards as of 2010.

The shock for the loss of such a great artist inevitably became the center of the pre-Grammy Gala night, with an emotional celebration of the artist’s career. The night became somehow an accidental gathering of friends and beloved people celebrating Houston’s life and career.

As a matter of fact, music itself celebrated Whitney Houston’s birth and death. She was born in a deep musical environment, her mother being the gospel singer Cissy Houston, her cousin Dionne Warwik and her godmother the great Aretha Franklin.

Whitney Houston started performing at the age of 11, in a church gospel choir in Newark, then spending her adolescence occasionally accompanying her mother during performances, singing back vocals for different artists, and modeling.

In 1983, at the age of 19, Houston’s career got its turning point. After seeing one of her live performances, Clive Davis, head of Arista Records, signed Whitney Houston, marking the beginning of what would have become a legendary business partnership and personal friendship.

That was the starting point of an international career that saw Houston selling 170 million albums, singles and videos, becoming one of the world’s best selling artists. With a total of seven studio albums, additional participations in movies’ soundtracks, and the starring of movie characters, Whitney Houston has fulfilled the pop scene with her graceful talent, which touched the heart of millions of people around the world.

The homonymous debut album of the late singer was released in 1985; it was instantly acclaimed by the critics, and soon became the best-selling debut album by a female act at the time of its release, containing singles like ‘All at once’ and ‘Greatest Love of All’ that internationally conquered the audience. The record is listed by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 greatest albums of all time and is included in The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Definitive 200 list. USA Today also elected the album as one of the 25 musical milestones of the last 25 years.

From that moment on, Whitney Houston’s career grew at a fast pace. In 1986 Houston won her first Grammy Award for the hit ‘Saving All My Love For You’, the award being the first one of a list of six Grammys distributed along her career. A year later, in 1987, the studio album ‘Whitney’ was released, becoming the first album by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Furthermore, with this record Houston entered at number one the charts of both, US and UK, being the first artist to accomplish so.

A true milestone of Houston’s career was the greatly acclaimed interpretation of the 1992 movie ‘The Bodyguard’, where she played alongside actor Kevin Costner. She performed in the movie’s soundtrack, with the single ‘I Will Always Love You’ entering the top of the Billboard Hot 100, keeping the position for 14 weeks. The single sold 12 million copies becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time, and the signature song of the late Whitney Houston ever since its release.

After her first movie appearance, Houston starred in other movies and participated to their soundtracks. It took the great artist eight years to come back to the release of a new studio album, which happened in 1998.

From 1998 to 2003 Whitney Houston released three additional studio albums which all gathered commercial success, although were characterized by discordant critics; in the meantime, in 2001, Houston renewed her contract with Arista Records for 100 million dollars, signing the biggest record deal in music history.

After struggling with drugs abuse and marriage issues, Whitney Houston came back to the pop music scene in 2009 with her album ‘I Look to You’, which entered the Billboard 200 at number 1.

Through 27 years of music, Whitney Houston brought to life one of the most astonishing musical careers of all time, enriching music history with her magnificent talent.

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