Whitney Houston’s funeral a private affair

Pop diva Whitney Houston will be laid to rest on Saturday after a private funeral service at the New Jersey Baptist church where she grew up singing in a gospel choir.

Fans of Ms Houston, who died on Saturday aged just 48, will not have the chance to say farewell in a mass outpouring as the singer’s family has apparently decided against holding a two-day public memorial in a Newark sports arena.

“The service will be held Saturday 12 noon (1700 GMT) at New Hope Baptist Church,” a spokeswoman at the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, which was handling preparations for Ms Houston’s burial, said.

Ms Houston was found unconscious in her bathtub on Saturday afternoon at the Beverly Hilton hotel as preparations were under way for the Grammy Awards, the highlight of the music industry calendar. Medics were unable to revive her.

Ms Houston, who possessed one of the greatest-ever singing voices and sold more than 170 million records, fought a long and public battle with substance abuse after her career and personal life went off the rails. Fans were awaiting autopsy results that may not be made public for up to eight weeks, as speculation rages that the singing legend may have died from a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs and alcohol.

The autopsy was completed on Sunday but the results have been held back pending the completion of a toxicology probe. Ms Houston’s funeral service will be held at New Hope Baptist Church, where she honed her singing craft, and where her mother, the acclaimed soul and gospel singer Cissy Houston, served as music director for decades.

News reports said plans had been under consideration for a larger public service – possibly at the Prudential Centre sports arena in Newark, a venue that would have allowed thousand of Houston’s fans to pay their last respects.

In the end, however, the decision was made that “everything will be private,” the Whigham funeral home spokesman said, adding that Saturday’s church service, by invitation only, is “the only service being held”.

In a moving tribute, Ms Houston’s legendary godmother Aretha Franklin paid tribute to her at a private concert in North Carolina on Monday.

Television footage showed Ms Franklin seated at a piano singing her late goddaughter’s signature hit, I Will Always Love You, and asking the audience to pray for Ms Houston’s family.