# Whitney Houston memorial service
The Whitney Houston memorial service was a private, invitation-only funeral held at noon on February 18, 2012, at the New Hope Baptist Church in [Newark, New Jersey](https://www.edgepedia.org/newark-new-jersey), the church where Houston sang in the choir as a child, followed the next day by a private burial at Fairview Cemetery in [Westfield, New Jersey](https://www.edgepedia.org/westfield-new-jersey).[1](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/family-finalizing-funeral-arrangements-for-whitney-houston/) • [2](https://www.eonline.com/ca/news/295486/whitney-houston-rip-singer-laid-to-rest-at-fairview-cemetery) Houston, who died in [Beverly Hills, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/beverly-hills-california), on February 11, 2012, at age 48, was honored in a "homegoing ceremony," the traditional celebration of life common in black churches.[3](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cops-urge-fans-to-watch-houston-funeral-online/) • [4](https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Whitney-Houston-remembered-as-mega-talent-11518808.php)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date and place | Saturday, February 18, 2012, noon, New Hope Baptist Church, Newark, New Jersey[1](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/family-finalizing-funeral-arrangements-for-whitney-houston/) |
| Attendance | About 1,500 people inside a church that seats about 1,500; invitation only[5](https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/smn/date/2012-02-18/segment/04) |
| Length | Nearly four hours, closing with Houston's recording of "I Will Always Love You" as her mother Cissy led the casket out[6](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/whitney-houston-funeral-singer-laid-rest/story?id=15745349) |
| Eulogy | Given by Marvin Winans, pastor and gospel artist, brother of BeBe Winans[7](https://www.christiancentury.org/print/pdf/node/17220) |
| Broadcast | Streamed online by The Associated Press with the family's permission; carried live by CNN, BET, and other outlets[8](https://www.thewrap.com/whitney-houston-funeral-service-watch-it-online-35451) • [9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/show-tracker/story/2012-02-18/whitney-houston-where-to-watch-her-funeral) |
| Burial | Sunday, February 19, 2012, Fairview Cemetery, Westfield, N.J., beside her father, John Russell Houston Jr.[2](https://www.eonline.com/ca/news/295486/whitney-houston-rip-singer-laid-to-rest-at-fairview-cemetery) |
## Choosing a church over an arena
In the week after Houston's death, there was speculation that a large public memorial would be held at the [Prudential Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/prudential-center) in Newark, an arena seating roughly 18,000 to 19,000 people, in the manner of [Michael Jackson](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-jackson)'s 2009 Los Angeles memorial.[5](https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/smn/date/2012-02-18/segment/04) The Prudential Center confirmed a two-day public memorial was under discussion, but the plan never took definite shape.[1](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/family-finalizing-funeral-arrangements-for-whitney-houston/) Her mother, [Cissy Houston](https://www.edgepedia.org/cissy-houston), and the family instead chose the New Hope Baptist Church, where Houston had sung as a girl and where her mother led the music program for many years, so the service would be personal rather than a mass event.[5](https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/smn/date/2012-02-18/segment/04) • [10](https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0214/Whitney-Houston-Private-funeral-set-for-Sat.-in-Newark)
[Funeral home](https://www.edgepedia.org/funeral-home) owner Carolyn Whigham said the service would be by invitation only, reflecting the family's wish to keep the memorial personal.[10](https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0214/Whitney-Houston-Private-funeral-set-for-Sat.-in-Newark) Newark police sealed off the area around the church and urged fans to stay home and watch online; fans could approach no closer than several blocks, and about three dozen gathered at a corner four blocks away hours before the service began.[3](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cops-urge-fans-to-watch-houston-funeral-online/) • [11](https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-xpm-2012-feb-18-la-na-nn-whitney-houston-funeral-20120218-story.html)
## The service
The flower-covered casket arrived at the church in the morning, carried from the Whigham Funeral Home in a gold hearse.[4](https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Whitney-Houston-remembered-as-mega-talent-11518808.php) • [12](https://time.com/archive/7059292/the-solemn-scene-outside-whitney-houstons-funeral/) A choir of about 100, men in black and women in white, opened the service in song.[13](https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/pop-hiss/story/2012-02-18/whitney-houstons-funeral-an-uplifting-home-going-from-new-hope) • [14](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/family-friends-saying-goodbye-to-whitney-houston-at-private-funeral/) The family framed the event as a "home-going," an expression of their Christian belief that in death the soul returns home to God.[15](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/lifestyle/article/voices-raised-at-home-going-for-pop-diva-3341981.php)
The program combined music and remarks from a wide circle of Houston's life. Scheduled performers and speakers included [Donnie McClurkin](https://www.edgepedia.org/donnie-mcclurkin) singing "Stand," filmmaker [Tyler Perry](https://www.edgepedia.org/tyler-perry), BeBe Winans singing "Home," Bishop T.D. Jakes, gospel singer [Kim Burrell](https://www.edgepedia.org/kim-burrell) with "I Believe in You and Me," Stevie Wonder with "Ribbon in the Sky," Alicia Keys with a medley, R. Kelly singing "I Look to You," band leader Rickey Minor, her cousin Dionne Warwick, and her longtime mentor Clive Davis.[5](https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/smn/date/2012-02-18/segment/04) Kevin Costner, her co-star in *The Bodyguard*, spoke about their shared upbringing in Baptist church communities: "Church was what we knew. It was our bond."
[4](https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Whitney-Houston-remembered-as-mega-talent-11518808.php) Marvin Winans, brother of BeBe Winans and a 28-year friend of Houston, delivered the eulogy.[7](https://www.christiancentury.org/print/pdf/node/17220)
[Aretha Franklin](https://www.edgepedia.org/aretha-franklin), Houston's godmother, had been announced to sing "[Greatest Love of All](https://www.edgepedia.org/greatest-love-of-all-whitney-houston-recording)," but CNN reported on the morning of the service that she was ill and would be unable to sing.[5](https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/smn/date/2012-02-18/segment/04) • [9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/show-tracker/story/2012-02-18/whitney-houston-where-to-watch-her-funeral) [Bobby Brown](https://www.edgepedia.org/bobby-brown), Houston's ex-husband, arrived as the service began, walked to the casket and touched it, then left the church about five minutes later and departed in his vehicle; conflicting accounts before the funeral had circulated about whether the family would welcome him.[4](https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Whitney-Houston-remembered-as-mega-talent-11518808.php)
At the end of the nearly four-hour service, Houston's recording of "I Will Always Love You" played as her mother Cissy led the casket out of the church.[6](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/whitney-houston-funeral-singer-laid-rest/story?id=15745349)
## Broadcast coverage
Although the service was private, the family allowed The Associated Press to stream it online, and television networks carried it live.[8](https://www.thewrap.com/whitney-houston-funeral-service-watch-it-online-35451) CNN began special coverage at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, an hour before the service.[5](https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/smn/date/2012-02-18/segment/04) BET and its sister network Centric covered the service under the title "Live: The Homegoing of Whitney Houston," starting at 8:30 a.m.[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/show-tracker/story/2012-02-18/whitney-houston-where-to-watch-her-funeral)
CNN led the cable news ratings for the coverage, ahead of [Fox News](https://www.edgepedia.org/fox-news) and CNN's sister network HLN.[16](https://www.nexttv.com/news/cable-news-ratings-cnn-leads-coverage-whitney-houston-funeral-39169) In Britain, the BBC received 118 complaints about its saturation coverage of the four-hour service on the BBC News Channel, which ran live from 17:00 to 20:30 with repeated reports afterward; the broadcaster defended the coverage as part of its function to report on such events.[17](https://www.thedrum.com/news/2012/02/22/bbc-whitney-houston-coverage-criticised)
## Burial
The day after the church service, on Sunday, February 19, 2012, Houston was buried in a private ceremony at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, New Jersey, beside her father, John Russell Houston Jr., who was buried there in 2003.[2](https://www.eonline.com/ca/news/295486/whitney-houston-rip-singer-laid-to-rest-at-fairview-cemetery) • [1](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/family-finalizing-funeral-arrangements-for-whitney-houston/) Dozens of people waited outside the cemetery to see the family as they left.[18](https://toronto.citynews.ca/2012/02/19/whitney-houston-laid-to-rest-in-new-jersey/) Her daughter, [Bobbi Kristina Brown](https://www.edgepedia.org/bobbi-kristina-brown), was buried beside her at Fairview Cemetery in August 2015.[19](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/gossip/la-et-mg-bobbi-kristina-brown-buried-new-jersey-whitney-houston-20150803-story.html)
## References
1. [Private Funeral For Whitney Houston Saturday At New Hope Baptist Church In Newark, CBS New York](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/family-finalizing-funeral-arrangements-for-whitney-houston/)
2. [Whitney Houston, RIP: Singer Laid to Rest at Fairview Cemetery, E! Online](https://www.eonline.com/ca/news/295486/whitney-houston-rip-singer-laid-to-rest-at-fairview-cemetery)
3. [Cops urge fans to watch Houston funeral online, CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cops-urge-fans-to-watch-houston-funeral-online/)
4. [Whitney Houston remembered as mega-talent, 'beautiful flower,' kind human being, Associated Press via New Haven Register](https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Whitney-Houston-remembered-as-mega-talent-11518808.php)
5. [CNN Saturday Morning News transcript, February 18, 2012](https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/smn/date/2012-02-18/segment/04)
6. [Whitney Houston Funeral: Singer Laid to Rest, ABC News](https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/whitney-houston-funeral-singer-laid-rest/story?id=15745349)
7. [The Whitney I Knew, Religion News Service via The Christian Century](https://www.christiancentury.org/print/pdf/node/17220)
8. [Whitney Houston Funeral to Stream Live; Kevin Costner to Speak?, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/whitney-houston-funeral-service-watch-it-online-35451)
9. [Whitney Houston: Where to watch her funeral, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/show-tracker/story/2012-02-18/whitney-houston-where-to-watch-her-funeral)
10. [Whitney Houston: Private funeral set for Sat. in Newark, Christian Science Monitor](https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0214/Whitney-Houston-Private-funeral-set-for-Sat.-in-Newark)
11. [Outside Whitney Houston's funeral: 'We're hurting too', Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-xpm-2012-feb-18-la-na-nn-whitney-houston-funeral-20120218-story.html)
12. [The solemn scene outside Whitney Houston's funeral, TIME](https://time.com/archive/7059292/the-solemn-scene-outside-whitney-houstons-funeral/)
13. [Whitney Houston's funeral: An uplifting 'home going' from New Hope, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/pop-hiss/story/2012-02-18/whitney-houstons-funeral-an-uplifting-home-going-from-new-hope)
14. [Whitney Houston Remembered, Life Celebrated By Family And Friends At New Hope Baptist Church, CBS New York](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/family-friends-saying-goodbye-to-whitney-houston-at-private-funeral/)
15. [Voices raised at 'home-going' for pop diva, Houston Chronicle](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/lifestyle/article/voices-raised-at-home-going-for-pop-diva-3341981.php)
16. [Cable News Ratings: CNN Leads Coverage of Whitney Houston Funeral, Next TV](https://www.nexttv.com/news/cable-news-ratings-cnn-leads-coverage-whitney-houston-funeral-39169)
17. [BBC Whitney Houston coverage criticised, The Drum](https://www.thedrum.com/news/2012/02/22/bbc-whitney-houston-coverage-criticised)
18. [Whitney Houston laid to rest in New Jersey, CityNews Toronto](https://toronto.citynews.ca/2012/02/19/whitney-houston-laid-to-rest-in-new-jersey/)
19. [Bobbi Kristina Brown is buried next to Whitney Houston in New Jersey, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/gossip/la-et-mg-bobbi-kristina-brown-buried-new-jersey-whitney-houston-20150803-story.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Social life and human behavior › Relationships and social issues › Social movements and social issues › Social issues and movements by country › Country-level social issue surveys (Social issues in X)*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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