
Hundreds of thousands of mourners gathered at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, NJ for Whitney Houston's funeral on Saturday.
Among the crowd were some of Whitney's closest friends, including Ray-J, Mary J Blige and Brandy, who were said to arrive at the church before anyone else. Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, R. Kelly and gospel stars CeCe and Bebe Winans are expected to sing at the service, while Houston's "I Will Always Love You" is expected to be played at the close of the ceremony. Her Bodyguard co-star Kevin Costner will also say a few words about his time with Whitney.
Aretha Franklin was also pegged to sing at the service, but she will not be attending, as she is "too ill" to perform. Other celebrity friends at the funeral include Elton John, Oprah Winfrey, Beyonce and Jay-Z, actor-producer Tyler Perry and American Idol musical director Rickey Minor. Her ex-husband Bobby Brown also is expected to attend with her only child, Bobbi Kristina.
Check out more photos from the funeral:
Source: dailymail.co.uk