Whitney Houston funeral is scheduled to take place Saturday at 12noon EST at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. The church fills up to 300 persons and therefore the funeral will be a private-invite only ceremony and only Whitney’s nearest and dearest have been selected to partake in the ceremony.
However, the public is not completely left out. According to the Associated Press, Whitney Houston funeral will be streamed live on the internet via Ustream.
Bobby Brown has been invited to the funeral in efforts to keep the peace despite recent rumors that he was not invited. A close source of the singer reveals that the family approved Brown’s attendance although many of them dislike him and blame him for Whitney’s long-term drug addiction, and now believe that he is trying to gain access to Whitney’s fortune through their daughter, Bobbi-Kristina.
CNN reported that confirmed guests include: Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, Bebe and Cece Winans, Kelly Price, Kevin Costner of The BodyGuard Movie and more will be in attendance. Aretha Franklin and Kim Burell will perform at Houston funeral and Marvin Winans will provide the eulogy for the ceremony at the request of Cissy Houston.
Proceeding the funeral, Whitney will be laid to rest at the Fair View Cemetery in Westfield, New Jersey. According to her death certificate, this is also where her father was buried back in 2003.