Robin Thicke pays tribute to the late, great Whitney Houston by covering her classic from the original motion picture soundtrack to Waiting To Exhale, “Exhale (Shoop Shoop).” We were pleasantly surprised by the unexpected acoustic cover. It’s not really the first song that you think about when talking songs to tribute Whitney!
On Saturday (Feb. 18), Whitney Houston was celebrated in a homegoing ceremony filled with fond memories and moving songs and expressions as family, friends and fans said goodbye to the 48-year-old superstar at New Hope Baptist Church in her hometown of Newark, New Jersey.
With a stirring sermon/eulogy by Pastor Marvin Winans about prioritizing your faith in God above all else (“The gifts that we have is God’s gift to us. But the life that we live is our gift to God.”), the ceremony centered upon Whitney’s unwavering faith and served as inspiration to all as Donnie McClurkin, Kim Burrell (View Video), Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, R. Kelly (View Video) and The Winans Family shared musical tributes with Tyler Perry (View Video), Bishop T.D. Jakes, Kevin Costner (View Video), Clive Davis, 
Whitney’s bodyguard Ray Watson, Rickey Minor, sister-in-law and manager Patricia Houston and cousin Dionne Warwick offering words to express their love and remembrance for her. Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey, Angela Bassett and Chaka Khan, among others, were also in attendance.
The Houston Family allowed the ceremony to be streamed online and televised, permitting the whole world to join them in saying goodbye to the one and only Whitney Houston. While the nearly four hour ceremony, which was presided over by Dionne, was filled with lots of laughs, of course a sense of sadness abound, particularly at the end (View Video) as Whitney’s “I Will Always Love You” played as her coffin was carried out with the sound of her mother and daughter crying as they walked behind it. Ray J also broke down after touching the casket and was comforted by his sister Brandy. In a letter published in the ceremony’s program, Cissy wrote that “I never told you that when you were born, the Holy Spirit told me that you would not be with me long. And I thank God for the beautiful flower he allowed me to raise and cherish for 48 years.”
Whitney will be buried Sunday in a private ceremony next to her father, John Russell Houston Jr., at the Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, New Jersey.
During the beginning of Whitney’s home going ceremony, reports broke that Bobby Brown was escorted or simply left the funeral at New Hope Baptist Church after apparently bringing seven more people than the three seats initially reserved for him and his family.
According to reports, Bobby Brown supposedly stormed out with is entourage and wanted to sit with his daughter Bobbi Kristina, but with his guest seated around him. Shortly after Whitney’s funeral, the “Perrogative” singer released the following statement, explaining what happened and why he decided to leave the funeral:
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“My children and I were invited to the funeral of my ex-wife Whitney Houston. We were seated by security and then subsequently asked to move on three separate occasions. I fail to understand why security treated my family this way and continue to ask us and no one else to move. Security then prevented me from attempting to see my daughter Bobbi-Kristina. In light of the events, I gave a kiss to the casket of my ex-wife and departed as I refused to create a scene. My children are completely distraught over the events. This was a day to honor Whitney. I doubt Whitney would have wanted this to occur. I will continue to pay my respects to my ex-wife the best way I know how.”– [SOURCE]
While performing “Even Angels” in Chicago on Tuesday night (February 14), singer Fantasia Barrino shared her personal point of view on the struggles of being a celebrity and spoke about how she understands what artists like Whitney Houston go through when having to resort to other things to get away:
I understand what those artists go through. When they become superstars, they lose their family, they lose their old friends. Anybody’s that feels that they should be doing this and doing that and they just want to be regular people. So what happens is they start turning to other things. I promise you. Just to get away from folk.
Whitney Houston, I love her. She touched me in a special way. And to this day I still can’t believe that she is gone. But we must pray for her mother, we must pray for her – her mother lost her baby, when we don’t really know the situation.
Props to Youtuber MarioSmithMusic for the clip.
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