With fans of the late Whitney Houston desperate to honour the singer in any way they can, they have now been granted their wish with news the singer's funeral is to be televised around the world, including Australian TV.
The memorial is set for Saturday (US time) at the New Hope Baptist Church in her hometown of Newark, New Jersey, and will be invitation only – to be attended by a congregation of 1500 people, consisting of family and close friends.
To ensure that her millions of fans get a chance to say goodbye, Houston's family has agreed to make the service available for television broadcast. E! will air three hours of live coverage, commercial free, including commentary from the E! News studios and a live memorial feed on Sunday, February 19th at 3:30am AEDT.
On the guest list will be: Chaka Khan and CeCe Winans, songwriter Diane Warren, R&B singers Brandy and Darlene Love, record producer Antonio “L.A.” Reid, and Houston’s co-star in The Bodyguard Kevin Costner, who a family source tells E! News, will speak along with Houston’s mentor, music mogul Clive Davis. Brandy's brother and Houston's recent party companion Ray J is also on the list.
Whitney's godmother, 'the queen of soul' Aretha Franklin, and Stevie Wonder are both expected to sing at the funeral, which is being planned by Houston's cousin, singer Dionne Warwick.
Pastor Marvin L. Winans, a close friend of the Houstons, will preside over the service. He also officiated the marriage of Whitney to Bobby Brown in 1992.
Whitney Houston Memorial airs Sunday, February 19th at 3:30am AEDT (no repeats) only on E! (channel 121 on Foxtel and Austar).
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