Whitney Houston’s body flown to New Jersey ahead of ‘arena funeral’

Published on Tuesday 14 February 2012 12:31

THE BODY of singer Whitney Houston arrived in her home state today as plans were in progress for her funeral.

The 48-year-old’s body was flown from Los Angeles to New Jersey, where her family is understood to be considering holding the farewell at an 18,000-seat arena on Friday.

Newark-born Houston’s relatives were also debating whether to have a smaller service at New Hope Baptist Church, where family members have sung, according to someone with knowledge of the planning.

The American star died on Saturday, having been found in the bath in her room at the Beverly Hilton hotel.

Fire services and hotel security rushed to the suite but attempts to resuscitate the actress failed and she was pronounced dead shortly before 4pm local time, police revealed.

Details of the hotel-room scene emerged amid speculation surrounding Houston’s alleged use of prescription drugs.

Floral tributes, balloons and candles have also been left at New Hope Baptist Church, where Houston started singing as a child.

Yesterday, Beverly Hills Police Chief David Snowden said the star was removed from the bath by a “member of her personal staff” at around 3.30pm on Saturday.

The star’s death came just hours before she was supposed to appear at a pre-Grammy gala.

Houston, one of the world’s best-selling artists in the 1980s and 1990s, was due to perform at the party of her long-time mentor, record producer Clive Davis, at the Beverly Hilton.

The 54th annual Grammy Awards opened with a prayer and standing ovation to the singer, who herself won a clutch of six prestigious Recording Academy gongs over a turbulent career marred by spells of drug addiction.

Logged in as:

Comment here. Start typing your comment here:

Post comment

Please adhere to our Community guidelines

Your view

Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.