Family and friends of Whitney Houston attended a private burial ceremony for the singing star at a New Jersey cemetery on Sunday, a day after an emotional farewell celebrating her life.
A golden hearse carried the pop star to suburban Westfield, where she was to be buried next to her father, John Russell Houston, who died in 2003. Fans and onlookers lined the route as the motorcade entered the grounds of Fairview Cemetery for a strictly private ceremony for Houston, who was found dead eight days ago in her Los Angeles hotel room, aged 48. On Saturday Hollywood stars, music greats and loved ones had gathered for an emotional farewell ceremony in the Newark Baptist Church where she sang as a child, which was watched worldwide. The nearly four-hour service on Saturday ended with pallbearers carrying the pop diva’s coffin out of the church as a recording of Houston singing her signature hit, I Will Always Love You, was played.