The best voices of a generation all paid tribute to her. But in the end, the most powerful voice at Whitney Houston's funeral was her own.
The first notes of "I Will Always Love You," at the end of a 31/2-hour remembrance of the pop superstar, played Saturday as her casket left the hometown church where she first wowed a congregation.
Her mother, gospel singer Cissy Houston, walked right behind her, sobbing, "My baby."
Houston's voice — "you wait for a voice like that for a lifetime," mentor Clive Davis said — moved her daughter, mourners like Oprah Winfrey and a packed church to tears after the biggest names in gospel and pop music sang about God, love, and moving on.
Stevie Wonder rewrote lyrics to "Ribbon in the Sky." So did gospel's the Rev. Kim Burrell for "A Change is Gonna Come." R. Kelly brought the New Hope Baptist Church to its feet with "I Look to You," the title of Houston's final studio album.
Wonder and Alicia Keys may have been the most famous singers offering tributes, in a congregation of mourners that included Winfrey, Mariah Carey, Kevin Costner and Chaka Khan. But the church choir and performances from the Winans family, the Rev. Donnie McClurkin and Burrell were equally powerful.
Houston's 18-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina, sobbed and embraced Houston's close friend, singer Ray J, as her mother's voice began to drift through the church.
Clapping hands, swaying and singing along with the choir to gospel hymns, the biggest names in entertainment joined Houston's family and fans in the New Jersey city where she was first born and found her in voice in church.
Costner, Houston's co-star in "The Bodyguard," which spawned her greatest hit, imagined a young Houston using her winning smile to get out of trouble. He also remembered the megastar as uncertain of her own fame, who "still wondered, 'Am I good enough? Am I pretty enough? Will they like me?' "
"It was the burden that made her great and the part that caused her to stumble in the end," Costner said.
Houston's ex-husband, Bobby Brown, briefly appeared at her funeral, walking to the casket, touching it and walking out. He later said in a statement that he left rather than risk creating a scene.
Houston is to be buried today next to her father, John Houston, in nearby Westfield, N.J.
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