STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

BET Networks to Air Live Coverage of Whitney Houston’s Funeral

BET Networks and BET.com will air live coverage of Whitney Houston’s funeral in the BET News special, Live: The Homegoing of Whitney Houston, on Feb. 18 beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET/8:30 a.m. PT, followed by BET Remembers Whitney, a one-hour tribute to the pop icon.

As fans, friends and family members mourn the death of pop superstar Whitney Houston, who was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel room on Feb. 11, BET Networks and Centric will honor the life and legacy of Whitney Houston in the BET News special, Live: The Homegoing of Whitney Houston, premiering this Saturday, Feb. 18, followed by BET Remembers Whitney, a one-hour special commemorating the chart-topping artist. BET.com will also live-stream Saturday’s services.

 

Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder are expected to sing at the private funeral service. Her musical mentor, Clive Davis, will speak at the funeral and the eulogy will be delivered by family friend Marvin Winans. Actor Kevin Costner, Houston’s co-star in the 1992 movie, The Bodyguard, is also scheduled to speak.

 

Beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET, BET will bring viewers live, in-depth coverage of the legendary pop singer’s funeral from her childhood church, New Hope Baptist Church, in Newark, New Jersey. In BET Remembers Whitney, BET News correspondent Bevy Smith will sit down with confidants and colleagues of the cultural icon, including Kim Burrell, Kelley Price, Faith Evans, Ledisi, India.Arie, Tisha Martin Campbell and Tichina Arnold, all of whom will share how Houston impacted their lives, providing a deeply personal look at one of the world’s most beloved and renowned artists.

 

In addition, Live: The Homegoing of Whitney Houston will air internationally on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 4:30pm GMT / 6:30pm CAT, and BET Remembers Whitney will air internationally on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 7:00 PMG MT / 9:00 PM CAT.

 

In the past, BET has celebrated Houston‘s incredible talent with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the inaugural BET Awards in 2001; a BET Honors Entertainer award in 2010, when she was paid tribute by Kim Burrell and Jennifer Hudson and, most recently, Houston performed “I Look to You,” alongside Kim Burrell at BET’s 2011 Celebration of Gospel.

 

Houston, 48, is survived by her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, 18, whose father is Houston’s ex-husband and R&B star Bobby Brown, and her mother, Cissy Houston.

 

The Los Angeles County coroner's office has issued subpoenas for Houston’s medical and pharmacy records from the star’s doctors and medical advisers, though the office has not released an official cause of death because toxicology results are still being processed. On Feb. 11, the star was found underwater and unconscious in a bathtub in her room at the Beverly Hills Hotel, just hours before she was due to attend Clive Davis’s pre-Grammy Awards party.

 

For BET.com’s complete coverage of the life and legacy of Whitney Houston, visit www.bet.com/whitneyhouston.

 

BET National News - Keep up to date with breaking news stories from around the nation, including headlines from the hip hop and entertainment world.

(Photo: STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images)

Latest News

Subscribe for BET Updates

Provide your email address to receive our newsletter.


By clicking Subscribe, you confirm that you have read and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. You also agree to receive marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers) and other information from BET and the Paramount family of companies. You understand that you can unsubscribe at any time.