Whitney Houston's Funeral: Alicia Keys Performs 'Send Me An Angel'

18 February 2012, 19:08 | Updated: 18 February 2012, 19:12

The 'No One' singer sang at the late singer's funeral after a speech by her The Bodyguard co-star Kevin Coster.

Alicia Keys and Kevin Costner have paid tribute to Whitney Houston at the late singer's funeral today (18^th February).

The 'I Will Always Love You' singer is being laid to rest today in Newark, New Jersey at a private memorial service in front of family and friends.

Actor Kevin Costner, who starred alongside Whitney in the 1992 film The Bodyguard, gave an emotional speech where he opened up about his close relationship with the singer.

"Whitney returns home today to the place where it all began and I urge us to dry our tears, suspend our sorrow, and perhaps our anger, just long enough to honour the sweet memory that is Whitney," Kevin told the church mourners.

"Whitney if you could hear me now. You weren't just good enough, you were great," he added. 

Alicia Keys also performed at the funeral, singing a powerful piano-led rendition of her own song 'Send Me An Angel'.

"She just crept into everyone's hearts," Alicia said before her performance. "She was such a beautiful human being. I think in so many ways she reached back to so many people. She's been an angel to us.

Music industry executive Clive Davis, who first discovered Whitney Houston back in 1983, also paid tribute to the 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' singer.

"You wait for a voice like that for a lifetime. You wait for a face like that, a smile like that, a presence like that for a lifetime," Clive told the congregation. "And when one person embodies all that it takes your breath away.

"Whitney was purely and simply one of a kind," he added. "She defined not only pure talent, but true heart and soul as well."

Whitney Houston, who died last weekend (11^th February) at the age of 48, worked in the music industry for almost three decades and sold 170 million record worldwide.