Funeral for Houston Saturday at hometown church

The service will be held Saturday 12 noon (1700 GMT) at New Hope Baptist Church, said a spokeswoman at the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, which was handling preparations for Houstons burial.But Houstons fans will be denied a chance to say farewell at a public service, said the spokeswoman, who said the private service for family and friends is the only event planned in tribute to the singer, who is among Americas most celebrated music stars.Houston, 48, died Saturday in a luxury suite of the Beverly Hilton hotel as preparations were under way for the Grammy Awards, the highlight of the music industry calendar. She was found unconscious in the suites bathtub and emergency personnel were unable to revive her.Houston, who possessed one of the greatest-ever singing voices and sold more than 170 million records, fought a long and public battle with substance abuse after her career and personal life went off the rails.Fans were awaiting autopsy results that may not be made public for up to eight weeks, as speculation rages that the pop legend may have died from a cocktail of prescription drugs and alcohol.The autopsy was completed on Sunday but the results have been held back pending the completion of a toxicology probe.Houstons funeral service will be held at New Hope Baptist Church, where she honed her singing craft and where her mother, the acclaimed soul and gospel singer Cissy Houston, served as music director for decades.News reports said plans had been under consideration for a larger public service -- possibly at the Prudential Center sports arena in Newark, a venue that would have allowed thousand of Houstons fans to pay their last respects.In the end, however, the decision was made that everything will be private, Whighams funeral home said spokeswoman said, adding that Saturdays church service, by invitation only, would be the only service being held.The Newark Star-Ledger newspaper reported that the stars body was brought to the funeral Home late Monday in a 12-car procession under police escort from nearby Teterboro Airport.Celebrity website TMZ said it learned from unnamed family sources that the singer died from a lethal combination of prescription drugs and alcohol.Los Angeles assistant chief coroner Ed Winter would not speculate about the cause of death, but told reporters that some pill bottles were found in Houstons hotel room.There werent a lot of prescription bottles, he said. You probably have just as many prescription bottles in your medicine cabinet.Fox News reported that six bottles of pills were found in the room where Houston died, among them the prescription anti-depressant Xanax and other pain medication.Meanwhile Houstons songs were rocketing up the pop charts on Tuesday, in some cases a quarter-century after their initial release, as fans sought to recapture the magic of the divas iconic voice in the wake of her death.Amazon.com said on its website that seven of the top 10 bestselling music collections were recordings from Houston, while her Greatest Hits album was the top seller on iTunes.