If you’re a music fan and remember the year 2012, no doubt you’ll know that this was the year US singer Whitney Houston (often known as simply ‘The Voice’), sadly passed away. Her funeral was invitation-only but was also streamed online so fans could watch the service, and musicians as prestigious as Stevie Wonder, CeCe Winans, and Kim Burrell performed in honor of the singer. Aretha Franklin was also scheduled to perform but sadly was unable to attend the service due to illness.
One of the most emotive performances delivered that day, meanwhile, came courtesy of Alicia Keys, the US singer who has had numerous hits of her own including ‘Girl On Fire’. Keys appeared tearful from the very beginning of her appearance at Houston’s funeral, clearly upset at the loss of her good friend. “She just crept into everybody’s heart,” she said, accepting a tissue from a fellow funeral-goer as the tears began to fall. “She was just such a beautiful human being… really, really caring.”
When she started to sing, meanwhile, it was obvious Keys was still struggling to hold back the tears, although in many ways this made her performance all the more powerful. Singing her track ‘Send Me An Angel’ and accompanying herself on the piano, the singer seemed to channel all of her sadness and emotion about Houston’s death into her vocals, closing her eyes and putting everything she had into the song’s beautiful, soaring melody; “heart-wrenching” was how one viewer accurately described it.
Another equally poignant performance from Houston’s funeral came courtesy of the legendary Stevie Wonder, who sang his stunning ballad ‘Ribbon In The Sky’. This footage – although grainy and shaky – again shows the emotion that Wonder poured into his rendition, and his performance was no doubt one that Houston herself would have loved. The lyrics of the track were particularly pertinent for the event, saying “We can’t lose with God on our side / We’ll find strength in each tear we cry.”
Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, and the other artists who performed at Houston’s funeral that day really helped to make it a ceremony to remember, even more so than it would have been anyway for the singer’s friends, family, and fans around the world. Keys’ performance in particular was packed full of the genuine love and emotion she felt for her sadly departed friend, and subsequently represented the extraordinary extent of the effect that Houston’s premature death had on the world of music.
If you would like to hear more from this talented artist you can visit her Facebook page for more incredible music. For more about Alicia Keys, you can check out her official website.