i will always love you the sound of houston s biggest hit i will always love you as pallbearers carried her casket out. the moment began with these remarks we re here today, hearts broken but yet with god s strength, we celebrate the life of whitney houston. [ applause ] opening the service, joe carter, pastor of the new hope baptist church, houston s famous friends one after another gave stunningly poignant tributes, like tyler perry. there was a grace that carried her. a grace that carried her from heaven down through cissy houston. a grace that brought her up through singing. from what i understand, she wasn t supposed to be able speak, let alone sing because of an incident that happened as a child. but there was a grace that kept on carrying her all the way through. this same grace led her all the way to the top of the charts. sold all of these albums and done some amazing things, won all these awards she s sang for presidents. there was a grace that kept on