Before flying to Los Angeles on Sunday to be with his distraught daughter, Brown performed Saturday night, just hours after he was informed of Houston's sudden death at 48. 
 
 After professing his love for Houston onstage, Brown told the crowd, "The hardest thing for me to do is to come on this stage. Just say a prayer for my daughter, say a prayer for her mother and, if you find the time, please say a prayer for me because I am going to need it." 
 
 Jeff Allen, the group's agent, said in a statement that Brown will be onstage tonight at Showplace Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md., and continue on Friday at the Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C.;,Saturday at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn., and Sunday at the Newark PAC in New Jersey. 
 
 Houston, who was born in Newark and grew up in East Orange, is being laid to rest at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, where her father, John Russell Houston Jr., is also buried. 
 
 A private funeral is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET on Saturday. In addition to Houston's immediate and extended family, the guest list includes Clive Davis, Ray J, Brandy, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Dianne Warren, CeCe Winans (brother Marvin Winans is conducting the service), Darlene Love, L.A. Reid and Kevin Costner. ||||| Having previously picketed services for Matthew Shepard, Michael Jackson and Steve Jobs, Westboro Baptist Church now has its sights set on Whitney Houston's funeral. 
 
 The Christian Post is reporting that members of the right-wing Christian group, known for its strong anti-gay stance, are planning to stage a protest at the pop diva's private memorial, set for this weekend in her hometown of Newark, N.J. The group has even released a parody of Houston's signature song, titled "God Will Always Hate You, Whitney" (sung to the tune of "I Will Always Love You"). 
 
 Houston died Feb. 11 at the age of 48. 
 
 Westboro leader Margie J. Phelps appears to have confirmed the reports on her Twitter account: 
 
 @MargieJPhelps 
 
 MargiePhelps Yay! 2 pickets in NJ-Whitney Houston funeral & legis. MY : NJ gay marriage bill passes in state Senate, 24-16. Story coming shortly. 
 
 It is unclear why Westboro would have such an issue with Houston, who was known as a devout Christian and began her singing career at Newark's New Hope Baptist Church, where the funeral will be held. Phelps did imply that Houston's gay fanbase may have played a factor, tweeting: "F--k call her 'gay icon.' Yeah, WBC is picketing that funeral." 
 
 Phelps also noted: 
 
 @MargieJPhelps 
 
 MargiePhelps Just a few more hours before release of Westboro's "God Will Always Hate You,Whitney," parody of Will Always Love You. #WhitneyLiedOnGod 
 
 @MargieJPhelps 
 
 MargiePhelps #picketfuneral #obeyGod No R.I.P. Whitney Houston. You don't live your life serving self & sin, stealing God's glory,&get; peace. #warnliving 
 
 Still, whether or not Westboro members will actually try to attend the invite-only funeral -- which is also expected to draw the likes of Kevin Costner, Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder -- remains to be seen. Earlier this month, the Kansas-based group planned protests at two Missouri high schools, but only showed up at one. 
 
 View some of Westboro's other high-profile protests below: ||||| NEWARK — They are so famous, you don't need a last name to identify them. 
 
 Oprah. Beyoncé. Stevie. Aretha. Elton. 
 
 All are expected at the private funeral in Newark Saturday for Whitney. 
 
 City officials with knowledge of the family's plans told The Star-Ledger that Bill Cosby, David Bowie and Jay-Z also will attend Whitney Houston’s invitation-only funeral at the New Hope Baptist Church on Sussex Avenue, the house of worship where she was nicknamed "Nippy," for a mischievous cartoon character, and where her golden voice first flourished in the junior choir. 
 
 The sources asked not to be named because they were not authorized to make the guest list public. 
 
 Music legends Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin — Houston’s godmother — are scheduled to sing in at the star-studded service that begins at noon. So are Alicia Keys, R. Kelly and gospel singer Donnie McClurkin, said A. Curtis Farrow of the Newark-based Irving Street Rep company, which is helping the Houston family organize the service. 
 
 And Thursday night, the celebrity gossip website TMZ reported that the Houston family has reached out to Bobby Brown, Whitney’s ex-husband, and have formally invited him to attend the service. 
 
 Interviews with church leaders, friends of the family and others suggest the funeral will be a mixture of a Parade of Stars and religious music revelry. 
 
 "It’s going to be a ceremony that reflects her life," New Hope church Pastor Joe A. Carter said yesterday as sound equipment was loaded through church doors. 
 
 Farrow, who has known members of the Houston family for about 16 years, characterized the service as "a celebration of Whitney’s life, with the participation of many people who are very important in Whitney’s life." 
 
 Houston’s cousin, Dionne Warwick, is scheduled to speak at the service, as are filmmaker Tyler Perry, Houston’s music-industry mentor Clive Davis and Houston’s sister-in-law and manager, Patricia Houston, Farrow said. 
 
 The church’s New Hope Mass Choir, along with the New Jersey Mass Choir, will perform the processional and the opening, Farrow said. Choir members will back McClurkin and, possibly, some other artists, and Rickey Minor will lead a house band. 
 
 The song list and who will be in the backing cast for each artist has not yet been worked out. 
 
 Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio said officers will provide motorcycle escorts to many of the celebrities expected to arrive in Newark. 
 
 The funeral will otherwise be a private affair, with police shutting down a six square-block area around the church. There will be no procession of Houston’s body from the Whigham Funeral Home on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to the church, a little over a mile away, and no outside video screens so fans can mourn publicly, DeMaio said. 
 
 View full size 
 
 Fans will have to content themselves with a TV and Internet feed from inside the church, where Pastor Marvin L. Winans is scheduled to deliver a eulogy. He told CNN’s Anderson Cooper the family wanted to bury Houston "with dignity." 
 
 "We loved her when she was Nippy in New Jersey," said Winans, a family friend who is a Grammy Award winner and pastor of Perfecting Church in Detroit. "The world loved her because of her voice. But if Nippy could not sing, the Houston family would love her, and I knew that Mama Houston would do it the way she wanted it done. We’re going to church and we’re not going to be worried about if the world can get in." 
 
 Everyone had a Whitney story Thursday. 
 
 The jaw-dropping moment they first heard her sing at church. Or met her mother at a beauty supply store. 
 
 STAGING AREAS FOR FANS 
 
 But fans won’t be able to get close to the star’s funeral. 
 
 Two staging areas will be available for the public, DeMaio said. One will be on Sussex Avenue at Norfolk Street, near an NJ Transit light rail station, and the other on Nesbitt Street near James Street. 
 
 NJ Transit will have additional light rail vehicles and buses positioned to meet the expected demand tomorrow, agency spokesman John Durso Jr. said. 
 
 "We’re taking prudent and necessary steps to meet the expected increase in ridership due to the funeral," he said. 
 
 Michelle Johnson, 48, of Roselle, said her cousin sang background with Houston at New Hope. Since she didn’t know if she would be able to get close tomorrow, she stood outside the church yesterday afternoon in the drizzle. 
 
 "This is just a way to say thank you," Johnson said as she scanned the mini shrine fans made for the star on the church’s front fence. "I understand they want their privacy, and they need that for now." 
 
 Tyrone Hudson of Newark and his partner, Bobby Hudson, tied a balloon on the fence that read: "You’re always in our hearts." 
 
 "I loved her music, I loved her," said Hudson, who at 48 was the same age as the pop queen. 
 
 
 
 Others, like 35-year-old Fuquan Snead of Newark, don’t have a Houston story, but can rattle off a list of hits from the artist who had 11 songs that topped the charts. 
 
 And barricades or not, rain or not, they say they’ll come out to pay their respects to a fellow Newarker. 
 
 "You loved this woman’s music for many years, you have to come out and show your support," Snead said. 
 
 FLAGS AT HALF-STAFF 
 
 Mayor Cory Booker will attend the services, according to his spokeswoman, Anne Torres. As of Thursday, he was the only Newark dignitary to publicly receive an invitation. 
 
 The mayor also said Newark will lower flags at its municipal buildings to half-staff in honor of Houston, mirroring Gov. Chris Christie’s controversial decision to do the same at state facilities. 
 
 "Our city is mourning the loss of one of its native daughters and one of music’s shining stars," Booker said in a statement. "Whitney Houston inspired so many people, and although she went from a Newark church to the global stage, she always remained a deep part of our city’s pride and collective heart." 
 
 Outside the funeral home yesterday, a simple condolence book sat atop a Plexiglas stand. 
 
 Through the funeral parlor’s glass doors facing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, passers-by could glimpse a large picture of Houston. The portrait of the singer is framed by a black microphone stand in one corner and a high-backed "Diva" chair with a fur throw in the other. A Bible atop the fur is open to the 23rd Psalm. 
 
 By yesterday morning, dozens had signed the book, and a few jotted down lengthier tributes to the singing sensation who died Saturday in her room at the Beverly Hills Hilton. 
 
 "You are one of God’s angels and he has called you home," read one. 
 
 With no public services for Houston, funeral home director Carolyn Whigham wanted to give admirers a chance to note their condolences. 
 
 "It’s put together as memorabilia," she said. 
 
 Whigham, who has known the Houston family for decades, said the condolence book would be given to Bobbi Christina Brown, Houston’s 18-year-old daughter. 
 
 Newark’s Sherri Dillard, 32, stopped by on the cold, overcast morning. 
 
 "I had to be here — she’s like family," she said, brushing aside a tear. "I love her dead or alive." 
 
 A Middlesex County police officer, Dillard said she would do all she could to attend tomorrow’s services. 
 
 Maplewood’s Alex Boykins, 38, also signed the book. 
 
 "I was brought up on her music," he said after taking a picture of the window display. 
 
 Boykins said that although a more formal public commemoration would be fitting, he understood the family’s decision. 
 
 "We’ve had her for many years," he said. "We have to appreciate and respect that." 
 
 By Jay Lustig and James Queally/ The Star-Ledger 
 
 Star-Ledger staff writers Alexi Friedman, Victoria St. Martin, Richard Khavkine, Mark Di Ionno and Mike Frassinelli contributed to this report. ||||| Kevin Costner, who hand-picked Whitney Houston for ‘The Bodyguard’, will pay special tribute at her final curtain Bobby Brown to attend Saturday’s funeral despite friction with Cissy Houston 
 
 He catapulted her to Hollywood superstardom as her big-screen bodyguard and now Kevin Costner will pay special tribute to Whitney Houston at her final curtain. 
 
 The co-star behind Houston’s romantic thriller “The Bodyguard” will address a church on Saturday packed with A-listers, including Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys and Tyler Perry, a source said. 
 
 The two-time Oscar winner hand-picked Houston to play his tempestuous diva and reportedly told her not to take acting lessons to preserve the natural charm he found so alluring. 
 
 WHITNEY HOUSTON: HER LIFE IN PHOTOS 
 
 “Some of my choices are real simple, and it’s very easy to fall in love with Whitney,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 1992 — the year the movie and its smash single, “I Will Always Love You,” dominated pop culture. 
 
 Wonder and Franklin are scheduled to sing at the invitation-only service inside the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark. 
 
 Houston’s music mentor Clive Davis also will speak, her rep said. So will her cousin, singer Dionne Warwick, who stopped at the church Thursday to check on preparations. 
 
 The 90-minute service in the same church where Houston’s towering voice filled the rafters as a choir member will follow a private family wake Friday night. 
 
 The ultra-private viewing will give daughter Bobbi Kristina, 18, her first chance to say a final farewell without any cameras, a source told The News. 
 
 Houston’s estranged ex-husband Bobby Brown, 43, will attend Saturday’s funeral despite some friction with the dead diva’s mom, Cissy. Hours later, he’ll join his New Edition bandmates at a reunion concert at the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut. 
 
 “Bobby will be there,” the source said, knocking down reports he would be locked out. “You can imagine the family doesn’t want to be in discord with Bobbi Kristina.” 
 
 New Hope Pastor Joe Carter will conduct Saturday’s ceremony, and the eulogy will be given by the Rev. Marvin Winans, who married the former couple. 
 
 “We’re going to celebrate her life in the standard of which she deserves,” Carter said. “This is a church, and we’re gonna have some church.” 
 
 The service will be broadcast on TV and streamed live on NYDailyNews.com starting at noon. 
 
 Houston, who had the voice of an angel but a life filled with demons, died in a Beverly Hills hotel suite Saturday just hours before Davis’ annual pre-Grammy party. 
 
 A member of her entourage found her unconscious in the bathtub, her head submerged in water, police said. 
 
 Multiple prescription pill bottles were recovered in her room, but the official cause of death may not be known for weeks, pending toxicology tests, officials said. 
 
 A source close to the investigation told The News that investigators are looking at possible prescription drug interaction with an underlying ailment, possibly resulting in organ failure. 
 
 ndillon@nydailynews.com ||||| Update Bobby Brown Performing After Attending Whitney Houston Funeral 
 
 Erik Jordan/Retna 
 
 Not only is Bobby Brown not banned from attending Whitney Houston 's invitation-only funeral on Saturday, he is performing with New Edition a few hours later, it was just announced."He is not being banned. That's completely untrue," a family source tells PEOPLE.Adds a close family friend: "Bobby will be there at the funeral to support his [and Houston's] daughter [Bobbi Kristina Brown, 18]. There was some talk ... some people were angry at him, but that's just grief. He will be there."But Houston's funeral isn't Brown's only obligation on Saturday. Hours after his ex-wife is buried in New Jersey, he will perform with all the original New Edition members at Connecticut's Mohegan Sun Arena, a rep for the venue confirms.Early Thursday, PEOPLE learned that Clive Davis, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Kevin Costner will be among the speakers and singers at the funeral, which is being held at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, where Houston's distinctive voice was first heard in the choir."Kevin always supported her and, like many of her friends, they may have lost touch, but they were always friendly," says the family friend.Friday night, a private family service is planned.Earlier this week, Houston's publicist, Kristen Foster, said that the only video camera to be permitted inside the church for the funeral will be that belonging to the Associated Press, which will stream the service on its Livestream site and on PEOPLE.com.Brown, now 43, and Houston wed in 1992, and the following year Brown was charged with domestic abuse, though the charges were later dropped. After several rocky years together, the couple divorced in 2007.Houston, 48, was found dead Saturday in the bathtub of her suite at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and her body was returned to New Jersey on Tuesday.Check back Saturday for the AP's live stream from inside Houston's funeral, here on PEOPLE.com
– Whitney Houston's funeral tomorrow will be full of Hollywood VIPs, from Oprah to Beyoncé to Elton John. The New Jersey Star-Ledger runs down others expected to attend (Bill Cosby, David Bowie, Jay-Z, Elton John), speak (Dionne Warwick, Tyler Perry, Clive Davis) and even perform (Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys, R. Kelly). The invitation-only funeral will take place at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, where Houston was nicknamed "Nippy" in her childhood, and will be streamed live. One particularly poignant participant: Kevin Costner, who hand-picked Houston as his Bodyguard co-star, will pay tribute to her at the funeral, a source tells the New York Daily News. Another rumored invitee: Houston's ex-husband Bobby Brown. Sources tell People the rumors that he had been "banned" were not true and that he will in fact attend, and E! points out that he can still easily make it to a scheduled concert appearance with New Edition that evening in nearby Connecticut. (Controversy alert: Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket the funeral.)