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先週11日にわずか48歳という若さでこの世を後にした米歌手ホイットニー・ヒューストン（Whitney Houston）の葬儀が、18日、幼い頃初めてコーラスで歌を歌った生まれ故郷のニュージャージー州ニューアークの教会（New Hope Baptist Church）で営まれました。
遺族の意向で近親者や親友だけが参列した葬儀には、オプラ・ウィンフリー（Oprah Winfrey）、ロバータ・フラック（Roberta Flack）、ディオンヌ・ワーウィック（Dionne Warwick）、スティーブン・ジャクソン（Jesse Jackson）、そして師クライヴ・デイヴィス（Clive Davis）などアメリカの名だたる著名人をはじめとする1500人が参列。
1992年に映画『ボディガード』で共演した俳優ケビン・コスナー（Kevin Costner）は、そのおよそ17分にわたる弔辞の中で、映画『ボディガード』のキャスティングの際、ホイットニー・ヒューストンのツアー・スケジュールとの調整の問題や、スタジオ・サイドから初めての演技となるホイットニー・ヒューストンの配役に対する懸念があったことを明かし、明言はされなかったものの“黒人”である彼女の当時の配役に対するスタジオ側から向けられた厳しい事情があったこと、そして人知れず悩みを抱えいた彼女の素顔を語り、以下の言葉で締めくくりました。
私の知っているホイットニーは、世界的な成功と栄誉にもかかわらず、（当時）それでも彼女はこう自分に疑問を投げかけていた。「私は十分にやっているだろうか？」「私は綺麗に見えるだろうか？」「彼らは私のことを気に入ってくれるだろうか？」と。
The Whitney that I knew, despite her worldwide success and fame, still wondered, ‘Am I good enough? Am I pretty enough? Will they like me?’それは彼女を偉大な成功へと導いた悩みであったが、最後にはそれは彼女を苦しめるものとなってしまった。
It was the burden that made her great, and the part that caused her to stumble in the end.ホイットニー、もし今私の声が聞こえていたら…、こう君に伝えたいよ。決して「十分でない」なんてことはなく、君は最高に素晴らしかったと。
Whitney, if you could hear me now, I would tell you, you weren’t just good enough, you were great.君はバンドもなしにとんでもなく素晴らしい曲を歌い、最高に理想の演技をしていた。
You sang the whole damn song without a band. You made the picture what it was.多くの役者が私の役を演じることをできただろう、でも君は、ホイットニー、私は心から信じているよ、レイチェル・マロンを演じることができた人は君以外にいないと。
A lot of leading men could’ve played my part … but you, Whitney, I truly believe you were the only one who could’ve played Rachel Marron at that time.君はただ綺麗というわけじゃない、君は女性の中で最も美しい女性なんだ。
You weren’t just pretty; you were as beautiful as a woman could be.そして人々は君をただ好きだというわけではなかったんだ、ホイットニー、
みんな君を愛していたんだ。
And people didn’t just like you Whitney, they loved you.（…）
さあ、行くんだ、ホイットニー、さあ天使の腕に抱かれて、
天国の神様のもとへお行きなさい。
神様の前で歌う時は、心配しなくていいんだよ。
君は「十分に」素晴らしいのだから。
So off you go, Whitney. Off you go. Escorted by an army of angels to your heavenly father, and when you sing before him don’t you worry… YOU’LL BE GOOD ENOUGH.
（記事）”Kevin Costner Pays Touching Tribute to Whitney Houston at Funeral” on PopCrush
また、葬儀ではピアノ弾き語りでアリシア・キーズ（Alicia Keys）が「Send Me An Angel」を、スティービー・ワンダー（Stevie Wonder）が「Ribbon in the Sky」を、そしてR・ケリー（R. Kelly）が感傷を誘う「I Look to You」を歌い、追悼を捧げました。
（記事）”Whitney Houston’s Funeral: Kevin Costner Speaks, Alicia Keys Performs” on ID LATOR
（記事）”Whitney Houston’s Funeral: Stevie Wonder Sings “Ribbons In The Sky”” on ID LATOR
（記事）”Whitney Houston’s Funeral Features Performances by Alicia Keys, R. Kelly + More” on PopCrush
CNNの完全生中継をはじめ、オンラインでストリーミング配信されおよそ3時間に及んだホイットニー・ヒューストンの葬儀、その最後で「I Will Always Love Yo」でホイットニー・ヒューストンの歌声が流れると、深い悲しみと涙に包まれました。
遺体は19日、州内の墓地に眠っている父親（John Russell Houston Jr.）の横で安らかに永遠の眠りに就きます。
（記事）”Whitney Houston To Be Buried Next To Father” on NBC4i.com
Kevin Costner’s Speech At Whitney Houston’s Funeral
The day the test came and I went into her trailer after the hair and makeup people were done, Whitney was scared. Arguably, the biggest pop star in the world wasn’t sure if she was good enough. She didn’t think she looked right. There were a thousand things to her that seemed wrong.
I held her hand and told her that she looked beautiful. I told her that I would be with her every step of the way, that everyone there wanted her to succeed, but I could still feel the doubt. I wanted to tell her that the game was rigged, that I didn’t care how the test went, that she could fall down and start speaking in tongues, that somehow I would find a way to explain it as an extraordinary acting choice. [ applause ]
…and we could expect more to follow, and gee, weren’t we lucky to have her. That wouldn’t have been fair. It wouldn’t have been fair to Lawrence who had written the screen play 15 years earlier. It wouldn’t have been fair to my brothers at Warner Brothers and it wasn’t the right signal to send to Whitney .
She took it all in and asked me if she could have a few minutes by herself and would meet me on the set. I was sure she was praying. After about 20 minutes later she came out. We hadn’t said four lines when we had to stop. The lights were turned off, and I walked Whitney off the set and back to her room.
She wanted to know what was wrong, and I needed to know what she’d done during those 20 minutes. She said, “nothing.” in only the way she could, nothing.
So I turned her around so that she could see herself in the mirror and she gasped. All of the makeup on Whitney’s face was running. It was streaking down her face and she was devastated. She didn’t feel like the makeup we put on her was enough so she’d wiped it off and put on the makeup that she was used to wearing in her music videos . It was much thicker and the hot lights had melted it. She asked if anyone had seen — if anyone had saw, I said “I didn’t think so.”
It happened so quickly. She seemed so small and sad at that moment, and I asked her why she did it? She said, “I just wanted to look my best.”
It’s a tree we can all hang from. Unexplainable burden that comes with fame, call it doubt, call it fear. I’ve had mine, and I know the famous in the room have had theirs.
I asked her to trust me and she said she would. A half hour later she went back in to do her screen test and the studio fell in love with her. The Whitney i knew, despite her success and worldwide fame still wondered…
Am I good enough?
Am I pretty enough?
Will they like me?
It was the burden that made her great, and the part that caused her to stumble in the end.
Whitney, if you could hear me now I would tell you , “You weren’t just good enough, you were great.”
You sang the whole damn song without a band. You made the picture what it was. A lot of leading men could have played my part. a lot of guys — a lot of guys could have filled that role, but you, Whitney , I truly believe were the only one that could have played Rachel Mirren at that time. [ applause ]
You weren’t just pretty; you were as beautiful as a woman could be. People didn’t just like you, Whitney, they loved you.
I was your pretend bodyguard once not so long ago, and now you’re gone, too soon, leaving us with memories — memories of a little girl that stepped bravely in front of this church, in front of the ones that loved you first. In front of the ones that loved you best and loved you the longest. The bolder you stepped into the white-hot light of the world stage, and what you did is the rarest of achievements.
You set the bar so high that professional singers, your own colleagues, they don’t want to sing that little country song. What would be the point? Now the only one who sing your songs are young girls like you who with are dreaming of being you some day.
And so do you Bobbi Kristina and to all those young girls who are dreaming that dream, that maybe thinking are they good enough?
I think Whitney would tell you guard your bodies, guard the precious miracle of your own life, and then sing your hearts out knowing that there’s a lady in heaven who is making god himself wonder how he created something so perfect.
So off you go, Whitney. Off you go. Escorted by an army of angels to your heavenly father, and when you sing before him don’t you worry… YOU’LL BE GOOD ENOUGH.
（引用）”‘You’re Good Enough!’ – Kevin Costner’s Inspiring Speech At Whitney Houston’s Funeral ” on YouTube
