Whitney Houston's godmother, legendary singer Aretha Franklin, will talk to Al Roker in an interview airing on Dateline on Friday, February 17, 2012, at 10p/9c, according to a February 17 announcement from NBC Television Network. The memorial for Whitney Houston will be held on Saturday, February 18, 2012, and Aretha Franklin will perform. Part of the interview was broadcast on The Today Show and the video is attached.
Franklin talks to Roker exclusively about when she first met Houston, who she affectionately called Nippy, where she was when she found out that the legendary singer had passed and what she believes Houston’s legacy will be. Viewers will also see exclusive footage of Houston at the Whitney E. Houston Academy of Creative and Performing Arts in 1997 when the school was named in her honor.
The service for Whitney Houston will be streamed online through various sources. E! News has announced that they will broadcast a live report on Saturday morning. Whitney Houston funeral to air live on E! News
The memorial service is being held almost exactly one week after the report that Whitney Houston died at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Houston was attending pre-Grammy events in the days leading up to her death. Prayers for Whitney, love for Adele at the Grammys
Going Home service for Whitney Houston - pictures
Following are portions of the interview with Aretha Franklin. The interview airs on Dateline, Friday, February 17, 2012, on NBC Television Network.
Roker asked if Franklin had any idea of what Whitney would become.
Aretha Franklin: "Who knew? Who knew? No one could forecast the monumental success she had. No one knew how big she would blow up."
When asked whether Whitney Houston ever talked to Aretha Franklin about her struggles, Franklin replied, "No, but early on, I let her know that if she needed any advice and if she needed to talk about anything, she could always call me."
Franklin thought that Whitney Houston's legacy would be her body of work, and not her sad ending, "Yeah certainly her body of work is going to go on for generations to come. From generation to generation, that definitely would be her legacy.... I don't think that we should focus on the challenges that she had. Because in some way, we all have challenges, from time to time. I don't think we should focus on that. Look at the character of the person and the character of the woman. And think about the hits and forget the misses."
Franklin noted that one of the last songs Houston is known to have sung was "Yes, Jesus Loves Me." "When God loves you what can be better than that?"
The interview with Aretha Franklin will be followed by a report by Natalie Morales about the 2010 murder of Monica Beresford-Redmond in Cancun, Mexico. The primary suspect is her husband, Hollywood TV producer Bruce Beresford-Redmond.
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