Private funeral for Whitney, red faces for Sony

A private funeral for Whitney Houston will take place this Saturday in the singer's hometown of Newark at the modest Baptist church where she first sang in public. It will be an invite-only occasion

Elsewhere, sales of the late singer's work have boomed since her death. According to the Official Charts Company, 20 Houston songs should be in the UK Top 200 this weekend, seven in the Top 40, with her cover of Dolly Parton's 'I Will Always Love You' charting the highest. More embarrassingly, Sony Music in the UK have put down two price hikes in the wake of the death to ‘employee error’: the price for Whitney's 'Ultimate Collection' rose on iTunes UK from £4.99 to £7.99 and 'Whitney: The Greatest Hits', also went up in price temporarily, from £7.99 to £9.99.

Whitney Houston dies

Whitney Houston has died, aged just 48. The singer, who had been troubled by drug abuse for many years, was found in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel by her bodyguard, and despite attempts to resuscitate her, she was pronounced dead at 3:55pm local time on Saturday afternoon. She was due to perform at a pre-Grammy award party in Los Angeles on Saturday night. Whilst police said they were investigating the death, the Hotel was not considered a crime scene. Among Houston's hits were How Will I Know, Saving All My Love for You and I Will Always Love You. She won multiple Grammys including album and record of the year and her success carried her beyond music to movies like The Bodyguard.