Whitney tribute features mom Cissy; Bobby Brown remarries
NEW YORK—Whitney Houston’s mother will perform a tribute to her late daughter alongside other female singers at the coming Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards.
A source familiar with BET’s plans—and who spoke on condition of anonymity because the tribute has not been officially announced—said last week that Cissy Houston will take the stage at the July 1 awards show to honor her daughter. Cissy will be joined by “a few top divas,” the source said, though the source could not give their names.
Whitney Houston died at age 48 in February. Authorities called her death an accidental drowning, complicated by heart disease and cocaine use.
The BET Awards airs live from The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Kanye West, Beyonce and Jay-Z are the top nominees.
Meanwhile, Whitney’s ex-husband, R&B singer-songwriter Bobby Brown, has remarried in Hawaii, People magazine reported last week.
Photos of Brown, 43 (a member of the pop group New Edition), his new wife and manager, Alicia Etheridge, and their wedding party were posted on Instagram by the singer’s teenage son, Bobby Jr.
People magazine said the couple tied the knot on Monday last week, a day after Brown performed at a New Edition concert in Honolulu.
Brown and Etheridge have a young son together and became engaged on stage in 2010—three years after Brown’s acrimonious divorce from Houston.
Brown and Houston were married for 15 years, during which Houston developed a heavy addiction to cocaine, marijuana and crack. In an April 2011 TV interview, Brown hit back at suggestions that he got Houston hooked on drugs, or that he somehow played a role in her death.
Brown has five children, one with Houston, three from previous relationships, and one with Etheridge.