In honor of the untimely passing of music icon Whitney Houston, the 2012 BET AWARDS pulled together an unprecedented pairing of today's divas, family members, friends, and cast mates for an emotional tribute that even brought BET AWARDS 12 double-winner Beyonce to tears. View the moving tribute to Whitney Houston below!
The incomparable Mariah Carey opened the In Memoriam celebration with a trio of stories, speaking about meeting her friend at the Grammys, working together on their Oscar-winning duet, "When You Believe" from the Prince of Egypt soundtrack and the last time they saw each other—laughing together in Paris in the fall.
Paying tribute to Whitney Houston's undeniable gospel roots—both spiritually and vocally, Monica took to the stage to sing "I Love The Lord." Monica's "The Boy Is Mine" duet partner, Brandy, lifted the mood with up-tempo favorites "I'm Your Baby Tonight" and "I Want To Dance With Somebody." Gary Houston, Whitney's brother, sang "Where You Are," a touching prelude to their mother's performance of "Bridge Over Troubled Water." Cissy Houston dedicated her performance to her late daughter and brought the audience to tears with her emotional rendition of the song. Cissy Houston's performance was followed by a heartfelt and memory-filled account from Whitney's "Waiting to Exhale" co-stars Angela Bassett, Lela Rochon, and Loretta Devine. Chaka Khan helped the crowd—including Soulja Boy—dry their eyes with an upbeat performance of "I'm Every Woman" that got the already standing room only crowd dancing in celebration of the late singer's life.
Other moving In Memoriam tributes included Valerie Simpson's love-filled performance to her late husband, Nick Ashford, Chante Moore singing "Love to Love You Baby" and "Bad Girls" to tribute Donna Summer, and special moments spotlighting the entertainment industry and world's loss of Dick Clark, HAl Jackson, Heavy D, Etta James, Vesta, Robin Gibb, Don Cornelius, MCA, and Chuck Brown.
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