NEW YORK -- A funeral for pop singer Aaliyah was held Friday morning at Manhattan's St. Ignatius Loyola Roman Catholic Church.
NEW YORK -- A funeral for pop singer Aaliyah was held Friday morning at Manhattan's St. Ignatius Loyola Roman Catholic Church.
Among the notables attending the private service with Aaliyah's family were Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Mike Tyson, Delroy Lindo, Lil Kim, Mya, Usher, and Aaliyah's aunt, Gladys Knight.
An estimated 500 fans stood outside the church.
The funeral, and a public memorial scheduled for Friday afternoon at a midtown Manhattan restaurant, culminates nearly a week of mourning for Aaliyah. The Grammy-nominated singer-turned-actress died Saturday in a plane crash in the Bahamas. She had been in the Bahamas to film a video from her new album, released last month.
Eight other people on the plane also died. The crash remains under investigation.
On Friday, the casket carrying Aaliyah, who was 22, was brought to the church in a 100-year-old glass-paneled carriage pulled by a pair of cream-colored horses.
"It is so beautiful. She's going out like a princess," Nicole Campbell, 24, told The Associated Press.
Ten pallbearers carried the cream-colored casket into the church, with the singer's mother and brother following behind.
Twenty-two trained doves were scheduled to fly above the church at the conclusion of the service.
On Thursday, fans signed their names in a guest book outside the funeral home.
"I'm totally devastated by this great loss," Glory Mosby, 29, one of the first few to sign, told The Associated Press.
"May U Rest in Peace -- You are still the greatest," one person wrote in the guest book. "Your light will shine on."
Others solemnly printed their names and addresses. By late afternoon, an employee of the funeral home added pages to the book, which was filled with names and statements.
Darlene Corbin, 33, stood outside the funeral home for more than an hour, watching people come and go.
"So many lives she touched," Corbin told the AP. "She probably never had an inkling as to how many people loved her."
Several large flower arrangements were carried in through a side door, including a bouquet of pink roses bearing a card with "Aaliyah" printed inside a heart. A pink teddy bear was propped near the guest book. Children stood on tiptoes to read the pages and write their names.
"She was sending out a message to all the young kids, and the kids loved her," said Mary Harvey, 25, who brought her three young nieces from Brooklyn. "She will be missed."
reprinted from www.cnn.com