WESTFIELD, N.J. (AP) — Whitney Houston was laid to rest Sunday at a brief private ceremony in New Jersey, the end of a weekend that saw the pop star’s family and friends gather at a star-studded funeral to mourn her loss while celebrating her career.

Fans and onlookers gathered in several places along the route the motorcade took from the Newark funeral home to the cemetery about 20 miles away in Westfield, where Houston was buried next to her father, who died in 2003.

The 48-year-old singer died Feb. 11 in California, hours before she was to attend a pre-Grammy Awards party. No cause of death has been determined.

On Saturday, she was mourned at an invitation-only funeral at the church in Newark where she sang in the choir as a child. She was remembered by the biggest names in the music: Stevie Wonder and Alicia Keys sang, and industry mogul Clive Davis was among those who spoke, as was Kevin Costner, Houston’s co-star in “The Bodyguard.”

The funeral was closed to fans, who were not allowed within blocks of the church. Still, many came to Newark to take part in what ways they could, some from as far as Miami and Washington, D.C.

Fans gathered again near the funeral home Sunday morning, and some even slowly ran alongside the hearse as it began the journey to Houston’s gravesite. Several yelled out “We love you, Whitney” as the hearse, which had a black and white headshot of the star in a window, slowly drove away.

Barbara Davis, 53, of Newark, said she had been waiting outside the funeral home since 8:30 a.m., hoping to get a glimpse of Houston’s final trip.

“To be here at her home-going is an honor and a blessing,” Davis told The Star-Ledger of Newark.

Also among the crowd was Newark resident Eva Aquino and her two granddaughters, ages 10 and 13. All three stood on a street corner as the hearse passed by, and they used cellphones to snap photos of the procession.

The girls were wearing T-shirts and buttons of Houston that their grandmother had bought from vendors outside the funeral home Saturday.

“We came here and bought all these things of her to cherish the memories,” said 13-year-old Nalani Velez of Kearny.

After all the testimonials from relatives and friends, the songs from legends and pop stars, the preaching and even laughter, the raw emotion of Whitney Houston’s funeral came down to just one moment: The sound of her own voice.

As the strains of her biggest record, “I Will Always Love You,” filled the New Hope Baptist Church at the end of the nearly four-hour service Saturday and her silver-and-gold casket was lifted in the air, the weight of the moment was too much for her mother to bear.

Gospel singer Cissy Houston wailed, “My baby! My baby!” as she was held up by two women and led out of the church behind her daughter’s body.

A few steps behind her was the pop icon’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina, also crying uncontrollably as she was comforted by Houston’s close friend, singer Ray J.

It was the most searing scene on a day with mixed moods as family, friends and a list of celebrities — sometimes one and the same — came to the humble New Hope Baptist Church, where Whitney Houston first wowed a congregation, to remember one of music’s legends, but also a New Jersey hometown girl.

Her death marked the end of a life of stunning achievement. Blessed with a voice of great power and beauty, Houston became one of pop music’s most successful artists over a career that spanned nearly three decades and segued into film with hits like “The Bodyguard.”

But her life was not without struggles. An addiction to drugs and a tumultuous union with ex-husband Bobby Brown saw her tumbling from grace.

Kevin Costner, her co-star in “The Bodyguard,” said that for all of Houston’s beauty and success, she was still yearning for approval from the public and somewhat insecure, a superstar who “still wondered, ‘Am I good enough? Am I pretty enough? Will they like me?'”

“It’s a tree we could all hang from — the unexplainable burden that comes with fame,” he said. “Call it doubt. Call it fear. I’ve had mine. And I know the famous in the room have had theirs.”