newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

New Jersey born singer Whitney Houston has been renewing her comeback efforts in the early part of 2011, along with rejoining the rumor mill.

Houston got together with ex-husband Bobby Brown in Boston this week at the funeral of Bobby's mom, Carole, 69, who died last week in Los Angeles.

According to the Boston Herald, Whitney, who divorced Brown, her hubby of 11 years in 2007, sang two songs at her former mother-in-law's Monday funeral at Roxbury's Twelfth Baptist Church.

Prior to that, returning for her first live performance after a string of disastrous concerts during her attempted comeback tour last year, Whitney dazzled the audience at BET's "Celebration of Gospel" this past Sunday when she took it to church, singing a duet of "I Turn to You" with Christian vocalist Kim Burrell, according to jezebel.com.

Green Celebrity Network reports Houston has been in the middle of rumors about her possible pregnancy in recent days. The singer has been seen recently in pics and in a video showing a potential baby bump, leaving Whitney Houston fans wondering if she's pregnant, going through a weight gain or suffering from medical issues.

When photos of Houston showed her to be extremely thin, she was rumored to be on crack cocaine, and now, presumably at a more healthy weight, the rumors are she's pregnant. Despite the photo evidence, the chances of Houston being pregnant are slim. She is 47, making natural conception very unlikely.

Aol Music says Houston has not addressed the rumors, though a few theories of her weight gain have turned up. Houston has a history of respiratory infections, so one is that she is being treated with steroids to combat a respiratory infection. Another attributes it to the side effects of becoming clean and sober.

According to lyricsfreak.com, Whitney Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey. She is the third and youngest child of John and gospel singer Cissy Houston. Her mother, along with cousins Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick and godmother Aretha Franklin are all notable figures in the gospel, rhythm and blues, pop, and soul genres. After the 1967 Newark riots, the family moved to a middle class area in East Orange, New Jersey when she was four.

She is ranked as the fourth best-selling female artist in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with 54 million certified albums.