Whitney Houston remembered in a star-studded tribute

A host of stars came out Thursday night in Los Angeles to pay tribute to the late Whitney Houston in an event taped for a special to air on CBS later this fall.

Britney Spears, Jennifer Hudson and Usher were among the stars who remembered Houston at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live.

Actress Halle Berry was also in attendance and got teary-eyed while speaking about Houston onstage.

"She inspired a generation of little girls and women to believe in their own dream and to know that they had within themselves the greatest gift of all," Berry said, reports Reuters. "I was one of those little girls who then became a woman who never ever, ever, stopped loving Whitney Houston."

The star-studded event was full of performances. Usher sang "I Believe In You And Me," and gospel singers Cece Winans and Yolanda Adams did a version of "Count On Me." Hudson took on a medley of Houston's hits, performing "I'm Every Woman," "How Will I Know" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."

Spears took the stage to recall the audition that landed her a record deal; she sang Houston's "I Have Nothing."

Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown attended the show and was spotted sitting alongside her new fiance, Nick Gordon, sister-in-law Pat Houston and record label executive Clive Davis. Houston's mother, Cissy, was not there.

Houston died in February at the age of 48. She was found in a bathtub at the Beverly Hills hotel on the night before the Grammy Awards. Authorities attributed her death to accidental drowning, also citing cocaine use and heart disease.

"We Will Always Love You: A Grammy Salute To Whitney Houston" will air as a one-hour special on Nov. 16 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.