Whitney Houston dazzled the crowd with a rare live performance at a star-studded charity ball in Battersea.

Celebrities, including Elton John's partner David Furnish, turned out for the Caudwell Children Legends Ball in Battersea Park, where Whitney was singing to raise money for the children's charity.

David said: "I have seen Whitney sing live in New York about 10 years ago or 11 years ago at Sting and Trudie's Rainforest Party and she was fantastic.

"She hasn't been doing much live performing since then so I think this is a real coup to get her out and performing live again."

And David does not believe the singer needs to prove anything to relaunch her career.

He said: "I think relaunch is the wrong word, I think when you have someone like Whitney who is spectacularly talented, I think they can take as much time off as they want and if they get the right songs they can come back and sell lots of records."

The Caudwell Children was founded by English mobile phone billionaire John Caudwell.