Post by ~KaSeY~ on Mar 11, 2007 18:51:58 GMT -5
Seventy-six days after his death on Christmas Day, James Brown was finally laid to rest yesterday in a crypt emblazoned with the words "Godfather of Soul," the Rev. Al Sharpton said.
"It was very emotional," Sharpton told the Daily News after presiding over the ceremony in South Carolina. "It was just the closest family and his children."
The service at the Beech Island home of one of the singer's daughters was also attended by Brown's partner, Tomi Rae Hynie, and her 5-year-old son James Brown 2nd.
The backup singer's claims that Brown married her and fathered her child led to the estate dispute that delayed his burial for so long after his death on Dec. 25. A DNA sample was taken from Brown last month for a possible paternity challenge.
But Sharpton said the ceremony at the home of Deanna Brown Thomas "united" everybody who attended, and Hynie agreed.
"This is what James wanted, for the family to come together," she said.
Brown would be proud that his children had "the integrity to do what was right" despite the fight over his estate and other properties, Sharpton said. They paid for the entombment themselves.
The soul singer's children are planning to talk with Elvis Presley's family for advice on how to convert Brown's home into a Graceland-type museum. A public mausoleum there could be Brown's final resting place, not the crypt he was laid in yesterday.
Hynie said she was moving back to South Carolina to "carry out James' plans."
"He wanted our marital home to become a Graceland," she said.
The concrete crypt was inscribed with Psalm 37:1, Brown's favorite, Sharpton said.
"Do not fret because of evil men," the psalm reads, "or be envious of those who do wrong."
"It was very emotional," Sharpton told the Daily News after presiding over the ceremony in South Carolina. "It was just the closest family and his children."
The service at the Beech Island home of one of the singer's daughters was also attended by Brown's partner, Tomi Rae Hynie, and her 5-year-old son James Brown 2nd.
The backup singer's claims that Brown married her and fathered her child led to the estate dispute that delayed his burial for so long after his death on Dec. 25. A DNA sample was taken from Brown last month for a possible paternity challenge.
But Sharpton said the ceremony at the home of Deanna Brown Thomas "united" everybody who attended, and Hynie agreed.
"This is what James wanted, for the family to come together," she said.
Brown would be proud that his children had "the integrity to do what was right" despite the fight over his estate and other properties, Sharpton said. They paid for the entombment themselves.
The soul singer's children are planning to talk with Elvis Presley's family for advice on how to convert Brown's home into a Graceland-type museum. A public mausoleum there could be Brown's final resting place, not the crypt he was laid in yesterday.
Hynie said she was moving back to South Carolina to "carry out James' plans."
"He wanted our marital home to become a Graceland," she said.
The concrete crypt was inscribed with Psalm 37:1, Brown's favorite, Sharpton said.
"Do not fret because of evil men," the psalm reads, "or be envious of those who do wrong."
