Funk singer Rick James was laid to rest Saturday in his hometown city, where before his hit, "Super Freak," and the Grammy Award, he was a choir boy from the projects with a soft spot for his mother.
James died in his sleep August 6, at his home near Universal City, California. He was 56.
Seventy gospel singers and a band performed a lively tribute in St. John Baptist Church on Goodell St. Saturday.
About 6,000 people filed past James' open casket after waiting hours in a line that stretched more than two city blocks.
"This Buffalo project boy was like a phoenix rising from ashes to the pinnacle of America's musical world," said his cousin, former Ohio congressman Louis Stokes. He attended the funeral, along with the singer's three children, aunt, uncle, other cousins and friends
At one point Saturday morning, mourners stretched outside the church for close to a mile, down Goodell St. and into the city's fruit belt. Some stood in line as early as 5:30 in the morning.
To see and hear from more the mourners,click on the video icon above right for a report from Channel 2's Aaron Saykin
James, 56, born James Johnson Jr., died last week at his home near Universal City. His work as a musician took him from Bennett High School in Buffalo, to a high profile recording career, public drug abuse and a prison term.
"He was a real person who did some great things, then did some atrocious things. His yin and his yang always shifted," said James's brother, Carmen Johnson-Sims.
James had a history of cocaine addiction that led to two assault convictions in the 1990s and a two-year stretch in prison.
James grew up with seven brothers and sisters in public housing projects and began singing in the choir at St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church, where he was an altar boy. Later, he played congos and bongos with the Cadet Drum Corp. and with the Bennett High School Band.
When he signed with Motown in the 1970s, he took along friend Aaron Dublin, then a Buffalo police officer, as his road manager and security chief.
"He was without a doubt a musical genius," said Dublin, who worked with James until 1983. "He changed the game of music. There was never anybody like him before and there's never been anybody like him since."
Dublin and other longtime friends described James as a dedicated and loyal family man, who maintained those traits even as he changed his name and saw his career peak.
"I like it that he was a real person. He wasn't a phony," Pastor Michael Chapman said.
The service was followed by an evening concert in Martin Luther King Park, that drew nearly 2,000 fans and friends. Well-known musicians like Rodney Applebee and Val Young performed. Young had recently recorded a duet with James.
"He was everything to me," she said of James." He was mentor, my boss, my friend."
During the concernt, members of James's Stone City Band held a backstage reunion.
"Rick and I went to grammar school together," said drummer Levi Ruffin. "We were still writing music together. It hurts. It really hurts."
At a public viewing Wednesday night in Los Angeles, Nona Gaye was overcome with emotion. The actress and daughter of Marvin Gaye says she knew James all of her life and can't put his loss into words.
She adds at least she'll have James' music to remember him by.
