Jim Ed Brown’s Funeral Set for the Ryman Auditorium
In a fitting farewell, Grand Ole Opry legend Jim Ed Brown's funeral will take place at the Mother Church of Country Music, Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium.
Brown passed away on Thursday (June 11) after battling cancer since last year. His funeral will take place at the Ryman on Monday (June 15) at 10AM, and will be open to the public. Doors will open at 9:30AM.
Participants in the service will include the Oak Ridge Boys, the Gatlin Brothers, Crystal Gayle, Rhonda Vincent, Brenda Lee, Jeannie Seely, Craig Morgan, Lady Antebellum, the Isaacs, Lang Scott, Linda Davis and Hillary Scott, CMA CEO Sarah Trahern, Colin Reed, Opry General Manager Pete Fisher and Rev. Sam Boyd. Following the service there will be an interment at Woodlawn Memorial Park cemetery, which is also open to the public.
Brown had the distinction of having hits in three very distinct phases of his career, first with his sisters in a trio called the Browns in the 1950s and 1960s, and then as a solo act beginning in 1967. In 1976 he began recording with Helen Cornelius, placing a string of hit duets and earning Vocal Duo of the Year honors from the CMA. Brown joined the Opry along with his sisters in 1963 and performed there regularly until shortly before his death.
Brown first shared his lung cancer diagnosis in September of 2014, then announced he was in remission in January, the same month he made his return to the Grand Ole Opry stage after releasing his first new album in decades, In Style Again. In March he was announced as one of the Country Music Hall of Fame’s class of 2015. At the 2015 ACM Awards in April, he told Taste of Country he was cancer free, but in early June, his daughter announced via Facebook that his cancer had returned.
The legendary singer was to have been inducted into the Hall of Fame in October, but as his health worsened, Trahern, Hall of Fame CEO Kyle Young and Hall of Famer Bill Anderson visited him in the hospital to present him with his medallion.
Jim Ed Brown is survived by his wife, Becky Brown; daughter Kim Corwin and her husband, Dr. Michael Corwin; son James Edward Brown, Jr. and his wife, Leigh; and grandchildren Isabella Brown, Hampton Brown, Oliver Brown, Genevieve Brown and Catherine Corwin.
The Biggest Stories of 2015 (So Far)