Chuck Brown’s casket on display. (Photo by Chip Py, courtesy of the Brown family)

Thousands of mourners lined the sidewalk outside the restored Howard Theatre waiting to pay their last respects to Chuck Brown, the D.C. music legend who died earlier this month at age 75.

Brown, dressed in a black pinstriped suit with a peach-colored vest and necktie and topped in his signature fedora, lied in repose in a sturdy, brass-handled coffin positioned in front of the Howard’s stage. The musician looked gaunt; Brown died from sepsis after a long bout with pneumonia that had hospitalized him in April.

Photo by @brucejohnson9

The Godfather of Go-Go, as Brown came to be known in a career that spanned nearly half a century, drew mourners from all corners of the District, many of whom waited hours in the sweltering humidity outside in a line that snaked down the portion of Seventh Street NW named Chuck Brown Way.

Mayor Vince Gray stood in front of Brown’s coffin as the service began at 11 a.m. For nearly 100 minutes the mayor shook hands with everyone who came through. Soft blues music emanated from the Howard’s sound system, and mourners muttered their thoughts about the late founder of go-go music. “Oh, Chuck,” one woman said.

Outside, people made more boisterous celebrations of Brown’s oeuvre, chanting “Wind me up, Chuck!” and dancing on the plaza in front of the theater. Nearby business blasted songs like “Bustin’ Loose” from their windows and front doors. Many vendors offered T-shirts and other memorabilia crafted in the days since Brown’s death. Others sold much-needed bottles of water.

“For me, I think it was good to be able to see Chuck on this last journey,” said Barbara Borum, one of the first people to pass through the Howard after the viewing began. Borum said she’d been following Brown since he created go-go some 35 years ago.

Cherita Whiting exits the public viewing of her father, Chuck Brown. (Photo by Benjamin R. Freed)

A few minutes earlier, Brown’s daughter, Cherita Whiting, emerged from the theater, which while open to media was closed to photography. Whiting did not make any comments to the several reporters and photographers who followed her across T Street NW.

William Simmons, 63, came from Southeast D.C. to pay his last respects to Brown. “He’s one of my favorite musicians,” he said. “Helped a lot of young minority children, anyone who wanted to get into music and get off the street. And he always put on a great show.”

After more than an hour and a half greeting people at the wake, Gray finally emerged from the Howard about 12:45 p.m. to make a few brief comments about Brown. The mayor called the ceremony a “tribute to a great artist.” When asked what his favorite song of Brown’s was, Gray offered two choices—”Bustin’ Loose” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Go-Go Swing.”

Brown’s wake will continue through 10 p.m. tonight. A public memorial ceremony is scheduled for Thursday at noon at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.