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As many as 14,500 people will flock to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center tomorrow as the District gives its last send-off to Chuck Brown, the local music icon who died earlier this month at age 75.
The service, which is scheduled to run from noon to 3 p.m., is being organized by Brown’s family and city officials. Donnie Simpson, a former longtime host on WPGC-FM who now appears on BET, will serve as host. Other radio personalities scheduled to take part in the ceremony include Tom Joyner, Chris Paul and Rock Newman.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper tribute to the Godfather of Go-Go without plenty of music. Performers slated to appear tomorrow include many go-go musicians, including Experience Unlimited frontman Sugar Bear, Huggy Lowdown, Anwan “Big G” Glover and The Chuck Brown Band. Other artists on the program include Doug E. Fresh, Kindred the Family Soul, Ledisi, Raheem DeVaughn, Tye Tribbett and the actor Mike Epps.
District officials taking part in the service include Mayor Vince Gray, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown and Councilmember Marion Barry (D-Ward 8). The Rev. Dr. Michael A. Freeman of the Spirit of Faith Christian Center in Temple Hills, Md. will deliver the eulogy.
And, for some reason, also in attendance will be Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, a former Howard University student who left before finishing her studies and later became the breakout star of the first season of The Apprentice.
Doors open at 10 a.m., and District officials say once 14,500 of Chuck Brown’s fans and mourners are inside, the doors will be shut. The service will be broadcast on the Office of Cable Television’s Channel 16, Gray said at a press conference today.
The convention center is accessible from the Mt. Vernon Square-Seventh Street-Convention Center Metrorail station on the Yellow and Green lines as well as several Metrobus routes running along Seventh Street NW and M Street NW.
