Lou Rawls News

An A-list of mourners, from Stevie Wonder to Joan Baez to Little Richard, descended upon a Los Angeles chapel Friday for a soul music-filled, two-hour-plus funeral/celebration of Lou Rawls, who died Jan. 6 of lung cancer.

"We'll have his music to celebrate moments of joy, to cry in moments of sorrow," Wonder said during the service at West Angeles Church of God in Christ.

"We got you, Lou. We got you forever."

The Reverend Jesse Jackson led the often rollicking memorial, calling Rawls "authentic, an original, a source of light in dark places."

"Put your hands together for Lou Rawls," he urged at one point. "For all the joy, all the children, all the scholarships, all the hope, all the help. Put your hands together."

Aside from his eulogy, Wonder was one of many who performed. Also taking turns on the dais: actress and singer Della Reese; gospel singer and pastor Andre Crouch; Baez, who brought the congregation to its feet with a rousing rendition of "Amazing Grace"; and Willie Rogers of the Soul Stirrers, a group Rawls performed with, belted "A Change Is Gonna Come."

Hundreds filled the church, including Louis Gossett Jr., Angela Bassett, music man Kenny Gamble, who produced Rawls' 1976 hit "You'll Never Find," and even David Hasselhoff.

Rawls, a three-time Grammy winner best known for the classic "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine," was hailed as a consummate singer, whose four-octave baritone could melt hearts. His charity work was also lauded; though he never made it past high school, Rawls raised more than $200 million for the United Negro College Fund during three decades of TV telethons.

His estranged wife of two years, Nina Rawls, who reunited with her husband in his final days and was at his beside when he died, also spoke.

"Lou loved everyone," she said. "I know the heavens are resonating with the sound of your voice."

Rawls, she said, would always close his concerts with a song. As she finished speaking, Rawls' "One Life to Live" began playing.