When William B. "Willie" McCoy (aka Wolf Johnson) died last September, his sister teamed up with the geniuses at Dallas' Golden Gate Funeral Home to give him a proper send-off. Willie at one point sang with the Drifters but made his biggest mark singing bass in that haunting Chili's commercial that stuck to pop culture like BBQ sauce on ribs. (Oddly, the version featuring Willie doesn't seem to be on YouTube, so here's Nsync's.) That song was sung at his funeral/home-going ceremony, which also featured a barbeque sauce fountain, shrieking pigs, giant rib sculptures, a picnic and a preacher in a chef's hat. Naturally, this was all captured by TLC in a one-off special that aired last night called Best Funeral Ever.
You may know that name because TLC famously pushed back the show's airdate after the Newtown massacre. The show was dedicated to the eccentric Golden Gate Funeral Home, which does these type of lighthearted theme funerals on the regular (check out the Christmas one, which featured goats, Santa and people in furry costumes). They go all out, even employing professional mourners (a practice apparently sanctioned by the Bible). Said mourners have moves such as "mourning feet" and, my personal favorite, the "tornado mourn."
Ah, the lighter side of death.