Country Stars Play Bill Monroe's Funeral

A whooping, hollering sendoff at Opry's old Ryman Auditorium

The country music world gave bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe a state funeral today at the old Ryman Auditorium, the historic home of the Grand Ole Opry. More than 2,000 mourners filed past the body of Monroe, who died Monday at 84, as it lay in an open casket with a white cowboy hat and a roll of quarters--a tribute to his habit of giving coins to children.

Then the service began with a recording of Monroe playing the mandolin on "My Last Days on Earth." The crowd--which included banjo great and former Monroe sideman Earl Scruggs, along with many other Opry veterans--sat somberly through hymns sung bluegrass style by Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, Stuart Duncan, Roy Husky Jr. and Patty Loveless.

But by the time Opry star Connie Smith finished "How Great Thou Art," the mood had swung. The audience erupted in applause, and then was on its feet for a whooping and hollering "Rawhide," played Monroe-style. The ceremony ended with the performers joining together in "Go Rest High on That Mountain." The casket was escorted out of the building to the sound of the Nashville Pipe and Drum Corps playing "Amazing Grace."

Monroe's body was taken to his hometown of Rosine, Kentucky, for burial.