Funeral of murdered American rapper Goonew held in nightclub. 6 strange funerals
In the 2011 film, A Little Bit of Heaven, terminally ill patient and protagonist Marley Corbett (played by Kate Hudson) wants her funeral to be a celebration full of colours. In the 2007 film PS I Love You, we saw Gerry's funeral as one where people danced to Fairytale of New York. We have seen in several cancer movies like The Fault In Our Stars that people, especially those who know they are going to die, often plan their funerals. Some may not want the attendants to wear all black and be sad, some may want specific music to be played, etc.
But have you ever heard of a funeral being held at a nightclub with the corpse propped upright and in attendance? Yes, if the dancing pallbearers of Ghana - who’ve become the meme stock of the world - are anything to go by, then all sorts of strange funerals exist in the world.
Here are 6 strange funerals including the recent nightclub one that will make you perhaps plan your own funeral (pun intended). Warning, some of these might be macabre; after all, we are talking about dead bodies here:
1. NIGHTCLUB FUNERAL
A video of a funeral held at a nightclub in Washington DC for a popular American rapper Markelle 'Goonew' Morrow has gone viral. The video shows the body of the rapper propped up standing straight on the dais as family and friends partied around the corpse.
— Backend Pay (@itsopulencebaby) April 4, 2022
The viral video sent the internet into a tizzy, with netizens trying to process the scene at the ‘funeral’. Some couldn’t believe the world had come to this stage.
Me snatching my friends out the club after seeing a dead body pic.twitter.com/gbIdnM7m6l
— Jonah Gilmore (@JonahMGilmore) April 4, 2022
The rapper’s mother Patrice Morrow later told Fox 5 DC that they wanted to honour his life with a celebration. She said that she’s pleased with the way her son was sent away.
The nightclub on the other hand issued an apology saying that while the space was booked by a funeral home, they weren’t aware of what exactly was happening there.
2. DEAD MAN SCREAMS ‘LET ME OUT’ AT FUNERAL
Irish Defence Force veteran Shay Bradley planned his funeral in a way that the attendees started laughing their heart out. Bradley passed away in October 2019. As a final parting message, he left a voice recording to be played right when the coffin was being lowered. Guess what the message said?
“LET ME OUT,” the message from the speaker screamed, complete with sound effects of someone knocking. His hilarious message making it seem like he was the one actually screaming to be let out of the coffin cracked up the audience. Some were left half-crying and half-laughing at the comic relief.
3. RICK AND MORTY RAP
Sisters’ TikTok at Funeral Goes Viral | The View https://t.co/3G5q1SFF5G via @YouTube
— Soulja Boy (Big Draco) (@souljaboy) September 18, 2021
Covid-19 stole the mother of these two young girls. The end was tragic but the girls, 21-year-old Trinity Wright and her 12-year-old sister, did not want a sad send-off for their mother. So they rapped Soulja Boy's 'Rick & Morty' meme song in front of the open casket funeral of their mother, Michelle Wright, and posted it on TikTok.
The video soon went viral. They also captioned it, “'Day one of singing 'Rick & Morty' to our mom until she comes back from the d3@d.”
We guess the dead would definitely wake up from the coffin to slap shut the mouths repeating the irritating meme song.
4. TWERKING AWAY THE SADNESS
Friends and family know their dead loved ones more than anyone else. So this TikTok user took to twerking at the grave of her best friend on the latter's death anniversary. It is definitely something to remember and relive the best moments from the dead person’s life. Guess what Amira, the friend, is saying from the afterlife about being twerked on.
This soon became a trend on TikTok. However, some claimed that people were twerking on strangers' graves and it was disrespectful.
5. DEAD ALIVE
Will you take to crying at the dead body stuffed in a casket at the funeral of your loved one? Or will you have the mortal remains of your loved one sit upright, dressed in their favourite clothes and surrounded by their favourite elements?
In 2014, 53-year-old Miriam Burbank’s funeral was not celebrated the usual way. Instead, Miss Burbank was made to sit upright, all dressed up, with a cigarette in hand and surrounded by her favourite things, complete with a disco ball overhead. The sister of the deceased described the funeral as ‘not like a funeral’, but a place where she was also present with them.
6. FUNERAL FOR BIRTHDAY
In 2017 my husband (then boyfriend) threw a surprise funeral for my birthday because “people shouldn’t have to die in order for their friends to gather and say why they loved them.” He instructed everyone to ignore me so it would be like I was a ghost visiting my own wake. pic.twitter.com/bQkzjW4w8Q
— Eli McCann (@EliMcCann) October 22, 2020
This couple proved that funerals are not only for the dead, it can also be for the very living loved one. In 2017, Twitter user Eli McCann’s boyfriend at the time surprised him with a weirdly morbid birthday party. The boyfriend threw a funeral for Eli’s birthday and instructed the attendees to not acknowledge his presence when he came in.
Eli said it was like walking into his own wake. Why did the boyfriend throw a funeral for a birthday party? Well, that’s because why only remember the good things about a loved one only at the funeral?
If I walked into a surprise birthday party with a funeral theme like this one, I would think I was dead and my soul was attending my own funeral, like we see in the movies.
NOW, BONUS: TWO (STRANGE, MIGHT WE SAY) LAST WISHES...
1. REMAINS SHOT INTO SPACE
This man loved Space. Gordon Cooper, an American Air Force pilot and astronaut had one last wish. He wanted his remains to be flown into space. Cooper died in 2004 and there were multiple attempts to shoot his ashes into space. And finally, it was in 2012 that his ashes were successfully sent to space, where they remained for a month before burning up as they fell back to Earth.
2. TURNED INTO INK
Writer, editor, & artist Mark Gruenwald, born on June 18, 1953. pic.twitter.com/QF4ehFXcXi
— ComicsintheGoldenAge (@ComicsintheGA) June 18, 2021
We warned you that this list was going to get morbid. Well, last wishes should be respected. Comic book author Mark Gruenwald known for his long association with the Marvel Comics wanted his ashes to be mixed with ink which will be used to print a comic book. And so, after his death in 1996, keeping his last wish forever alive, his ashes were used to print the first trade paperback edition of Squadron Supreme.
Hmmph… who would want to own THAT?
Do you feel inspired to plan your funeral based on any of these?