Mourners line streets to honour Denise
CROWDS LINE STREETS FOR FAREWELL TO SINGER
MOURNERS lined the streets to say farewell to Manchester music icon Denise Johnson.
The funeral of the acclaimed vocalist, who sang alongside Primal Scream, Johnny Marr and New Order, was held at Manchester Crematorium yesterday.
More than 100 people lined Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton to pay their final respects to Denise, who died suddenly on July 27, aged 56.
Members of the crowd broke into applause as the horse-drawn procession arrived, the coffin bearing Denise’s name and sunflowers.
DJ Dave Haslam and TV presenter, Terry Christian, were among those paying their respects.
In a moving service, family members and friends celebrated her incredible talent, as well as her ‘warm, vivacious character’.
Lloyd and Sandra Hardial, Denise’s cousins, read the eulogy, recalling fond family memories of growing up with Denise in Whalley Range and Hulme.
“A prouder Mancunian I never met,” Lloyd told the congregation.
“Denise was also very proud of her Jamaican heritage.”
Sandra added: “Many knew her as an icon of the UK music scene but for me Denise was my best friend who I loved and adored.”
Denise rose to success as a singer in the late 1980s and early 1990s, recording and touring with bands including A Fifth of Heaven and A Certain Ratio.
Denise’s achievements as a singer and songwriter in her right were also celebrated. The service began with the musician’s 1994 hit Rays Of The Rising Sun.
Prior to her death, Denise had been preparing to release her debut acoustic solo album Where Does It Go on September 25.
Her family have confirmed the release will still go ahead.
Close friend Sue Longford paid tribute to her friend as ‘the loveliest, warmest of human beings’. “She was a beautiful soul inside and out,” she added.
Denise’s family plan to hold a special summer celebration of her life next year, at an event in her memory on her birthday, July 31.