Actor Hugh Jackman of X-Men fame, told the Express that the late comedienne Joan Rivers had been making plans for her own funeral years before she actually passed away on September 4. He also insisted that she asked him to be a part of her final gig in 2003, after seeing him perform in the musical The Boy from Oz on Broadway.
The Australian Jackman kept his promise last weekend, joining celebrities Sarah Jessica Parker, Whoopi Goldberg, Clive Davis, Kelly Osbourne and Howard Stern (who delivered the eulogy), at Temple Emanu-El in New York to pay his final respects to Rivers. The song he sang, which Joan had picked for him, is titled “Quiet Please, There’s A Lady On Stage.”
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Jackman said, “It was amazing. I must admit: I’ve been to several funerals, and I’ve always kind of felt for the person who has to sing. I’ve always said, ‘Oh, how do you do that?’ At her funeral, when Joan Rivers asks you [to perform], just answer. She had planned everything out… Quiet Please, There’s A Lady On Stage [is] a beautiful celebration of a woman, and it was for her, and the entire audience in the synagogue got up and started clapping and cheering. The whole thing was very uplifting, very touching and moving, but funny.”
Then, Jackman added, “When the bagpipes came out at the end, everyone just started laughing… She was just an amazing woman. It was an appropriate send-off and I felt honoured to be a part of it.”
