Updated May 3, 2013, 10:21am CT
RFD-TV announced that it will broadcast a live feed of the public funeral services of country legend George Jones direct from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville this Thursday, May 2, beginning at 11am ET/10am CT. FamilyNet will carry a delayed feed of this broadcast, beginning at 2pm ET/1pm CT. RFD-TV will repeat its telecast at 10pm ET/9pm CT, and FamilyNet will repeat its coverage at 8pm ET/7pm CT.
George Jones passed away last Friday at the age of 81. He was a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1956, so it is appropriate that the public will be able to say their farewells to him there. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that contributions be made to the Grand Ole Opry trust fund. More details can be found at georgejones.com.
In a press release from Webster & Associates announcing that George Jones’ funeral service would be open to the public, publicist Kirt Webster said, “George would have wanted his fans and friends everywhere to be able to come and pay their respects along with his family.” A private visitation for family, friends and fellow performers is taking place Wednesday evening.
The public service for George Jones will include music from Charlie Daniels, Vince Gill with Patty Loveless, Alan Jackson, Ronnie Milsap, Kid Rock, The Oak Ridge Boys, Brad Paisley, Randy Travis, Travis Tritt, Tanya Tucker and Wynonna. Former first lady Laura Bush, Kenny Chesney, Grand Ole Opry VP and GM Pete Fisher, Gov. Bill Haslam, Mike Huckabee, Barbara Mandrell and CBS News’ Bob Schieffer will all make special remarks.
“George Jones touched upon the lives of our viewers like few artists can,” said Patrick Gottsch, founder of Rural Media Group, Inc., the parent company of RFD-TV and FamilyNet. “He’s both a music legend and a symbol of the style of country music that has always been true to the heart of rural America. George has visited our Nashville studios many times, performed with many of our programmers and been a dear friend to RFD-TV and our viewers. This is the least we could do to honor his life.”
Broadcast of the George Jones memorial service airs May 2 live beginning at 11am ET/10am CT on RFD-TV. RFD-TV will re-air the entire coverage May 2 at 10pm ET/9pm CT.
A delayed feed of this broadcast of the George Jones memorial service airs May 2 beginning at 2pm ET/1pm CT on FamilyNet. FamilyNet will re-air its coverage May 2 at 8pm ET/7pm CT.
UPDATE 5/3/13: There have been numerous inquiries about whether the George Jones memorial service will be re-aired. Unfortunately, RFD-TV will not be able to re-air it. According to a spokesperson for the network, “Because of a broadcast restriction on the event, all repeats of the George Jones Tribute had to occur within a 24-hour period. RFD-TV ran two repeats yesterday [May 2], as did our sister-network, FamilyNet. Viewers who wish to enquire about additional repeats (especially online) are being urged to contact www.georgejones.com to see if they will be providing an online stream of the event or DVD copies. Our apologies to viewers that we are unable to offer a Saturday repeat, which was the original intention.”
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George Jones: Courtesy of Webster & Associates, LLC.