
The final homegoing service for Earl “DMX” Simmons was held Sunday at the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, New York, which aired on BET and its YouTube channel. Family and close friends honored the Ruff Ryders icon, who died April 9 of a heart attack at 50. He spent days on life support and never recovered.
A large memorial for X was held Saturday at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, where Kanye West and his Sunday Service choir performed and fellow Ruff Ryders like Eve and Swizz Beatz reminisced on their dear friend.
Sunday’s four-hour service included performances from Le’Andria Johnson, who sang the gospel classic, “No Weapons,” and R&B vet Faith Evans, who sang “You Brought the Sunshine.”
The ceremony opened with a performance from a different choir, followed by activist Erika Ford, who appeared on behalf of the New York Senate’s office to present X’s family with a proclamation that declared X’s birthday — Dec. 18th — as DMX day.
His goddaughter, actress Paige Hurd, was next to appear on stage, alongside several of his 15 children. After reminiscing on their time filming the 2003 film, Cradle 2 the Grave, Paige shared some heartfelt words about the later rapper.
“I love him so much. I don’t really have many words yet because I still don’t feel like this is real,” said Paige.
Next, vocalist Wé Ani McDonald gave an emotional performance of Tori Kelly and Kirk Franklin‘s gospel duet, “Psalms 42.”
The Honorable Minister Farrakhan was next to shared some heartfelt words in a video, where he praised X for his spirituality and called him a “prophet.”
In another video, founder Russell Simmons shared a story about how he learned DMX signed with Def Jam, followed by an onstage appearance from former Def Jam President Kevin Liles.
“X never claimed to be perfect but Earl was good man. A God-fearing man. A great father and a soldier for us all,” said Liles.
Soon after, Swizz Beatz and fellow Ruff Ryders took the stage to hold a brief moment of silence for DMX. It followed an appearance from X’s ex-wife Tashera Simmons, who saluted his fiancée, Desiree Lindstrom, for her strength.
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