MOUNT VERNON, New York, Nov 19, (Agencies): Heavy D was remembered with laughter and tears Friday during a star-studded funeral service that included Jay-Z and Will Smith, humorous anecdotes from longtime friend Diddy, and words of encouragement for the late rapper’s family, delivered in a letter from President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. “We extend our heartfelt condolences at this difficult time. He will be remembered for his infectious optimism and many contributions to American music. Please know that you and your family will be in our thoughts and prayers,” read the note from the Obamas, according to the Rev. Al Sharpton, who quoted from it during the service.

Xea Myers, Heavy D’s 11-year-old daughter, also spoke briefly, telling the audience that her father was “still here, not in the flesh, but in the spirit.”
Grace Baptist Church was filled to capacity for the two-and-half-hour service, which was also streamed live on the Web. It was so crowded, an overflow area was set up. Among those in attendance were Usher, Queen Latifah, Don King, Q-Tip, John Legend and Rosie Perez.
“Silently he’s been influential in a lot of our careers,” Usher said after the service. “His love still lives on.”
A large photo of Heavy D sat next to his closed casket.
Heavy D died last week in Los Angeles at the age of 44. His family said the death was due to complications from pneumonia.
The self-proclaimed “Overweight Lover” was born in Jamaica but reared in Mount Vernon, which he dubbed “Money Earnin’ Mount Vernon.” It was also the home of Sean “Diddy” Combs. Diddy talked about how Heavy D helped give him his start in the music industry, and how their decades-long friendship continued up until Heavy D’s death.

“He became my friend. He became my brother, and I’m not talking about friend-brother like we cavalierly use the word, I’m talking about a real friend, a real brother,” Diddy said. “Somebody I shared my dreams and my secrets with, somebody that’s been there for me at my lowest point, my darkest hour when nobody wanted to be beside me.”
But he also told jokes as he recounted his “bromance” with the rapper, including a recent visit to Miami that was supposed to last for three days, but “turned into three weeks.” He added that Heavy D got to know his chef “very well.”
Sharpton also drew laughter when he noted that James Brown “made us black and proud; (Heavy D) made us fat and proud.”
But singer Johnny Gill was tearful when he approached the altar, saying: “Just want to say to Heavy: Job well done.” He later gave a powerful rendition the gospel hit “Never Would Have Made It.” Heavy D’s nieces were also teary-eyed as they sang the gospel standard “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.” Yolanda Adams and Anthony Hamilton also performed.

Phenomenon
Heavy D, whose real name was Dwight Myers, was influential in the development of rap as it grew into a phenomenon in the late 1980s and 1990s. His hits included “Now That We’ve Found Love” and “Nuttin’ But Love”; much of his music marked the “New Jack Swing” era in urban music, and he stood out from the pack with his rhymes, typified by a positive vibe and a lightheartedness that endeared him to so many.
Salt, of Salt-N-Pepa, recalled touring with Heavy D & the Boyz, and said the rapper always told her: “I love you.”
“He was a lifelong buddy to me,” she said after the service. “Just now I realized how many lives he touched.”
A fund has been set up to financially aid Heavy D’s daughter; details were available on the website http://www.rememberheavyd.com.
Singer Johnny Gill was tearful, saying: “Just want to say to Heavy: Job well done.” He later gave a powerful rendition the gospel hit “Never Would Have Made It.”

Emotions
For all of the emotions usually equated with death, Heavy D Myers’ funeral was billed as a celebration of the artist’s life. As such, it could not - and would not - be such a sad affair. As the mayor-elect of Heavy’s hometown of Mount Vernon, New York put it, “We are not here because Heavy D died. We are here because Heavy D lived.”
What became clear, from within the two overflowing halls of Mount Vernon’s Grace Baptist Church, was that Heavy D had touched countless lives - particularly in the hip-hop and African-American communities. A list at one of the security check-ins included the names of Sony Music’s Chairman/CEO Doug Morris and Doug E. Fresh.

Three Mount Vernon police officers sat down the row from BET President Stephen Hill. A woman and her daughter held a VIP pass from a concert Heavy D must have performed years ago, just as a cab driver had shown off photos of himself and Heavy from their shared high school days. “There’s stories on every corner of this city, of people he helped,” said the pastor, without exaggeration.
Many spoke of positivity, of the love that Heavy so easily gave, of Thanksgiving turkey giveaways to the entirety of Mount Vernon. Charity on the corner, love in song, a big man all around - and a surprisingly agile dancer: “Hev didn’t know how big he was,” said Uptown Records founder Andre Harrell, chuckling. Later, Diddy said, “When he was dancing, he wasn’t like a big guy dancing. He was like a skinny guy dancing, but he was like a big guy?” Noted Sharpton, “James Brown made us black and proud, but Hev made us fat and proud.”

Johnny Gill, Yolanda Adams, Heavy D’s nieces and Kim Burrell each sang, their voices peeling the paint off the walls, beautiful and heart-wrenching. R&B singer Anthony Hamilton walked through the saddest version of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” a look to tomorrow, a torch held to the past.
It was a deeply spiritual ceremony, religion offering a silver lining amongst darker clouds, a tribute to a life cut short just as it was starting to pick up again. And so, we need not worry about Heavy. The pastor said, “Heavy asked in his song, “Ask Heaven,” from 1999, ‘Ask heaven, heaven, is there room for me?’ I say, St Peter’s gonna have to expand the rooms!”
Heavy D & the Boyz were the first group signed to Uptown Records; their debut, Living Large, was released in 1987. The album was a commercial success, though Big Tyme was a breakthrough that included four hits.
Trouble T. Roy died at age 22 in a fall on July 15, 1990, in Indianapolis. Dixon’s death led to a tribute on the follow-up platinum album, Peaceful Journey. Pete Rock & CL Smooth created a tribute to Trouble T. Roy called “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)” which is regarded as a hip-hop classic.
In the mid-1990s, Myers became the first rapper to head a major music label, when he became the president of Uptown Records. Myers helped to develop rhythm-and-blues singer Mary J. Blige’s career and hired Sean “Diddy” Combs as an intern. He later became the senior vice president at Universal Music.