AP: Pallbearers lifted the gold casket carrying "Godfather of Soul" into a horse-drawn carriage on Thursday for a procession through Harlem to the historic Apollo Theater, where thousands of fans waited to pay their respects to the late James Brown.

We assume Al Sharpton was relieved:

"It's going to be a royal day in Harlem," the Rev. Al Sharpton, Brown's close friend, said by cell phone Wednesday as he accompanied the singer's casket in a van. ... "We're determined to make sure he makes the Apollo," Sharpton said around 9:30 p.m., shortly after the approximately 12-hour trip began from a Georgia funeral parlor. "He never missed the Apollo. If we ride all night, that's fine."

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