NEW YORK (AP) - A white, horse-drawn carriage carried the body of music legend James Brown through the streets of Harlem on Thursday to the Apollo Theater, where a sea of people waited to say farewell to the "Godfather of Soul."

Friends and fans walked behind the caisson in the street, singing the chorus of Brown's anthem, "Say it Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud."

Just as when Brown was alive, the raucous throng of thousands cheered and applauded as pallbearers lifted his gold casket and carried it inside, where Brown will lie in repose on the stage that saw his 1956 debut.

As New Yorker Norman Brand waited for the procession to arrive, the 55-year-old recalled hearing Brown's anthem for the first time in his native Alabama.