Karaoke-loving grandad organised juke box coffin for his funeral

A KARAOKE-LOVING grandad decided to go out on a high when he organised a juke box coffin for his funeral.

Club singer Alan Reid, 56, wanted to put a smile on the faces of family and friends as they bid their final farewells.

He ordered up a special musically-themed casket and played his favourite songs as close ones paid their last respects.

Top hit Spirit In The Sky serenaded him out of the service in Alloa, Clackmannanshire.

The former quality assurance worker even planned a goodbye party before dying last month.

His widow Louise, 66, said: “Alan was only happy when he was making people laugh.

“Mourners were stunned and amused when they discovered what he had planned for his funeral, though.

“He hit on the idea of a juke box and found it online.

“Even when he got his terminal diagnosis he insisted that we bring his karaoke machine to the hospice.

“When doctors broke the news he said, ‘The party’s over’.”

The dad-of-three was played out at the end of his service with hits including Kenny Roger’s The Gambler and Neil Diamond’s Cracklin’ Rosie.

Louise added: “We didn’t want to cremate Alan and his juke box coffin so he was buried beside his mum in our local cemetery.

“More than 500 came to his funeral at Alloa Town Hall. He always loved a big crowd.”

Singer Alan used to fill local pubs when he performed.

He loved his stage name, Johnny Midnight, so much it was emblazoned on his £650 decorative coffin.

“He kept the Marie Curie nurses amused with his antics,” Louise added. “Even when the cancer paralysed him he refused to let it get him down.”

Karen Downie, director with funeral firm Hillview in nearby Sauchie, said: “It was most unusual funeral we have had.”