baby-back-ribs

Pigs, Picnic Tables, a Barbecue Sauce Fountain: Chili's Jingle Singer Gets a Fitting Funeral

Rich Juzwiak · 01/07/13 01:45PM

When William B. "Willie" McCoy (aka Wolf Johnson) died last September, his sister teamed up with the geniuses at Dallas' Golden Gate Funeral Home to give him a proper send-off. Willie at one point sang with the Drifters but made his biggest mark singing bass in that haunting Chili's commercial that stuck to pop culture like BBQ sauce on ribs. (Oddly, the version featuring Willie doesn't seem to be on YouTube, so here's Nsync's.) That song was sung at his funeral/home-going ceremony, which also featured a barbeque sauce fountain, shrieking pigs, giant rib sculptures, a picnic and a preacher in a chef's hat. Naturally, this was all captured by TLC in a one-off special that aired last night called Best Funeral Ever.