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Remembering Gilley: Memorial services planned for Pasadena country music legend

Gilley died earlier this month at the age of 86. Now, fans will be able to participate in tributes including a livestream from his Branson, Missouri theatre.

Funeral services and tributes have been set to honor the memory of Mickey Gilley, the country music singer and Pasadena resident who died last month.

The video above is from previous reporting.

A celebration of life is scheduled for May 27 at the Mickey Gilley Grand Shanghai Theatre in Branson and will be streamed live on Facebook and YouTube.

Gilley died on May 9 at the age of 86.

RELATED: Country music legend Mickey Gilley dead at 86

Gilley, whose career and business interests were synonymous with the Urban Cowboy movement of the 1980s, had a career that spanned seven decades and included musical hits like “Room full of roses,” and “Stand By Me,” and cameos in Urban Cowboy, the movie starring John Travolta and Debra Winger that was set at his Gilley’s nightclub.

Public memorials are scheduled to take place later this summer in his hometown of Pasadena and in Nashville, though the dates have not been announced. A private memorial in his native Ferriday, Louisiana, where he grew up, is also scheduled.

Gilley was born March 9, 1936, in Natchez, Mississippi, and grew up in Ferriday. He learned to play piano at an early age. He learned the rockabilly style of playing from his first cousin, Jerry Lee Lewis, who went on to form his own successful music career. 

Not long after news of Gilley’s death was announced, condolences began to pour in from fans and peers, including Johnny Lee, whose award-winning music career was catapulted by Gilley and the Urban Cowboy soundtrack.

“I’m devastated, and it’s going to be tough going on without him, said Lee, a Texas City native. “I know he would want me to. I loved Mickey so much.”

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