There will be one last jam for Larry “The Bucket Man” Hunt this Saturday, as the legendary San Francisco busker will be honored with a memorial brass band parade that will conclude at the Union Square corner where his beat went on so many years.
Generations of San Franciscans (and tourists) were heartbroken when we learned on March 1 of the passing of Larry “Bucket Man” Hunt, who died at the age of 64. Hunt’s Union Square bucket-banging busking dates back to 1979, and he rode that fame to a cameo in Will Smith’s 2006 film Pursuit of Happyness, an appearance on America’s Got Talent, and even an Intel commercial in 2014.
Hunt’s musician friends, and those of us who only knew him as an entertainer, can pay our last respects Saturday, March 25 at a Celebrating the Life of Larry “Bucket Man” Hunt event, a musical parade and remembrance from 2-5 p.m. in downtown San Francisco.
You can see the Twilight Brass Band rehearsing for Saturday’s memorial parade in the video segment above. “The 2nd Line Parade to celebrate the life of ‘Larry ‘Bucket Man’ Hunt will begin at 2 p.m., 425 Eddy Street Cable Car and end at the cable car turn-around.... on Saturday, March 25th,” the post says.
“For 25 years, Larry Hunt was one of San Francisco’s most beloved street performers,” a memorial announcement reads. “A big smile along with an extravagant fire-eating show, his musical beats on the pots, pans and buckets leave us a space made of silence.”
Supervisor Aaron Peskin honored Hunt with an in memoriam at the March 7 Board of Supervisors meeting. “If the city of San Francisco had a legacy busker program, Larry would have been the poster child for it,” Peskin said. “He passed away Fenruary 23 at the age of 64, and the Powell Street turnaround where the cable car is is already missing his chaotic rhythm.”
“Every day, Hunt would carry his buckets five or six blocks to Market and Powell from his Tenderloin SRO hotel where he lived, and small business owners and Union Square stakeholders all knew him on a first-name basis,” Peskin added. “It gave him great joy to perform for audiences, and he especially loved it when children would start dancing and swaying to his music.”
“I want to extend my sincere condolences to his partner Sheryl Martin, and to his extended family at Glide and TNDC,” Peskin said.
Related: Drum-Playing Union Square Street Performer Larry ‘Bucket Man’ Hunt Has Died At Age 64 [SFist]
Image: Chris Pirillo via Youtube
