Frankie Beverly was born in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection. But Frankie Beverly was at home musically with the people of New Orleans.
Beverly’s death on September 10, 2024 sent shock waves across the world. His family asked for privacy. Reactions, messages, posts and tributes poured in. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said he was “devastated” by the news.
A couple of days after Frankie’s death, Beverly fans in Philadelphia gathered on Frankie Beverly Way, AKA Norwood Street, in the Somerville section of East Germantown, the place where Howard Stanley Beverly was born and reared. It was a nice gathering. There was dancing, music. A good time was had by all. But it wasn’t New Orleans.
This week is the anniversary of the Crescent City’s second line in Beverly’s honor that drew hundreds, maybe even thousands. It was what happened in New Orleans that gained worldwide attention — and the attention of Frankie’s family.
A year ago Tuesday, the 6th Ward Steppers Social Aid and Pleasure Club hosted a Frankie Beverly farewell second-line at Hunter’s Field in New Orleans’ Treme neighborhood. The Steppers, and many others, at least hundreds, observed Beverly’s passing as only New Orleans could. Some say thousands were out there. Some wore Beverly’s stage signature white.
As the family grieved day after day, they received condolences from extended family and friends. They were comforted knowing that they had spent as much time with “Frank” and “Pop” as they could during the last days of his life.
“We all gave up a lot of ourselves to spend time with him,” Anthony Beverly told me. “I moved here from L.A. to spend time with him….We moved to northern California from the L.A. area in 2022 to be closer and spend more time with him. I moved to the new town over from him, so I saw him very often. My children were already here in the area, so we all gathered with him often.”
My longtime friend Pam Moore was Frankie Beverly’s life partner for 39 years. There’s was an extra special love. He was a world famous entertainer. As evening anchor at KRON-TV, she was the queen of local television news in the Bay Area. She is so big that the station named the studio after her upon her retirement.
But their lives together were personal, and private.
After Frankie took his last breath, the family gasped and grieved. They heard about all the messages of mourning and prayers, the appreciations and tributes. It was too much. They avoided most of it.
But what happened in New Orleans was different.
“The first time I saw it it brought tears to my eyes,” Anthony Beverly said. “There was a love affair with the city, and that showed. Nobody could’ve done what New Orleans did.”
He said person after person sent him videos of the second line as it was happening. He continued to get links to videos of the New Orleans love for his dad that day, the next day, that week, the next week and for months after.
Anthony Beverly had seen fans who liked his dad’s music for years. Huge applause. Bus stop dancing. Big smiles. Cheers. Calls for encores. But it was when he was with his dad in New Orleans in the 1980s that he realized that things were different in New Orleans. One time his dad, band members and others ate at K-Paul’s and he decided to walk back to the hotel, against cautions by others. About 200 people ended up following them. It was like his dad was Black Elvis, he said.
The 2024 Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans featured a special tribute to Beverly. Former Mayor Marc Morial, Mayor LaToya Cantrell and others greeted our adopted homeboy with some physical tokens of appreciation.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you my people,” said Frankie Beverly at the time. “Thank you for this nod. Thank you for caring. And I’m going to make you proud of me very soon. … Thank you and I love you from the bottom of my heart.”
I don’t know what Beverly had in mind, but I can say without a poll or survey that New Orleans cared for him deeply, loved him deeply, and he made us happy.
