Rock legends such as Bruce Springsteen and Sir Paul McCartney were among those who paid tribute to the Irish music promoter Jim Aiken, whose removal service took place today.
Country superstar Garth Brooks, Lord of the Dancestar Michael Flatley and showbusiness mogul Louis Walsh were among more than a thousand mourners packed into St Brigid's Church in south Belfast.
Michael Flatley and his wife Niamh O'Brien arrive for the funeral of entertainment promoter Jim Aiken at St Brigid's Church, Belfast
Springsteen and his wife had sent a letter of support to Aiken, who died of cancer, just last week, it emerged.
TV presenter Patrick Kielty, Boyzone's Keith Duffy and agents representing Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart and Justin Timberlake all sat in solemn silence as touching tributes were paid to the man who brought world-class performers to the city's stages while violence raged across Northern Ireland.
They heard how just weeks before he died on Tuesday, Aiken (74), made his last booking for Belfast: Sir Elton John.
Choking back tears, lifelong friend and business associate Jim Clarke said it was fitting that one of the first to answer Aiken's call should be the final act he secured.
Sir Elton, who sent a floral tribute, was also the first to play at a series of annual open-air concerts organised by the promoter in the grounds of the Stormont Parliament after the signing of the Belfast Agreement in 1998.
Brooks, Stewart, Luciano Pavarotti and Californian rock band the Eagles all followed suit.
Aiken, whose genial charm earned him the nickname Gentleman Jim, was on first-name terms with the most stellar names.
Sir Cliff Richard has already spoken of his shock at the speed with which his health failed.
And the loss to Springsteen of such a close friend - the man who got him to perform in front of up to 100,000 people at Slane Castle near Dublin in 1985, and then again in Belfast last November for one of the most talked-about concerts ever staged in the city - was confirmed during the Requiem Mass.
Mr Clarke read out a letter the rock star and his wife Patti Scialfa, sent to Aiken at his home in Belfast last week.
It said: "Dear Jim, we have just got the news over here. We're crushed. Such a big part of the joy we feel when we come to Ireland is seeing that big grin of yours when we come off stage. Patti and I send out love a thousands times over. Please call if we can be of any help in any way. All our love, Patti and Bruce Springsteen."
The magnitude of Aiken's contribution to Ireland's cultural life, particularly at a time when Belfast was seen as a no-go zone for cosseted household names, shone through in the tributes which have poured in since his death.
President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern both sent representatives, while close business associates Maurice Cassidy and Tommy Higgins also travelled from Dublin.
Monsignor Ambrose Macauley also stressed the former teacher and trainee priest's role in attracting top class talent.
"Tributes have been paid to his organisational skills in planning great events at which singers, musicians, dancers and other artists of international fame were brought to this country so people here were able to see and appreciate their rich and varied talents," he said.
Following the funeral, Aiken's body was taken for burial in his hometown of Jonesborough, south Armagh.
PA