NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- He spent three decades performing in he same spot on Second Avenue, but now one of Nashville's most famous street musicians is gone.

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Those who knew him wanted to make sure the man who gave so much music and to Music City had a proper funeral.

Most probably never knew his name, but Elringo De’Angelino was best known as "Velvet Thunder," and if you've ever been on Second Avenue by the Old Spaghetti Factory, you most likely would have remembered his voice.

"He lived every day to provide the citizens of Nashville with amazing heartfelt, soulful music every single day of his life," Homeless outreach worker Steve Samra said.

The soulful singer made his mark on Nashville after leaving Boston years ago to pursue a career in country music.

During a ceremony Saturday, Charlie Strobel, who works at the Room In The Inn, said, “He was first introduced on stage by Hank Williams, the legendary Hank Williams. The story goes he was denied entrance into a club where Williams was playing in northern Alabama, a whites-only club. Hank went out and invited him in and invited him on stage, and he always told that story with great pride.”

Samra first met De’Angelino three years ago.

"I wandered up in front of the Spaghetti Factory, and here is this man in a wheelchair with a beat-up old guitar, and he was just ... he had the most incredible voice," he said. "It just stopped me in my tracks, and I thought, 'Who is singing like that here?'"

This past January, De'Angelino became homeless after his diabetes worsened.

"It was also at that time that the Metro PD began getting reports from him that he had been strong-arm robbed, and that became a pretty regular occurrence for him," said Samra.

Samra and Lt. Nicki Swisher of the Metro Police Department soon helped find Velvet an apartment, but it didn't stop the 75-year-old from performing.

"He didn't go quietly," Samra said. "He really wanted to be able to stay on Second Avenue.”

De'Angelino had been in his new home only a few months before he was found unconscious. A few days later, on Nov. 16, he died from a massive stroke.

"If only the people of Nashville really knew, what and who had passed, they would come out to celebrate him," Samra said during Saturday's ceremony.

The few who knew him best celebrated his life.

"He was most grateful for anything anybody did for him," said Swisher.

His friends worked hard to orchestrate a proper funeral for the musicical icon. The Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home donated everything from the casket, to the cemetery plot. Almost $500 was quickly raised to pay for other things.

"Velvet would be thrilled to know people appreciated him that much," said Samra.

Even though De’Angelino was never signed by a big record label, he was proud of his own performance, in the same spot, every day and night on Second Avenue.

There are plans to place a plaque out in front of the Old Spaghetti Factory to honor the spot where he always sang. There will also be a benefit Dec. 9 to raise money for the musician's memorial fund. That benefit will be held at the Center Stage at 4 p.m.