George Jones Funeral: Laura Bush, Country Stars Speak A Live TV Memorial At Grand Ole Opry

Country music legend George Jones died last week at age 81. Thursday, he was remembered at a public memorial service in Nashville that was aired on CMT, Country Music Television. The Huffington Post reported that fans began lining up outside the Grand Ole Opry in Music City at 3 a.m. local time Thursday morning.

Former First Lady Laura Bush will speak at George Jones' memorial service, in addition to Kenny Chesney and a star-studded list of close personal friends. "Devil Went Down To Georgia" singer Charlie Daniels will offer a musical tribute, along with Randy Travis, Alan Jackson and others.

While many celebrities have posthumous tribute ceremonies that may or may not be televised and are often closed-door affairs, George Jones' representative Kirt Webster said the late county music star "would have wanted his fans and friends everywhere to come and pay their respects."

Jones recounted to Billboard Magazine in 2006 how much he loved the Grand Ole Opry venue throughout his life. On Saturday nights, George Jones' parents would allow him to crawl into bed with them as a child, and doze. He said he asked his mother "If I go to sleep, you wake me up when Bill Monroe or Roy Acuff comes on." Jones called listening the events at the Opry on the radio with his parents to be the "biggest thrill of my life in those days".

Billy Ray Cyrus, a contemporary country music favorite in his own right, and father of Miley Cyrus, said Jones was the "very definition of a legend". Merle Haggard lamented that "the world has lost the greatest country singer of all time".