Fans line street for EMF star's final farewell

Fans and residents of Derran "Derry" Brownson's hometown have gathered to pay their respects to the founding member of hit 90s band EMF.

A private funeral was held in Cinderford on Friday after Derry, 55, died in August following a brain tumour diagnosis, which he opened up to the BBC about in 2025.

As Derry's hearse passed through the streets of the Forest of Dean town, gatherers clapped and threw flowers.

Ian Dench, Derry's bandmate, said: "There was only one of Derry and people loved him. He was so warm and would talk to anyone."

"He was just a lovely person and he has such a soft side as well. He loved wildlife and he looked after all the hedgehogs in this little town in Devon where he lived," he added.

Formed in Cinderford, the band is best known for its hit single Unbelievable, which sold millions of copies worldwide.

Derry's family invited the public to line the streets of Cinderford to watch the funeral cortège ahead of the private service.

His hearse drove through the High Street, past the plaque which was unveiled in EMF's honour in 2025 and past The Golden Lion pub.

Nikki Norman said the pub, which she runs, was giving out flowers in the colours of Wolverhampton Wolves - Derry's favourite team - for gatherers to honour the keyboardist with.

"He was a very much loved and cherished regular and character to Cinderford," Norman said.

"I went to school with him and he was a character then... he was fun-loving, he was true to the Forest. He was a regular for Sunday lunch here and he just slotted in like any other regular," she added.

Katrina Law and Andy Edwards were two of the many fans who lined the streets of Cinderford to send Derry off on Friday.

Law said she had been a fan of EMF since she was 15 and, over the last 20 years, Derry "became a friend".

"Just for him to smile at you, all your problems went away," she said. "He was a legacy of his own."

Andy Edwards, who photographed EMF for many years, said it was a "bolt out of the blue" to hear of Derry's death as he seemed in good spirits when he last saw him in May.

"Derry was definitely unique," he said. "He's left a big hole that can't be filled at all."

Speaking to the BBC last year, Derry said the Forest of Dean was "such a great place to be brought up".

"We were the Forest, we were always our own little pocket of musicians and a lot of the musicians in the Forest, to be fair, were really good.

"It's only now when I come back that I realise this is where my soul is, in this place."

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