‘God needed him in the choir’: Beloved ‘bucket man’ wife says rhythm brought him peace

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The wife of beloved street drummer, Will Smith co-creator and Market Street attraction “Drummer Man” Larry Hunt said that impromptu drumming brought him peace during dark times.

Hunt, the legendary Market Street regular who played drums on plastic buckets for more than two decades, died at the age of 64 on Thursday, Feb. 23, according to his wife Cheryl Martin.

Despite rumors of Hunt overdosing, Martin claimed he had been sober for several years, and she did not believe that Hunt had died from drugs. Martin said that her husband suffered from various illnesses.

“I think his heart just gave out,” Martin said. “I think God needed him in the choir in heaven.”

Martin said she discovered her husband had died after she came to his apartment to help him carry his drums to Market Street on Monday.

“I would have tried to help him, but he liked pushing buckets in there on his own,” she said, holding back tears. “It was just something he did to make everyone else happy. I think that’s what kept him going every day.”

According to her, Hunt taught himself to play the drums at the age of three, and his enthusiasm for street music eventually led him to roles in Will Smith’s The Pursuit of Happyness and America’s Got Talent.

“When he was sick playing bucket, he felt good,” Martin said. “That’s what I want people to remember him for.”

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