Mick Jagger and Keith Richards to Pay for Hubert Sumlin's Funeral

As Spinner recently reported, Howlin' Wolf sideman and legendary blues guitarist Hubert Sumlin died Sunday, Dec. 4, from heart failure. Since the 80-year-old axeman's death, musicians have come out of the woodwork to pay their respects, including members of the Rolling Stones. According to Music-News.com, frontman Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards were so inspired by Sumlin throughout their careers that they plan to pay back the late musician for his tremendous work.

"I just wanted to share with you, Hubert's loving fans, that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have insisted on picking up the full expenses for Hubert's funeral," Sumlin's longtime partner Toni Ann Mamary revealed online [We have since confirmed this]. "God Bless the Rolling Stones."

"Hubert Sumlin lived with me for 10 years and he's probably the closed thing I will ever experience to heaven," Mamary told Spinner this afternoon. The Stones also posted fitting tributes to Sumlin's career on their Facebook page. "Hubert was an incisive yet delicate blues player," Mick Jagger wrote. "He had a really distinctive and original tone and was a wonderful foil for Howlin' Wolf's growling vocal style. On a song like 'Goin' Down Slow' he could produce heart-rending emotion, and on a piece like 'Wang Dang Doodle' an almost playful femininity. He was an inspiration to us all."

Keith Richards, who played on Sumlin's 2006 album 'About Them Shoes,' also spoke very highly of the late musician: "Warm, humorous and always encouraging, he was a gentleman of the first order. Miss him, yes, but we have his records. All my condolences to his family. One love, Hubert."

Sumlin's public service will take place at Festa Memorial Funeral Home in Totowa, N.J. on Sunday, Dec. 11.