CLEVELAND — The late rock pioneer Alan Freed is back in the spotlight. An urn containing his ashes is on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

        Freed, who died in 1965 at age 43, popularized the term “rock 'n' roll” as a Cleveland disc jockey and the city staked its claim to the rock hall on his legacy.

        Alan Freed Jr., a lawyer who lives in Montana, said it makes “perfect sense” to have his father's remains on view at the rock hall.

        “My dad would probably be thrilled, or at least amused,” he said.

        In March, a brass urn containing his ashes was exhumed from a mausoleum in New York and reburied under an escalator at the rock hall.

        Judith Fisher Freed, the estranged wife of Alan's son Lance and the keeper of Alan's archives, lobbied rock hall officials to bring the urn out of hiding.

        Terry Stewart, rock hall president and chief executive, said he went along with the move out of respect for the Freed family's wishes.

        “I'm sure some visitors will find it ... very emotional,” he said. “Others might find it a bit unusual. But ... the family felt this was the way Alan would like to be a part of the rock hall.”

        Freed was part of the first class of rock hall inductees in 1986.

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