Alan Freed's ashes will rest in Cleveland.

The ashes of Alan Freed, an important figure in the history of modern popular music, permanently rest in Cleveland, where Creed coined the term rock 'n' roll and organized what is considered the first concert of the genre more than 60 years ago. A monument will be unveiled Saturday at Lake View Cemetery in the city during a ceremony to celebrate the colorful and hectic life of Freed. Steven Van Zandt, E Street Band, and others will discuss the legacy of Freed.

When I was a DJ in Cleveland in the early 1950s, Freed took the initial steps to synthesize a new musical form that mixed genres of jazz, pop, rhythm and blues and country in what is now known as rock 'n' roll . Freed died in Los Angeles in 1965 at 43 years of age because of liver problems. His son, Lance, said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press that the family moved to the East Coast after his death and the ashes of Freed were buried in a cemetery in New York, where they remained for 30 years.

The Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland Rock and Roll, built there in part by Freed, possibly called bury the ashes outside the museum. Those plans were canceled by a municipal law that says human remains can only be buried in cemeteries. An urn with the ashes spent time under an escalator at the museum, before being placed on display in 2002. Freed's family asked them to return the urn after a new executive director say that their display was inappropriate. After two years in a vault in Lake View, the ashes were buried in a tomb on Friday.