Brian Grills brought class to downtown London.

Often sporting a tuxedo, Grills could be found most days playing his trumpet on the southeast corner of Richmond and Dundas streets or outside Budweiser Gardens.

Grills’ trumpet fell silent after 18 years of contributing to ­London’s downtown soundtrack when the popular busker lost his battle with cancer Saturday at age 62.

Often playing five hours a day, five days a week, the rhythmic rumbling of Grills’ trumpet — a gift from his father in 1964 — blended with the noise of

buses coming and going, feet pounding the pavement and conversations.

“He’s part of the furniture of the city,” said friend Dawn MacNair, who last saw Grills Tuesday when she brought him soup.

“We lost a good musician and a good friend.”

Born and raised in Toronto, Grills abandoned his heating and air conditioning business and moved to London in 1989. But life in London didn’t turn out as planned after he was laid off from his job and his marriage ended.

Grills, however, was always proud that he made a living from busking — earning about $500 a month — instead of collecting social assistance.

The musician known as “the trumpet man” or “the music guy” saw London’s dark side at times working the streets.

He was robbed more than once, had his trumpet stolen — he chased the thief down and retrieved it — and witnessed plenty of scuffles.

But there was nowhere he’d rather play.

Grills made the headlines in 2002 after an officer fined him for playing his trumpet at the Richmond-Dundas intersection. He won a public victory when the provincial offences ticket was later thrown out of court.

Grills hadn’t been busking as much lately as his health deteriorated.

He took a turn for the worse before Christmas after ­undergoing surgery to have his lymph nodes removed, said Marie Fountain, who lived across the hall from Grills at a Kent St. apartment.

Though Grills kept to ­himself, he always stopped by the ­apartment’s common room to say hello to residents gathered to play cards or watch television, said Fountain, adding that Grills never lost his passion for busking.

“He enjoyed the people and he enjoyed the kids,” she said. “People are going to miss his music.”

Family members have requested that anyone wishing to honour Grills, in lieu of flowers, consider donations to a charity of their choice or to the Canadian Cancer Society.

dale.carruthers@sunmedia.ca

Twitter.com/DaleatLFPress