UK’s biggest headstone weighing 37 tons with solar-powered jukebox is erected for dad-of-9 ‘traveller king’ Big Willy

A GIANT headstone weighing 37 tons and featuring a solar-powered jukebox has been erected on the grave of traveller king Big Willy Collins.

The memorial – thought to be Britain’s biggest private grave – honours bare-knuckle boxer Willy, a dad-of-nine who died aged 49 after collapsing on holiday in Majorca.

The huge gravestone is crafted from solid Carrara marble and features two life-sized statues of Big Willy’s 6ft 2in frame.

It also includes depictions of Jesus and Mary, and a replica of Michaelangelo’s famous Pietra statue in Florence.

There are also colour changing LED lights and a jukebox playing Big Willy’s favourite tracks – plus a Bluetooth speaker for mourners to play their own songs.

And it is under 24-hour CCTV monitoring, which his family can access on their phones and use to “speak” to him at a cemetery in Sheffield, South Yorks.

Willy’s eldest daughter, Mary Collins, 30, said the headstone was a send-off to “the best father in the world”.

She said: “It’s a sad day but it’s also a way to show the world what he meant to us.

“Our father was a family man and he means the world to us – he still means the world to us.

“We’ve given him everything we’ve got and he deserves it.”

One of 16 children, Willy was the patriarch of the Collins family.

He is said to have doted on his children and grandchildren and had around 400 nieces and nephews.

After his death, tributes flooded in from across the UK and his home city, where he was known by many as the “King of Sheffield”.

Mary added: “He loved Sheffield. He was as much a Sheffield man as he was an Irish man.

“If you met him once for five minutes you would never forget him.

“We now have somewhere where we can meet and talk about him and for others to remember him.

“He was my best friend. Not a day goes by where we all don’t think of him.”

Hundreds of mourners lined the streets last August for Big Willy’s funeral as his gold-plated coffin was carried on a horse-drawn carriage.