Michael Jackson's family silent on burial plans
Reuters, Jul 8, 2009 8:00 pm PDT
More than 31 million Americans watched Michael Jackson's public memorial on television, but mystery surrounded the whereabouts of his body on Wednesday and plans for his burial.A day after Jackson's casket was taken to a Los Angeles basketball arena for an emotional memorial for fans, friends and his family, attention returned to how Jackson got his hands on powerful prescription drugs reportedly found in his rented mansion after his sudden death on June 25.
Sales of Jackson's albums soared for a second week, with his solo albums jumping another 90 percent to 800,000 copies in the United States, tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan said.
Nielsen Media Research said 31.1 million Americans watched Tuesday's Los Angeles memorial live on television. The figure is lower than the TV audience of some other recent events.
Some 49.5 million Americans tuned in for President Barack Obama's first White House news conference in February, and 35 million watched former President Ronald Reagan's 2004 burial live on TV.
The Nielsen figures do not include viewing on the Internet or other platforms, which has grown rapidly in the last few years.
The Jackson family spokesman did not return calls for comment on burial plans for the "Thriller" singer, who died of cardiac arrest at age 50.
NO REQUEST FOR NEVERLAND BURIAL
California officials and those in Santa Barbara County said the family has not asked for the required special permission to bury Jackson at his abandoned Neverland Valley Ranch in central California.
Media reports said the Los Angeles coroner's office was conducting neuropathology tests on part of Jackson's brain, which could be behind the delay in the family's burial plans.
One of Jackson's doctors, Beverly Hills dermatologist Arnold Klein, on Wednesday denied he was one of the targets of a police investigation over drugs seized from Jackson's home after his death.
"I was not one of the doctors who participated in giving him overdoses of drugs or too much of anything," Klein told ABC's "Good Morning America" in an interview.
"I always was concerned about him. No matter what he wanted, someone would give it to him," he said. Klein also denied media reports that he was the sperm donor of Jackson's two children with his ex-wife Debbie Rowe.
A spokesman for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the elaborate memorial cost the cash-strapped city $1.4 million, "far less" than an initial estimate of $3.8 million.
City officials had braced for as many as 250,000 fans to show up at the Staples Center. The actual number was closer to 1,000. Donors chipped in $17,000 after the city set up a website asking for cash to cover the cost, he added.
Jackson's music is enjoying the commercial success that eluded the "King of Pop" in recent years.
The singer's "Number Ones" compilation was the top-selling album in the United States during the week ended July 5, and his 1982 blockbuster "Thriller" took second place.
(Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Week Ending July 5, 2009: All Michael, All The Time
Week Ending July 5, 2009: All Michael, All The Time
Posted Wed Jul 8, 2009 11:47am PDT by Paul Grein in Chart Watch
Michael Jackson has three of the five best-selling albums in the U.S. for the second week in a row. Number Ones sold 339,000 copies this week and would have held at #1 on The Billboard 200 if catalog albums were eligible to compete on that chart. (The 2003 compilation sold a little more than twice as many copies this week as NOW 31, the album that holds the #1 spot.) Thriller sold 187,000 copies and would have jumped from #3 to #2 if catalog albums were invited to the party. The Essential Michael Jackson sold 125,000 copies and would have dropped from #2 to #5. (Billboard excludes catalog albums from the big chart on the theory that new albums need the spotlight the chart provides more than past hits do.)
Jackson's catalog of solo albums sold 800,000 copies this week, up from 422,000 copies last week. (This was the first full week following Jackson's death on June 25. Last week's total reflected just four days of sales.) Billboard reports that 82% of the Jackson albums sold this week were CDs (vs. digital downloads). Last week, 43% of the Jackson albums sold were CDs. I think this shows that on a special album, people want the CD as a keepsake. (What a retro concept!)
Jackson's total song download sales this week, including hits with his brothers, stand at 2.2 million downloads, down just a little from 2.6 million last week. A total of 47 songs that feature Jackson are listed on the Hot Digital Songs chart. (This is down just a bit from last week's eye-popping total of 50.)
Number Ones racked up the biggest weekly sales total in Nielsen/SoundScan history for a catalog album (excluding Christmas albums). Jackson also held the old record, which he set in February 2008, when Thriller 25 sold 166,000 copies in its first week. Number Ones also posted the biggest one-week sales tally for an album by a deceased performer since the Notorious B.I.G.'s Duets: The Final Chapter debuted in December 2005 with first-week sales of 438,000.
Number Ones has sold 564,000 copies so far this year, which puts it at #18 on Nielsen/SoundScan's running list of the best-selling albums of 2009. If it keeps going like this, it could topple Taylor Swift's Fearless as the #1 album for the year-to-date. (Fearless has sold 1,352,000 copies since Jan. 1.) This will (in all likelihood) be only the third time in Nielsen/SoundScan history that an album by a deceased performer has ranked among the year's top 10. 2Pac's All Eyez On Me was the #6 album of 1996 (he died on Sept. 13 of that year). The Notorious B.I.G.'s Life After Death was the #6 album of 1997 (he died on March 9 of that year).
Number Ones holds at #1 on the Catalog Albums chart. (Catalog albums are albums that are more than 18 months old, have fallen below #100 on The Billboard 200 and don't have a current radio single.) Jackson owns the entire top 10 this week, counting a Jackson 5 album. The Essential Michael Jackson holds at #1 on the Digital Albums chart. The collection sold 53,000 digital copies this week.
This is the third time that Thriller has posted sales of 100,000 or more units in a week in the Nielsen/SoundScan era (which dates to 1991). As noted above, the album sold 166,000 copies when a 25th anniversary edition was released in February 2008. It sold 101,000 last week, in the aftermath of Jackson's death. Thriller is the only the second catalog album (again, excluding Christmas albums) to top the 100,000 sales mark more than once since 1992. It follows the Grease soundtrack, a 1978 blockbuster that came back strong in the mid-1990s. The John Travolta/Olivia Newton-John tune-fest topped the 100,000 sales mark twice in December 1996 and again in April 1998, when the movie was re-released theatrically.
Jackson has five songs in the top 10 on Hot Digital Songs this week: "Man In The Mirror" at #2, "Billie Jean" at #4, "Thriller" at #5, "The Way You Make Me Feel" at #7 and "Beat It" at #10. Later today, I'll post a Chart Watch Extra in which I count down Jackson's 40 most songs with the most cumulative paid downloads. The list shows which of Jackson's songs have best stood the test of time-and which haven't.
Pop Quiz: To get you in the mood, here's a good (but seriously tough) Jackson trivia question. What do these three songs have in common: "Rock With You," "Human Nature" and "Man In The Mirror." Answer below.
Jackson is selling around the world. In the U.K., The Essential Michael Jackson moves up to #1, dethroning Number Ones (which drops to #3). In Japan, King Of Pop vaults from #43 to #6.
In a Chart Watch Extra (here's the link), I told you that Michael Jackson has had 17 #1 hits on the Hot 100 (combining Jackson 5 and solo records). Let me add that he has also had five #2 hits. Twice, he peaked at #2 behind hits that went on to be Billboard's #1 single of the year. That was the fate of the J5's "Never Can Say Goodbye" (which got stuck behind Three Dog Night's "Joy To The World," the top hit of 1971) and his own "Rockin' Robin" (which ran up against Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," the top hit of 1972). The J5's "Mama's Pearl" peaked at #2 behind the Osmonds' "One Bad Apple," which was created in the mold of the early J5 hits. His other #2 hits were the J5's "Dancing Machine" and his duet with Paul McCartney, "The Girl Is Mine."
Quiz Answer: Those were the first "outside songs" (songs that Jackson didn't write) to be released as singles from his three most famous albums, Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad. (I told you it was tough!)
Posted Wed Jul 8, 2009 11:47am PDT by Paul Grein in Chart Watch
Michael Jackson has three of the five best-selling albums in the U.S. for the second week in a row. Number Ones sold 339,000 copies this week and would have held at #1 on The Billboard 200 if catalog albums were eligible to compete on that chart. (The 2003 compilation sold a little more than twice as many copies this week as NOW 31, the album that holds the #1 spot.) Thriller sold 187,000 copies and would have jumped from #3 to #2 if catalog albums were invited to the party. The Essential Michael Jackson sold 125,000 copies and would have dropped from #2 to #5. (Billboard excludes catalog albums from the big chart on the theory that new albums need the spotlight the chart provides more than past hits do.)
Jackson's catalog of solo albums sold 800,000 copies this week, up from 422,000 copies last week. (This was the first full week following Jackson's death on June 25. Last week's total reflected just four days of sales.) Billboard reports that 82% of the Jackson albums sold this week were CDs (vs. digital downloads). Last week, 43% of the Jackson albums sold were CDs. I think this shows that on a special album, people want the CD as a keepsake. (What a retro concept!)
Jackson's total song download sales this week, including hits with his brothers, stand at 2.2 million downloads, down just a little from 2.6 million last week. A total of 47 songs that feature Jackson are listed on the Hot Digital Songs chart. (This is down just a bit from last week's eye-popping total of 50.)
Number Ones racked up the biggest weekly sales total in Nielsen/SoundScan history for a catalog album (excluding Christmas albums). Jackson also held the old record, which he set in February 2008, when Thriller 25 sold 166,000 copies in its first week. Number Ones also posted the biggest one-week sales tally for an album by a deceased performer since the Notorious B.I.G.'s Duets: The Final Chapter debuted in December 2005 with first-week sales of 438,000.
Number Ones has sold 564,000 copies so far this year, which puts it at #18 on Nielsen/SoundScan's running list of the best-selling albums of 2009. If it keeps going like this, it could topple Taylor Swift's Fearless as the #1 album for the year-to-date. (Fearless has sold 1,352,000 copies since Jan. 1.) This will (in all likelihood) be only the third time in Nielsen/SoundScan history that an album by a deceased performer has ranked among the year's top 10. 2Pac's All Eyez On Me was the #6 album of 1996 (he died on Sept. 13 of that year). The Notorious B.I.G.'s Life After Death was the #6 album of 1997 (he died on March 9 of that year).
Number Ones holds at #1 on the Catalog Albums chart. (Catalog albums are albums that are more than 18 months old, have fallen below #100 on The Billboard 200 and don't have a current radio single.) Jackson owns the entire top 10 this week, counting a Jackson 5 album. The Essential Michael Jackson holds at #1 on the Digital Albums chart. The collection sold 53,000 digital copies this week.
This is the third time that Thriller has posted sales of 100,000 or more units in a week in the Nielsen/SoundScan era (which dates to 1991). As noted above, the album sold 166,000 copies when a 25th anniversary edition was released in February 2008. It sold 101,000 last week, in the aftermath of Jackson's death. Thriller is the only the second catalog album (again, excluding Christmas albums) to top the 100,000 sales mark more than once since 1992. It follows the Grease soundtrack, a 1978 blockbuster that came back strong in the mid-1990s. The John Travolta/Olivia Newton-John tune-fest topped the 100,000 sales mark twice in December 1996 and again in April 1998, when the movie was re-released theatrically.
Jackson has five songs in the top 10 on Hot Digital Songs this week: "Man In The Mirror" at #2, "Billie Jean" at #4, "Thriller" at #5, "The Way You Make Me Feel" at #7 and "Beat It" at #10. Later today, I'll post a Chart Watch Extra in which I count down Jackson's 40 most songs with the most cumulative paid downloads. The list shows which of Jackson's songs have best stood the test of time-and which haven't.
Pop Quiz: To get you in the mood, here's a good (but seriously tough) Jackson trivia question. What do these three songs have in common: "Rock With You," "Human Nature" and "Man In The Mirror." Answer below.
Jackson is selling around the world. In the U.K., The Essential Michael Jackson moves up to #1, dethroning Number Ones (which drops to #3). In Japan, King Of Pop vaults from #43 to #6.
In a Chart Watch Extra (here's the link), I told you that Michael Jackson has had 17 #1 hits on the Hot 100 (combining Jackson 5 and solo records). Let me add that he has also had five #2 hits. Twice, he peaked at #2 behind hits that went on to be Billboard's #1 single of the year. That was the fate of the J5's "Never Can Say Goodbye" (which got stuck behind Three Dog Night's "Joy To The World," the top hit of 1971) and his own "Rockin' Robin" (which ran up against Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," the top hit of 1972). The J5's "Mama's Pearl" peaked at #2 behind the Osmonds' "One Bad Apple," which was created in the mold of the early J5 hits. His other #2 hits were the J5's "Dancing Machine" and his duet with Paul McCartney, "The Girl Is Mine."
Quiz Answer: Those were the first "outside songs" (songs that Jackson didn't write) to be released as singles from his three most famous albums, Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad. (I told you it was tough!)
Unreleased Songs
By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY
Since Michael Jackson's unexpected death, fans and industry insiders have been wondering what unreleased music the pop icon may have left behind.
Reports that he was collaborating on a comeback album with leading hip-hop and R&B artists emerged as early as 2006. He had worked on songs with will.i.am, and Ne-Yo had offered material for consideration.
MEMORIAL PLANS: Grammys' Ehrlich tells how it all came together
Akon— whose sweetly lyrical Hold My Hand, featuring Jackson on vocals, was leaked last year — says he and Jackson were working on additional songs. Jackson was intent on crafting an album with "positive messages that would bring people together, upbeat songs as well as ballads," Akon says.
"And his voice was incredible — it had not changed."
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Sony | Michael Jackson | Queen | Quincy Jones | Ne-Yo | Akon | Sony Music Entertainment | Tommy Mottola | Off the Wall | HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book 1 | Brian May
Billboard reported last week that Jackson had been at work on both a new pop album, his first since 2001's Invincible, and an instrumental album of classical music.
Veteran engineer and producer Bruce Swedien, a longtime Jackson and Quincy Jones colleague who worked on Off the Wall and Thriller, says he and Jackson had "experimented" with classical music but had "a bunch of things in the works" in more of a pop vein. "There were pieces of music that I think would have been wonderful."
Swedien, whose book In the Studio With Michael Jackson arrives July 27, describes one unreleased song, Don't Be Messin' Around, as "a medium-tempo piece, with Jackson playing piano. And he does it well."
Others point to older recordings. Tommy Mottola, formerly head of Sony Music, Jackson's record company, says the singer accumulated a lot of material that never left the studio. And Queen guitarist Brian May revealed on his website after the superstar's death that he and Freddie Mercury had recorded tracks at Jackson's home.
Sony says Jackson had been in talks for eight months about a 30th anniversary edition of Off theWall that would pair him with other stars, as with the 25th anniversary edition of Thriller. The label says it has no plans to unveil new or repackaged songs.
That hasn't discouraged speculation.
"Of course they're going to put stuff out," says veteran music critic J.D. Considine, who writes for The Globe and Mail in Toronto. "I would be extraordinarily surprised if we didn't have some kind of elaborate box set in time for Christmas."
Former Spin and Vibe editor Alan Light would advise anyone seeking to represent Jackson's work, particularly the unreleased music, "to be careful what context it's presented in." When rapper Notorious B.I.G. died, "songs were rebuilt and reconstructed around scraps. You can do that, but Michael Jackson was a perfectionist.
"I'd argue it wouldn't serve his memory or his creative legacy to just dump stuff out there."
But Mottola says that while Sony "packaged and repackaged his albums for years, there are still true gems in the unreleased material."
The tough part, most agree, will be finding the right people to curate that material. "Sony would be wise to work with people who really know the music, like some of the producers who worked on it originally," Mottola says. "And it would be good to work with (Jackson's) family as well, to keep everything running smoothly."
For his part, Akon plans to "let the family decide" what to do with his and Jackson's most recent efforts: "They knew him better than anybody."
Since Michael Jackson's unexpected death, fans and industry insiders have been wondering what unreleased music the pop icon may have left behind.
Reports that he was collaborating on a comeback album with leading hip-hop and R&B artists emerged as early as 2006. He had worked on songs with will.i.am, and Ne-Yo had offered material for consideration.
MEMORIAL PLANS: Grammys' Ehrlich tells how it all came together
Akon— whose sweetly lyrical Hold My Hand, featuring Jackson on vocals, was leaked last year — says he and Jackson were working on additional songs. Jackson was intent on crafting an album with "positive messages that would bring people together, upbeat songs as well as ballads," Akon says.
"And his voice was incredible — it had not changed."
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Sony | Michael Jackson | Queen | Quincy Jones | Ne-Yo | Akon | Sony Music Entertainment | Tommy Mottola | Off the Wall | HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book 1 | Brian May
Billboard reported last week that Jackson had been at work on both a new pop album, his first since 2001's Invincible, and an instrumental album of classical music.
Veteran engineer and producer Bruce Swedien, a longtime Jackson and Quincy Jones colleague who worked on Off the Wall and Thriller, says he and Jackson had "experimented" with classical music but had "a bunch of things in the works" in more of a pop vein. "There were pieces of music that I think would have been wonderful."
Swedien, whose book In the Studio With Michael Jackson arrives July 27, describes one unreleased song, Don't Be Messin' Around, as "a medium-tempo piece, with Jackson playing piano. And he does it well."
Others point to older recordings. Tommy Mottola, formerly head of Sony Music, Jackson's record company, says the singer accumulated a lot of material that never left the studio. And Queen guitarist Brian May revealed on his website after the superstar's death that he and Freddie Mercury had recorded tracks at Jackson's home.
Sony says Jackson had been in talks for eight months about a 30th anniversary edition of Off theWall that would pair him with other stars, as with the 25th anniversary edition of Thriller. The label says it has no plans to unveil new or repackaged songs.
That hasn't discouraged speculation.
"Of course they're going to put stuff out," says veteran music critic J.D. Considine, who writes for The Globe and Mail in Toronto. "I would be extraordinarily surprised if we didn't have some kind of elaborate box set in time for Christmas."
Former Spin and Vibe editor Alan Light would advise anyone seeking to represent Jackson's work, particularly the unreleased music, "to be careful what context it's presented in." When rapper Notorious B.I.G. died, "songs were rebuilt and reconstructed around scraps. You can do that, but Michael Jackson was a perfectionist.
"I'd argue it wouldn't serve his memory or his creative legacy to just dump stuff out there."
But Mottola says that while Sony "packaged and repackaged his albums for years, there are still true gems in the unreleased material."
The tough part, most agree, will be finding the right people to curate that material. "Sony would be wise to work with people who really know the music, like some of the producers who worked on it originally," Mottola says. "And it would be good to work with (Jackson's) family as well, to keep everything running smoothly."
For his part, Akon plans to "let the family decide" what to do with his and Jackson's most recent efforts: "They knew him better than anybody."
They Saved Michael Jackson's Brain!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/20090708/en_music_eo/133125
Josh Grossberg Josh Grossberg – Wed Jul 8, 1:41 pm ET
Los Angeles (E! Online) – What do Michael Jackson and Albert Einstein have in common...besides pure genius? Both their brains are in a glass jar—at least for the time being.
The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office says it's holding onto a section of the late King of Pop's brain as part of its investigation into how he died.
Because toxicology tests take several weeks and are not yet complete, a coroner spokesman says pathologists need to wait for the organ to harden before they can conduct neuropathology tests to help determine what caused Jackson's apparent cardiac arrest and subsequent death.
Investigators have focused on the possibility that Jackson accidentally overdosed on a potent anesthetic, and a thorough examination of brain tissue might shed some light on what drugs were in his system.
The coroner's office has told Jackson relatives they have the option of burying Michael without the missing portion of his brain, or they can wait until tests are done and the tissue returned to its original place before finally laying him to rest.
That could explain why relatives have yet to hold a burial service for the late pop star.
The whereabouts of his remains are not known, having disappeared from public view following yesterday's poignant public memorial; while, a family friend claimed Michael would be back at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, where a private funeral service was held earlier Tuesday, his body is not there, a source tells E! News.
Jackson's death certificate, signed by his sister La Toya, was also issued Tuesday, listing the cause of death as "deferred." A burial permit filed with the Los Angeles County's Office of Vital Records has not been made public.
Josh Grossberg Josh Grossberg – Wed Jul 8, 1:41 pm ET
Los Angeles (E! Online) – What do Michael Jackson and Albert Einstein have in common...besides pure genius? Both their brains are in a glass jar—at least for the time being.
The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office says it's holding onto a section of the late King of Pop's brain as part of its investigation into how he died.
Because toxicology tests take several weeks and are not yet complete, a coroner spokesman says pathologists need to wait for the organ to harden before they can conduct neuropathology tests to help determine what caused Jackson's apparent cardiac arrest and subsequent death.
Investigators have focused on the possibility that Jackson accidentally overdosed on a potent anesthetic, and a thorough examination of brain tissue might shed some light on what drugs were in his system.
The coroner's office has told Jackson relatives they have the option of burying Michael without the missing portion of his brain, or they can wait until tests are done and the tissue returned to its original place before finally laying him to rest.
That could explain why relatives have yet to hold a burial service for the late pop star.
The whereabouts of his remains are not known, having disappeared from public view following yesterday's poignant public memorial; while, a family friend claimed Michael would be back at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, where a private funeral service was held earlier Tuesday, his body is not there, a source tells E! News.
Jackson's death certificate, signed by his sister La Toya, was also issued Tuesday, listing the cause of death as "deferred." A burial permit filed with the Los Angeles County's Office of Vital Records has not been made public.
Michael Jackson's final resting place a mystery
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090709/ap_en_mu/us_michael_jackson_571
By MARK KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer Mark Kennedy, Associated Press Writer – 12 mins ago
LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson's glimmering casket took center stage at the Staples Center, sitting for more than two hours as celebrities memorialized the King of Pop under the watchful eyes of millions. And when the ceremony was over, it was gone.
By law, the golden casket that presumably held Jackson's body should be exactly where his death certificate says it is: back at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Hollywood Hills cemetery, the site of a private family memorial service held before the Staples ceremony. Los Angeles County records show the cemetery as the temporary location, where it must stay until those records are officially updated.
But where Jackson's body will eventually be laid to rest remained a mystery, fed by the same level of rumor and speculation that surrounded much of his life. Will he be interred at Forest Lawn? Is Neverland Ranch still a possibility?
What if he's not buried at all, but cremated? The family isn't talking — and may not even have decided yet.
The casket was first seen leaving the mortuary at Forest Lawn, where it got into a hearse for the 10-mile trip to the Staples Center. But before the service even started, the hearse was seen leaving the facility — empty — and wasn't spotted again.
But to keep in good standing with the law, the casket would have needed to return to Forest Lawn at some point, presumably after the crowds went home and the television cameras were long gone.
Robert J. Biggins, a former president of the National Funeral Directors Association, said Jackson's body is likely in his casket which he identified it as a custom-made, top-of-the-line coffin made by the Indiana-based Batesville Casket Company that is called a "Promethean." The casket is probably in a temporary holding area — perhaps a mausoleum — pending a final location, he said.
"This happened so quickly that it's something that has to have an awful lot of thoughtful consideration," said Biggins, who is the owner of Magoun-Biggins Funeral home in Rockland, Mass. "This is bigger than your average burial."
Conjecture about Jackson's final resting place has been as fraught as the rumors about where his memorial service would be held in the days before the Staples Center was announced. His 5-page will, signed in 2002, does not include final wishes for his body.
Forest Lawn is one likely possibility. If Jackson is buried there, he would join other celebrities such as Liberace, Gene Autry, Bette Davis and Andy Gibb. Recently deceased actor David Carradine and "Tonight Show" sidekick Ed McMahon also are buried there.
The Jackson family seems divided over whether the body should go to Neverland, which would surely turn the Santa Barbara County ranch into a West-coast Graceland. But Jackson abandoned the 2,500-acre estate after going into seclusion following his acquittal on child molestation charges in 2005, and many of the things that made it unique — the merry-go-round, Ferris wheel and zoo — are gone.
Billionaire Thomas Barrack, who owns Neverland in a joint venture with Jackson, has expressed an openness to the idea of having the singer's body buried at the ranch. The family would need to get permission from local land-use officials to bury Jackson on private property, then submit an application and paperwork with the state Cemetery and Funeral Bureau.
The state application would then need to be approved by the funeral board, a process that could take anywhere from seven to 30 days.
Beyond that, accessibility remains an issue at Neverland. A single two-lane highway leads to the property about 130 miles north of Los Angeles, and infrastructure changes would likely be necessary to accommodate the additional traffic.
Another possibility is cremation. State law requires that the person who has control of the cremated remains obtain written permission of the property owner or governing agency to scatter on the property.
Funeral experts said the delay in Jackson's funeral may be due to the fact that such celebrity deaths create logistical, security and legal headaches.
"One of the issues you're going to run into with any high-profile name, whether it be a former president of the United States or somebody of Michael Jackson's stature, is what does the cemetery — if it's to be a burial — do to establish security, to protect the remains, to protect the privacy of the family during the service, to protect remains afterward and what kind of built-in overhead comes with it," said Paul Elvig, former president of the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association.
Experts said even a two-week delay between death and funeral is not unusual. The body of singer James Brown was kept in a sealed gold casket inside his South Carolina home for more than two months before being interred in 2007 at the home of one of his daughters.
"You're probably talking more about an impatient public and an impatient press wanting to know what's going to happen and that impatience needs to be understood," Elvig said. "If a body's been properly prepared by an embalmer, it can be held for a considerable period of time with minor touchups to it."
Biggins said he is even encouraged by the delay.
"I think the fact that there's this pause is a wonderful thing because it's being given thoughtful consideration," he said, "to make sure this is done right and this is done in a way that honors his legacy."
By MARK KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer Mark Kennedy, Associated Press Writer – 12 mins ago
LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson's glimmering casket took center stage at the Staples Center, sitting for more than two hours as celebrities memorialized the King of Pop under the watchful eyes of millions. And when the ceremony was over, it was gone.
By law, the golden casket that presumably held Jackson's body should be exactly where his death certificate says it is: back at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Hollywood Hills cemetery, the site of a private family memorial service held before the Staples ceremony. Los Angeles County records show the cemetery as the temporary location, where it must stay until those records are officially updated.
But where Jackson's body will eventually be laid to rest remained a mystery, fed by the same level of rumor and speculation that surrounded much of his life. Will he be interred at Forest Lawn? Is Neverland Ranch still a possibility?
What if he's not buried at all, but cremated? The family isn't talking — and may not even have decided yet.
The casket was first seen leaving the mortuary at Forest Lawn, where it got into a hearse for the 10-mile trip to the Staples Center. But before the service even started, the hearse was seen leaving the facility — empty — and wasn't spotted again.
But to keep in good standing with the law, the casket would have needed to return to Forest Lawn at some point, presumably after the crowds went home and the television cameras were long gone.
Robert J. Biggins, a former president of the National Funeral Directors Association, said Jackson's body is likely in his casket which he identified it as a custom-made, top-of-the-line coffin made by the Indiana-based Batesville Casket Company that is called a "Promethean." The casket is probably in a temporary holding area — perhaps a mausoleum — pending a final location, he said.
"This happened so quickly that it's something that has to have an awful lot of thoughtful consideration," said Biggins, who is the owner of Magoun-Biggins Funeral home in Rockland, Mass. "This is bigger than your average burial."
Conjecture about Jackson's final resting place has been as fraught as the rumors about where his memorial service would be held in the days before the Staples Center was announced. His 5-page will, signed in 2002, does not include final wishes for his body.
Forest Lawn is one likely possibility. If Jackson is buried there, he would join other celebrities such as Liberace, Gene Autry, Bette Davis and Andy Gibb. Recently deceased actor David Carradine and "Tonight Show" sidekick Ed McMahon also are buried there.
The Jackson family seems divided over whether the body should go to Neverland, which would surely turn the Santa Barbara County ranch into a West-coast Graceland. But Jackson abandoned the 2,500-acre estate after going into seclusion following his acquittal on child molestation charges in 2005, and many of the things that made it unique — the merry-go-round, Ferris wheel and zoo — are gone.
Billionaire Thomas Barrack, who owns Neverland in a joint venture with Jackson, has expressed an openness to the idea of having the singer's body buried at the ranch. The family would need to get permission from local land-use officials to bury Jackson on private property, then submit an application and paperwork with the state Cemetery and Funeral Bureau.
The state application would then need to be approved by the funeral board, a process that could take anywhere from seven to 30 days.
Beyond that, accessibility remains an issue at Neverland. A single two-lane highway leads to the property about 130 miles north of Los Angeles, and infrastructure changes would likely be necessary to accommodate the additional traffic.
Another possibility is cremation. State law requires that the person who has control of the cremated remains obtain written permission of the property owner or governing agency to scatter on the property.
Funeral experts said the delay in Jackson's funeral may be due to the fact that such celebrity deaths create logistical, security and legal headaches.
"One of the issues you're going to run into with any high-profile name, whether it be a former president of the United States or somebody of Michael Jackson's stature, is what does the cemetery — if it's to be a burial — do to establish security, to protect the remains, to protect the privacy of the family during the service, to protect remains afterward and what kind of built-in overhead comes with it," said Paul Elvig, former president of the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association.
Experts said even a two-week delay between death and funeral is not unusual. The body of singer James Brown was kept in a sealed gold casket inside his South Carolina home for more than two months before being interred in 2007 at the home of one of his daughters.
"You're probably talking more about an impatient public and an impatient press wanting to know what's going to happen and that impatience needs to be understood," Elvig said. "If a body's been properly prepared by an embalmer, it can be held for a considerable period of time with minor touchups to it."
Biggins said he is even encouraged by the delay.
"I think the fact that there's this pause is a wonderful thing because it's being given thoughtful consideration," he said, "to make sure this is done right and this is done in a way that honors his legacy."
Remembering Michael Jackson: The service is a thriller [Updated]
Remembering Michael Jackson: The service is a thriller [Updated]
08:50 PM PT, Jul 7 2009
It’s poignant. It’s wrenching. But most of all, it’s so very Michael.
In the days after his death, Michael Jackson's mother reportedly worried that if her son's funeral was too long delayed, his soul might wander the earth. In a more secular sense, that is exactly what has been happening. Remembering Jackson -- debating his legacy, listening to his music, trying to make sense of his life -- has become the world's favorite activity. The shape of Jackson's shadow grows only more complicated as these thoughts and memories accrue.
Tuesday's public memorial at Staples Center could have performed the function such events often do, channeling all the different stories into one narrative, helping make the emotions that Jackson's death has generated feel neater and easier to digest.
Instead, the service (or was it a concert? Or a political event?) operated on several levels at once. Yet its two hours of music and eulogies made for many poignant and even wrenching moments, its incongruities adding up to the only reasonable response to an artistic giant whose meanings were always multiple and often contradictory.
Focus for a minute on just one musical offering: the rendition of "Smile" by Michael Jackson's older brother, Jermaine. [Corrected at 11:05 p.m.: An earlier version of this post said Jermaine Jackson is Michael Jackson's eldest brother. Jackie Jackson is the eldest brother.] Following a bravely personal remembrance by Brooke Shields, Michael's friend and fellow former child star, Jermaine took the stage wearing one silver glove and a red rose to sing this simple tune, which was co-written by Charlie Chaplin and served as the theme for his much-beloved film "Modern Times."
Where to start in interpreting what happened in the four or so minutes while Jermaine Jackson sang?
There was the personal pathos of the older brother, whose own youthful success was so dramatically eclipsed by his sibling's, and who in recent days has told the media that he wishes he had died instead of Michael, singing in a voice eerily reminiscent of the one now lost. Jermaine nearly broke down near the end, right after the line, "What's the use in crying"; the fans' applause lifted him back up.
Then there was the song itself, a gentle admonition to cancel negative emotions behind a careful mask -- a particularly loaded message in light of the history of African American music, with its roots in the tangled history of blackface minstrelsy. Michael Jackson was hardly the first black pop star to deploy an often unreadable smile: one thinks of Louis Armstrong, and of that earlier crossover star, Nat King Cole, who similarly broke down barriers but was sometimes criticized for being too assimilationist.
Jermaine Jackson held his arms outstretched for much of the song, his gesture mirroring an image of Michael on the screens above him. It seemed like he was bearing a burden as well as celebrating a triumph. None of the memorial's other musical performances were as rich in subtext as this one, but each was its own kind of maze that the singers had to negotiate.
Mariah Carey and her frequent duet partner, Trey Lorenz, were the first to try, giving a gentle spin to "I'll Be There," which was a hit for her as well as for the Jackson 5. Lorenz nearly toppled the song by coming on too strong, but Carey steered it back toward a tender reading, perfect for raising the much longed-for spirit of the young Michael, full of promise and innocence.
Gospel reminder
Backed by the Andrae Crouch Singers -- another resonant choice to perform, since Crouch is one of gospel's most famous "crossover" modernizers -- Lionel Richie sang "Jesus Is Love" with his finger pointed skyward and as much grit as he could muster in his voice. This was one of many times that the memorial went back to church, reminding the fans in attendance that this was a service, not simply a concert.
The gospel elements also reinforced the connection between Jackson's career and the civil rights movement made in speeches by several political leaders, including two of Martin Luther King Jr.'s children, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee and the Rev. Al Sharpton.
"He outsang the cynics, he outdanced his doubters, he outperformed the pessimists," said Sharpton of Jackson, making a strong contribution to the fascinating process of Jackson's posthumous rehabilitation as an African American hero.
One would have expected Jennifer Hudson's role in the memorial to also serve this purpose.
After all, the mighty-voiced ingenue has been christened the New Aretha Franklin by many, a singer with enough gravity and guts to serve history's needs.
Singing "Will You Be There," Jackson's most gospel-inspired song, in an angelic white dress, Hudson fulfilled that position. But again, it got complicated. Surrounded by the dancers who would have appeared onstage with Jackson during his comeback "This Is It" tour, she kept her composure while enduring some serious showbiz choreography. The image reminded those present that Jackson was a Hollywood child, as well as an inner-city baby -- and that Oscar winner and former "American Idol" contestant Hudson is also a product of those twin legacies.
The night's other younger performers had to finesse their roles in reinterpreting Jackson's meanings, and their own in relationship to him. John Mayer was tasteful performing an instrumental version of "Human Nature," and though he didn't seem as connected to the event as some of the participants, his presence made sense in light of Jackson's well-known love of rock guitar.
Usher, a direct inheritor of Jackson's style, made the risky decision to croon the melancholy "Gone Too Soon" while nearly touching Jackson's golden coffin, but this assertion of closeness seemed justified when he choked up late in the song and was almost immediately enveloped in hugs by the Jackson family.
Twelve-year-old Shaheen Jafargholi was also in a tricky spot. The "Britain's Got Talent" finalist wailed his way through the Jackson 5 song "Who's Loving You," right after the song's writer, Smokey Robinson, had spoken about his astonishment at the child Michael Jackson's skill with such "adult" compositions.
Jafargholi had spunk but not a lot of nuance. (He shouldn't have to worry too much about the media anointing him the next Michael.) Kenny Ortega, the director of Jackson's ill-fated comeback, explained after the boy sang that Jackson had been a fan, and that's why he was there.
Really, though, what made more sense than featuring a child performer? As much as we are now mulling the intricacies of Jackson's relationship to race and to the history of entertainment, we must also consider his status as an avatar of childhood.
The memorial's final number, a group sing of "We Are the World" and "Heal the World" that included, among many performers, both the Andrae & Sandra Crouch Youth Choir and Jackson's own three children, placed Jackson's belief in the symbolic power of the child front and center.
As much as viewers were touched by the impromptu speech from Jackson's daughter, Paris, at the memorial's end -- her declaration that "Daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine" was heart-crushingly direct and true. It's worth remembering that the child was a primary subject of Jackson's art too, and that we have only begun to absorb the complexities of that matter.
Wonder shines
Memorials often raise such knotty issues. Even ordinary souls, and certainly not ones as huge as Michael Jackson's, cannot be contained within one set of remembrances. Yet simpler moments can also be profound, and this event had at least one.
Playing piano and singing a medley of two songs that seemed to speak directly about Jackson's sudden death -- "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" and "They Won't Go When I Go," a song about finding relief in heaven -- Wonder found the musical route into unadorned mourning. The Staples Center crowd stayed quiet, taking it in.
Like Shields' tear-inducing talk, Wonder's performance wasn't addressed to an icon, or a set of half-formed meanings. It was a message to a man, from a friend. And in that moment, the man's loss was felt.
--Ann Powers
08:50 PM PT, Jul 7 2009
It’s poignant. It’s wrenching. But most of all, it’s so very Michael.
In the days after his death, Michael Jackson's mother reportedly worried that if her son's funeral was too long delayed, his soul might wander the earth. In a more secular sense, that is exactly what has been happening. Remembering Jackson -- debating his legacy, listening to his music, trying to make sense of his life -- has become the world's favorite activity. The shape of Jackson's shadow grows only more complicated as these thoughts and memories accrue.
Tuesday's public memorial at Staples Center could have performed the function such events often do, channeling all the different stories into one narrative, helping make the emotions that Jackson's death has generated feel neater and easier to digest.
Instead, the service (or was it a concert? Or a political event?) operated on several levels at once. Yet its two hours of music and eulogies made for many poignant and even wrenching moments, its incongruities adding up to the only reasonable response to an artistic giant whose meanings were always multiple and often contradictory.
Focus for a minute on just one musical offering: the rendition of "Smile" by Michael Jackson's older brother, Jermaine. [Corrected at 11:05 p.m.: An earlier version of this post said Jermaine Jackson is Michael Jackson's eldest brother. Jackie Jackson is the eldest brother.] Following a bravely personal remembrance by Brooke Shields, Michael's friend and fellow former child star, Jermaine took the stage wearing one silver glove and a red rose to sing this simple tune, which was co-written by Charlie Chaplin and served as the theme for his much-beloved film "Modern Times."
Where to start in interpreting what happened in the four or so minutes while Jermaine Jackson sang?
There was the personal pathos of the older brother, whose own youthful success was so dramatically eclipsed by his sibling's, and who in recent days has told the media that he wishes he had died instead of Michael, singing in a voice eerily reminiscent of the one now lost. Jermaine nearly broke down near the end, right after the line, "What's the use in crying"; the fans' applause lifted him back up.
Then there was the song itself, a gentle admonition to cancel negative emotions behind a careful mask -- a particularly loaded message in light of the history of African American music, with its roots in the tangled history of blackface minstrelsy. Michael Jackson was hardly the first black pop star to deploy an often unreadable smile: one thinks of Louis Armstrong, and of that earlier crossover star, Nat King Cole, who similarly broke down barriers but was sometimes criticized for being too assimilationist.
Jermaine Jackson held his arms outstretched for much of the song, his gesture mirroring an image of Michael on the screens above him. It seemed like he was bearing a burden as well as celebrating a triumph. None of the memorial's other musical performances were as rich in subtext as this one, but each was its own kind of maze that the singers had to negotiate.
Mariah Carey and her frequent duet partner, Trey Lorenz, were the first to try, giving a gentle spin to "I'll Be There," which was a hit for her as well as for the Jackson 5. Lorenz nearly toppled the song by coming on too strong, but Carey steered it back toward a tender reading, perfect for raising the much longed-for spirit of the young Michael, full of promise and innocence.
Gospel reminder
Backed by the Andrae Crouch Singers -- another resonant choice to perform, since Crouch is one of gospel's most famous "crossover" modernizers -- Lionel Richie sang "Jesus Is Love" with his finger pointed skyward and as much grit as he could muster in his voice. This was one of many times that the memorial went back to church, reminding the fans in attendance that this was a service, not simply a concert.
The gospel elements also reinforced the connection between Jackson's career and the civil rights movement made in speeches by several political leaders, including two of Martin Luther King Jr.'s children, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee and the Rev. Al Sharpton.
"He outsang the cynics, he outdanced his doubters, he outperformed the pessimists," said Sharpton of Jackson, making a strong contribution to the fascinating process of Jackson's posthumous rehabilitation as an African American hero.
One would have expected Jennifer Hudson's role in the memorial to also serve this purpose.
After all, the mighty-voiced ingenue has been christened the New Aretha Franklin by many, a singer with enough gravity and guts to serve history's needs.
Singing "Will You Be There," Jackson's most gospel-inspired song, in an angelic white dress, Hudson fulfilled that position. But again, it got complicated. Surrounded by the dancers who would have appeared onstage with Jackson during his comeback "This Is It" tour, she kept her composure while enduring some serious showbiz choreography. The image reminded those present that Jackson was a Hollywood child, as well as an inner-city baby -- and that Oscar winner and former "American Idol" contestant Hudson is also a product of those twin legacies.
The night's other younger performers had to finesse their roles in reinterpreting Jackson's meanings, and their own in relationship to him. John Mayer was tasteful performing an instrumental version of "Human Nature," and though he didn't seem as connected to the event as some of the participants, his presence made sense in light of Jackson's well-known love of rock guitar.
Usher, a direct inheritor of Jackson's style, made the risky decision to croon the melancholy "Gone Too Soon" while nearly touching Jackson's golden coffin, but this assertion of closeness seemed justified when he choked up late in the song and was almost immediately enveloped in hugs by the Jackson family.
Twelve-year-old Shaheen Jafargholi was also in a tricky spot. The "Britain's Got Talent" finalist wailed his way through the Jackson 5 song "Who's Loving You," right after the song's writer, Smokey Robinson, had spoken about his astonishment at the child Michael Jackson's skill with such "adult" compositions.
Jafargholi had spunk but not a lot of nuance. (He shouldn't have to worry too much about the media anointing him the next Michael.) Kenny Ortega, the director of Jackson's ill-fated comeback, explained after the boy sang that Jackson had been a fan, and that's why he was there.
Really, though, what made more sense than featuring a child performer? As much as we are now mulling the intricacies of Jackson's relationship to race and to the history of entertainment, we must also consider his status as an avatar of childhood.
The memorial's final number, a group sing of "We Are the World" and "Heal the World" that included, among many performers, both the Andrae & Sandra Crouch Youth Choir and Jackson's own three children, placed Jackson's belief in the symbolic power of the child front and center.
As much as viewers were touched by the impromptu speech from Jackson's daughter, Paris, at the memorial's end -- her declaration that "Daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine" was heart-crushingly direct and true. It's worth remembering that the child was a primary subject of Jackson's art too, and that we have only begun to absorb the complexities of that matter.
Wonder shines
Memorials often raise such knotty issues. Even ordinary souls, and certainly not ones as huge as Michael Jackson's, cannot be contained within one set of remembrances. Yet simpler moments can also be profound, and this event had at least one.
Playing piano and singing a medley of two songs that seemed to speak directly about Jackson's sudden death -- "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" and "They Won't Go When I Go," a song about finding relief in heaven -- Wonder found the musical route into unadorned mourning. The Staples Center crowd stayed quiet, taking it in.
Like Shields' tear-inducing talk, Wonder's performance wasn't addressed to an icon, or a set of half-formed meanings. It was a message to a man, from a friend. And in that moment, the man's loss was felt.
--Ann Powers
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Michael Jackson hailed as greatest entertainer, best dad
By Bob Tourtellotte Bob Tourtellotte – 17 mins ago
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder and Usher sang emotional farewells on Tuesday to Michael Jackson, who was hailed as "the greatest entertainer that ever lived" and described by his tearful 11-year-old daughter Paris as "the best father you could ever imagine."
Some 18,000 fans, family members and friends took part in a public memorial for Jackson in the Los Angeles sports arena where the singer had rehearsed the day before his death for a highly-anticipated series of comeback concerts.
Jackson's brothers, each wearing a single sequined glove in homage to his signature look, carried the singer's golden casket into the downtown Staples Center.
Carey performed Jackson's 1970 ballad "I'll Be There", Usher's voice cracked as he sang "Gone Too Soon" and the King of Pop's three children made a rare public appearance without veils used for years by Jackson to shield them from the media.
But it was Jackson himself who loomed larger than life, shown in old concert footage, music videos and news clips, singing, dancing his moonwalk and surrounded by adoring crowds.
"The more I think about Michael, and talk about Michael, the more I think that 'King of Pop' is not good enough," said Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, who signed The Jackson 5 to a recording contract in 1968. "I think he is simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived."
The two-hour memorial focused on Jackson's musical achievements, overshadowed in the last 10 years by the darker side of the singer's life, including his humiliating 2005 trial and acquittal on charges of child sex abuse.
Jackson's sudden death from cardiac arrest in Los Angeles on June 25 at the age of 50 stunned fans across the world and sent sales of his biggest hits from albums such as "Thriller" and "Off the Wall" back to the top of music charts.
President Barack Obama, on a visit to Russia, said he was "one of the greatest entertainers of our generation, perhaps any generation," and added: "I think like Elvis, like Sinatra, like The Beatles he became a core part of our culture.
The memorial focused on Jackson's 45-year musical career in which he was awarded 13 Grammys, his charity work for childrens' groups and his role in opening the mainstream pop and celebrity world to African-Americans.
It was broadcast live on U.S. national TV networks and Internet company Akamai said it was the most widely viewed event on the Web since the inauguration of Obama in January.
The company, which handles 20 percent of the world's Web traffic, reported that it ran some 2.8 million audio and video streams during the webcast.
Gordy was among the few who referred obliquely to Jackson's recent troubles. "Sure there was some sad times and maybe some questionable decisions on his part, but Michael Jackson accomplished everything he dreamed of," said Gordy.
"NOTHING STRANGE" ABOUT DADDY
Jackson was on the eve of a comeback after his career collapsed in the 1990s. The exact cause of his death is still awaiting toxicology results amid reports of abuse of prescription drugs, including the powerful narcotic Diprivan.
Civil rights leader Al Sharpton, who has lashed out at media coverage of the bizarre aspects of Jackson's life, had a message for the singer's three children.
"Wasn't nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with," he said, to cheers from the audience.
The children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris and Prince Michael II, 7, appeared with the family on stage to join in a mass chorus of Jackson's inspirational hits "We Are the World" and "Heal the World".
Paris, in tears, took the microphone to say: "Ever since I was born my daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine and I just wanted to say I love him, so much."
Jackson's family and close friends held a brief private ceremony earlier on Tuesday at a Los Angeles cemetery before bringing the singer's body and casket to the memorial. Questions remained on where exactly Jackson would be buried.
Police had estimated that more than 250,000 people would gather outside the arena but the orderly crowds were much smaller than expected. Many fans and downtown office workers appeared to have stayed at home to watch the ceremony on TV.
Police, security, escorts and sanitation for the memorial ceremony are expected to cost cash-strapped Los Angeles city council nearly $4 million. The city council on Tuesday launched a web site asking for fans to make donations toward the cost of hosting Tuesday's events and said that contributions had started to come in.
(Additional reporting by Jill Serjeant, Alex Dobuzinskis and Jim Finkle; Editing by Mary Milliken and David Storey)
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder and Usher sang emotional farewells on Tuesday to Michael Jackson, who was hailed as "the greatest entertainer that ever lived" and described by his tearful 11-year-old daughter Paris as "the best father you could ever imagine."
Some 18,000 fans, family members and friends took part in a public memorial for Jackson in the Los Angeles sports arena where the singer had rehearsed the day before his death for a highly-anticipated series of comeback concerts.
Jackson's brothers, each wearing a single sequined glove in homage to his signature look, carried the singer's golden casket into the downtown Staples Center.
Carey performed Jackson's 1970 ballad "I'll Be There", Usher's voice cracked as he sang "Gone Too Soon" and the King of Pop's three children made a rare public appearance without veils used for years by Jackson to shield them from the media.
But it was Jackson himself who loomed larger than life, shown in old concert footage, music videos and news clips, singing, dancing his moonwalk and surrounded by adoring crowds.
"The more I think about Michael, and talk about Michael, the more I think that 'King of Pop' is not good enough," said Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, who signed The Jackson 5 to a recording contract in 1968. "I think he is simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived."
The two-hour memorial focused on Jackson's musical achievements, overshadowed in the last 10 years by the darker side of the singer's life, including his humiliating 2005 trial and acquittal on charges of child sex abuse.
Jackson's sudden death from cardiac arrest in Los Angeles on June 25 at the age of 50 stunned fans across the world and sent sales of his biggest hits from albums such as "Thriller" and "Off the Wall" back to the top of music charts.
President Barack Obama, on a visit to Russia, said he was "one of the greatest entertainers of our generation, perhaps any generation," and added: "I think like Elvis, like Sinatra, like The Beatles he became a core part of our culture.
The memorial focused on Jackson's 45-year musical career in which he was awarded 13 Grammys, his charity work for childrens' groups and his role in opening the mainstream pop and celebrity world to African-Americans.
It was broadcast live on U.S. national TV networks and Internet company Akamai said it was the most widely viewed event on the Web since the inauguration of Obama in January.
The company, which handles 20 percent of the world's Web traffic, reported that it ran some 2.8 million audio and video streams during the webcast.
Gordy was among the few who referred obliquely to Jackson's recent troubles. "Sure there was some sad times and maybe some questionable decisions on his part, but Michael Jackson accomplished everything he dreamed of," said Gordy.
"NOTHING STRANGE" ABOUT DADDY
Jackson was on the eve of a comeback after his career collapsed in the 1990s. The exact cause of his death is still awaiting toxicology results amid reports of abuse of prescription drugs, including the powerful narcotic Diprivan.
Civil rights leader Al Sharpton, who has lashed out at media coverage of the bizarre aspects of Jackson's life, had a message for the singer's three children.
"Wasn't nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with," he said, to cheers from the audience.
The children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris and Prince Michael II, 7, appeared with the family on stage to join in a mass chorus of Jackson's inspirational hits "We Are the World" and "Heal the World".
Paris, in tears, took the microphone to say: "Ever since I was born my daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine and I just wanted to say I love him, so much."
Jackson's family and close friends held a brief private ceremony earlier on Tuesday at a Los Angeles cemetery before bringing the singer's body and casket to the memorial. Questions remained on where exactly Jackson would be buried.
Police had estimated that more than 250,000 people would gather outside the arena but the orderly crowds were much smaller than expected. Many fans and downtown office workers appeared to have stayed at home to watch the ceremony on TV.
Police, security, escorts and sanitation for the memorial ceremony are expected to cost cash-strapped Los Angeles city council nearly $4 million. The city council on Tuesday launched a web site asking for fans to make donations toward the cost of hosting Tuesday's events and said that contributions had started to come in.
(Additional reporting by Jill Serjeant, Alex Dobuzinskis and Jim Finkle; Editing by Mary Milliken and David Storey)
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