Clifton DavisMichael Jackson is finally interred
September 3, 2009 11:05 pm
September 3, 2009 11:05 pm
Michael Jackson was finally interred in a crypt in Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in Glendale shortly before 10 tonight -- exactly 10 weeks after he was found dead. The outdoor service, which was scheduled for sunset but crept into the night, was attended by about 200 family members and close friends.
Jackson’s five brothers, who served as pallbearers, filed past a portrait of a smiling Michael as they arrived at the service. A bespectacled Paris, the singer's young daughter, wearing a dark dress and her long hair pulled back in a ponytail, watched soberly.
Jackson’s three children placed a crown on their father’s coffin, a nod to the King of Pop, as the service began. Gladys Knight sang the gospel hymn “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” and songwriter Clifton Davis crooned a song that he wrote for the Jackson 5 that became one of their signature tunes -- “Never Can Say Goodbye.”
The guests gathered in a tree-lined clearing near the Great Mausoleum where Jackson was interred. A stage was adorned with white lilies, white roses and green topiaries.
Among the mourners were many of the touchstones of his life: music producer Quincy Jones, Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and music executive Suzanne de Passe.
Also attending were Elizabeth Taylor; former child star Macaulay Culkin; lawyer Thomas A. Mesereau Jr., who successfully defended Jackson from child molestation charges; and choreographer-director Kenny Ortega, who was working on Jackson’s planned London shows. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton, former child actor Corey Feldman, Lisa Marie Presley -- Jackson’s former wife -- Marlon Brando’s son Miko and comic Chris Tucker were among the guests.
-- Chris Lee and Carla Hall
More in: Michael Jackson, Music
Jackson’s five brothers, who served as pallbearers, filed past a portrait of a smiling Michael as they arrived at the service. A bespectacled Paris, the singer's young daughter, wearing a dark dress and her long hair pulled back in a ponytail, watched soberly.
Jackson’s three children placed a crown on their father’s coffin, a nod to the King of Pop, as the service began. Gladys Knight sang the gospel hymn “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” and songwriter Clifton Davis crooned a song that he wrote for the Jackson 5 that became one of their signature tunes -- “Never Can Say Goodbye.”
The guests gathered in a tree-lined clearing near the Great Mausoleum where Jackson was interred. A stage was adorned with white lilies, white roses and green topiaries.
Among the mourners were many of the touchstones of his life: music producer Quincy Jones, Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and music executive Suzanne de Passe.
Also attending were Elizabeth Taylor; former child star Macaulay Culkin; lawyer Thomas A. Mesereau Jr., who successfully defended Jackson from child molestation charges; and choreographer-director Kenny Ortega, who was working on Jackson’s planned London shows. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton, former child actor Corey Feldman, Lisa Marie Presley -- Jackson’s former wife -- Marlon Brando’s son Miko and comic Chris Tucker were among the guests.
-- Chris Lee and Carla Hall
More in: Michael Jackson, Music
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