The King of Pop is now able to rest in peace. He was laid to rest at Glendale Forest Lawn cemetery . I hope his children continue to be well adjusted children and his family will continue to be there for them.
After an hour-and-a-half delay, Michael Jackson‘s funeral got under way around 8:30 p.m. PT on Thursday (September 3) at Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, California.
The Jackson family and close friends, who departed their Encino compound in a police-escorted caravan around 7:30 p.m. PT, arrived at Forest Lawn at about 8:10. Solo piano renditions of Michael’s songs began to play as the family — including Michael’s three children, his sisters Janet and La Toya, brothers Jermaine and Tito, mother Katherine and father Joe — took their seats.
Jackson’s body was driven into Forest Lawn in a hearse shortly before 8:30 p.m. and arrived at the Great Mausoleum burial site minutes later. As soon as the hearse pulled up, the cemetery-provided camera feeds shut off, ending the public’s up-close, audio-assisted view of the proceedings. Helicopter shots continued to provide somewhat grainy footage of the ceremony.
Celebrities in attendance included Macaulay Culkin, Mila Kunis, Stevie Wonder, ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley, Corey Feldman, Elizabeth Taylor, Barry Bonds, Chris Tucker, Gladys Knight and the Reverend Al Sharpton.
On either side of a flower-decorated dais set up in front of the approximately 200 seats stood two pictures of Jackson in a bright yellow shirt and thick gold belt. Helicopter cameras hovering overhead showed that Jackson’s family placed his flower-covered casket in front of the audience. Without audio, however, it was impossible to discern exactly what was taking place at the service. But at least one attendee used the power of social networking to communicate details from Forest Lawn.
“I just spoke at the conclusion of tributes,” Sharpton wrote on his Twitter account during the ceremony. “Gladys Knight sang her heart out. Now we prepare to lay him to rest.”
CNN reported that Knight sang the Lord’s Prayer, Presley was extremely emotional when the casket was brought in from the hearse, and Taylor’s wheelchair had to be lifted up a series of steps after the various tributes when attendees entered the mausoleum.
The ceremony lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes and wrapped up at approximately 9:45. “Michael Jackson has been laid to rest,” Sharpton tweeted around this time.
Michael Jackson Laid To Rest – News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News
They came for an intimate ceremony for a superstar: Lisa Marie Presley, Elizabeth Taylor, Macaulay Culkin, Chris Tucker and Mila Kunis arrived at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Calif., on Thursday for the funeral for Michael Jackson.
On a hot Southern California night, the skies still smoky from mountain brush fires, the famous friends joined Jackson’s family, including his parents, brothers and sisters and three children, to say goodbye.
As Jackson’s backup dancers served as ushers, his brothers, wearing black armbands and a sequined glove on one hand, carried his flower-covered casket out of the hearse and placed it before about 200 mourners on a stage decorated with white lilies and white roses – a private, intimate gathering in contrast to the thousands who attended Jackson’s internationally telecast memorial service at Los Angeles’ Staples Center.
A Crown for a King
Jackson’s three children then placed a crown on their father’s coffin to mark his place as the King of Pop.
After a prayer by Pastor Lucius Smith and a gospel sung by Gladys Knight, Clifton Davis performed the Jackson 5 song he wrote, “Never Can Say Goodbye.” Jackson’s father Joseph and the Rev. Al Sharpton addressed the mourners, as did close friends and family.
After the ceremony, the brothers carried the casket to the Grand Mausoleum, where at 9:43 p.m. Jackson entered his final resting place.
Afterwards, his family issued statement to “once again thank all of Michael Jackson’s fans around the world for their generous outpouring of support during this terribly difficult time. Their expressions of love for Michael and his music have sustained the Jackson Family.” Continue reading
August 1st 