Michael Jackson memorial service

Michael Jackson memorial service

Held at Staples Center, where Michael Jackson rehearsed on June 24, 2009 (one day before his death)
Date	July 7, 2009
Location	Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, United States
Participants	Rev. Lucius Smith, Smokey Robinson, Mariah Carey, Macaulay Culkin, Trey Lorenz, Queen Latifah, Lionel Richie, John Mayer, Stevie Wonder, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Jennifer Hudson, Berry Gordy, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Brooke Shields, Jermaine Jackson, Martin Luther King III, Bernice King, Sheila Jackson Lee, Usher, Shaheen Jafargholi, Kenny Ortega, Judith Hill, Marlon Jackson, Janet Jackson, Paris Jackson, Orianthi Panagaris

A public memorial service for Michael Jackson was held on July 7, 2009, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, twelve days after his death. The event was preceded by a private family service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park's Hall of Liberty in Hollywood Hills, and followed by a gathering in Beverly Hills for Jackson's family and close friends.

Jackson's closed, solid-bronze casket, plated with 14-karat gold and lined with blue velvet, which was not originally expected to be at the memorial service, arrived just before 10:00 a.m. local time when it was placed in front of the stage. The memorial began a few minutes after 10:30 a.m. with music and a eulogy from Pastor Lucious Smith. The stage was filled with floral arrangements, with photographs and film of Jackson and the Jackson 5 projected onto screens at the back. Music and video montages traced his life from the beginning of his career to the end.^[1]

Jackson's brothers, sitting in the front row, each wore a single white sequined glove in tribute to their brother. Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Jennifer Hudson, Usher, Jermaine Jackson, and Shaheen Jafargholi sang Jackson's songs, and John Mayer played guitar. Berry Gordy, Brooke Shields, and Smokey Robinson gave eulogies, while Queen Latifah read "We Had Him", a poem written for the occasion by Maya Angelou.^[2] The Reverend Al Sharpton received a standing ovation when he told Jackson's children, "Wasn't nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with."^[3]

Toward the end, the family gathered on stage to offer the final eulogies. Jackson's then-11-year-old daughter, Paris, while unable to give her speech without crying, told the crowd, "I just want to say, ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine, and I just want to say I love him... so much."^[4] Additionally, an emotional Marlon Jackson said, "Maybe now, Michael, they will leave you alone," and requested that Michael give their brother Brandon (Marlon's twin, who died shortly after birth) a hug for him.^[5]