Pastor Lucious Smith gives opening remarks at the Michael Jackson memorial service in the Staples Center, Tuesday, July 7, 2009 in Los Angeles. Wilmington StarNews
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 Michael's family and close friends.
Michael'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.
Michael'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 Michael'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. The Reverend Al Sharpton received a standing ovation when he told Michael's children, "Wasn't nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with."
Toward the end, the family gathered on stage to offer the final eulogies. Michael'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." 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.
Service[]
The service began with Smokey Robinson reading messages of condolences from Diana Ross and former South African President Nelson Mandela. A gospel choir sang Andrae Crouch's "Soon and Very Soon" as Michael's casket entered (culminating around the line "you will see the King"), followed by statements from Pastor Lucious Smith. Mariah Carey and Trey Lorenz then sang "I'll Be There", a No. 1 single for both the Jackson 5 and Carey and Lorenz. This was followed by a statement from Queen Latifah, who also read "We Had Him", a poem written by Maya Angelou for the occasion. Lionel Richie, Michael's friend and his co-writer on "We Are the World", performed the song "Jesus Is Love" by the Commodores. In the eulogy of Berry Gordy, founder of Motown Records, he stated, "In fact, the more I think and talk about Michael Jackson, I feel the King of Pop is not big enough for him. I think he is simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived." The statement was met with the longest standing ovation of the night.
A video montage of Michael Michael's life followed. Stevie Wonder spoke, played a small portion of "I Can't Help It", a song from Off the Wall that Wonder co-wrote, then performed a version of his songs "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" and "They Won't Go When I Go". Next, Kobe Bryant spoke about Michael's humanitarian work, and Magic Johnson (who had appeared in the music video for "Remember the Time") recalled his memories of Jackson. Accompanied by a dancing chorus along with the dancers who would have been on stage for the O2 concerts, Jennifer Hudson performed "Will You Be There". Jackson originally wrote, produced and performed the song for his Dangerous album before it was used as the theme for the 1993 film Free Willy. And like the album and film version, the song ended with Michael's spoken outro. John Mayer played guitar on a mainly instrumental version of "Human Nature" from Michael's Thriller. Brooke Shields then spoke about the personal time she spent with Jackson, read excerpts from The Little Prince, and said that his favorite song was Charlie Chaplin's "Smile", which was then performed by Jermaine Jackson.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s children, Martin III and Bernice, then stated that Michael Jackson was the best that he could be. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas, Houston), representing the United States House of Representatives, emphasized that in the US, people are "innocent until proven guilty" (as the crowd cheered) then spoke about his "American story" plus his meetings with foreign diplomats, and that "Michael never stopped giving". She then went on to claim him as an American legend and world humanitarian (House Resolution 600), closing her speech with a military salute as she said, "Michael Jackson, I salute you." Usher walked to the casket and then sang Larry Grossman and Buzz Kohan's "Gone Too Soon", which Jackson recorded as a tribute for Ryan White after his death; Usher cried near the end of the song as he placed his hand on the casket, but managed to finish. Following Usher, a clip from The Ed Sullivan Show in 1969 featuring the Jackson 5's rendition of the Miracles' "Who's Lovin' You" was shown. Following this, the song's composer and Miracles lead singer, Smokey Robinson, spoke about and made joking remarks about the Jackson 5 covering his song, and continued with a speech. Shaheen Jafargholi from Britain's Got Talent then performed the song.
Jackson choreographer Kenny Ortega presented Jafargholi, honored Jackson, and introduced the final performance of the memorial, which Jackson had been slated to perform during the This Is It dates. The concerts' chorus singers, Darrell Phinnessee, Ken Stacey, Dorian Holley, Judith Hill and guitarist Orianthi performed "We Are the World" and were joined on the stage by several of the guest speakers and performers as well as the Jackson family for the final chorus. With the entire group still on stage, Hill then led a performance of "Heal the World", with the remainder of the group joining in the chorus. Michael's family then addressed the crowd. Jermaine—who had earlier performed a tearful rendition of "Smile"—gave a brief speech, followed by a eulogy by Marlon, where he tributed his stillborn twin brother Brandon, who died at birth, telling his younger brother to "give him a hug" for himself as a favor. Marlon then handed the microphone over to Janet, but in a move that came as a surprise to the show's organizers, she said that her niece, Paris, had something to say. Surrounded by her paternal aunts and uncles, Paris emotionally addressed the crowd before collapsing in tears and being escorted off the stage by her family. She said, "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."
Marlon Jackson then thanked the crowd in attendance, and the family escorted the casket out of the arena while an instrumental version of "Man in the Mirror" was performed. A microphone placed center stage was lit by a spotlight while the instrumental version of "Man in the Mirror" played out, symbolizing the 'absence' of Michael Jackson. Many in the crowd applauded and cheered as Michael's coffin was carried out of the building. Pastor Lucious Smith closed the service with a prayer and quote saying "I'm alive and I'm here forever" from the Paul McCartney/Michael Jackson duet song "The Man". The memorial was finished at 12:48 p.m. Before broadcast of the service ended, a final slideshow of photos starting with Michael's childhood and concluding with his final years played with Mariah Carey's version of "I'll Be There" playing.
Video[]
