Michael Jackson, the 'King of Pop,' Dies at Age 50

[kueytoc]

Michael Jackson set to make chart history, again

Reuters - Sunday, June 28By Keith Caulfield

LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson will once again make music history next week as many of his albums are poised to shake up the Billboard charts with incredible sales increases.

The impact of Jackson's shock death on Thursday was felt immediately in the marketplace. Industry sources report that the demand for Jackson's albums were so high, many stores simply ran out of his CDs.

The albums with the greatest sales increases -- at least on the physical side of things -- look to be his greatest hits packages "Number Ones" and "The Essential Michael Jackson" along with the expanded reissue of "Thriller." The sets, released between 2003 and 2008, were the three Jackson albums that perhaps had the most stock available in stores.

In the digital realm, where the supply problem doesn't exist, Jackson's songs and albums swarmed the top of the constantly-updating best sellers lists in both the iTunes' and Amazon's online music stores. At one point on Friday in the iTunes Store, nine out of the top 10-selling albums and 40 of the top 100-selling songs were by Jackson.

The three aforementioned albums, along with Jackson's classic studio sets "Off the Wall," "Bad" and "Dangerous" all will likely zoom into the upper region of Billboard's Top Pop Catalog Albums chart next week. Initial reports of Jackson's album sales from Thursday alone indicate that one of his albums -- possibly "Number Ones" -- will easily fly to No. 1 on the chart next week. Last week, the set -- which also was his top-selling album of the week -- was at No. 20 on the Catalog chart with 4,000 sold.

To compare, last week's No. 1 on the Catalog chart was TobyMac's "Portable Sounds" with 9,000 copies sold. Sources say that at least one of Jackson's albums sold more than double that amount just on Thursday.

Nielsen SoundScan's tracking week ends at the close of business on Sunday . Billboard and SoundScan's new weekly charts will be released on Wednesday, July 1.

[rudees]

I was sleeping when my wife told me that Michael Jackson is Dead.........I just sat there in disbelieve.

This was the guy that I've listen to since the Thriller album came out, he was part of my childhood, songs like beat it,billie jean

thriller was an everyday tune that I used to sing during my chilhood days. I'm sure that anyone in this forum has heared of his music some

way or another,and maybe a few of us did tried to do the famous MOONWALK Now his gone but not and never

will he be forgotten.................R.I.P Mhchael J Jackson

[kueytoc]

Michael Jackson's lyrics tell a hard story

By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer AP - 1 hour 36 minutes ago

NEW YORK - In the brief, electric prime of Michael Jackson, millions danced to "Billie Jean," "Beat It" and other songs so propulsive it almost didn't matter what they actually said.

But the lyrics _ whether Jackson's or others' _ could be as disturbing as the music was liberating. Sealed in the grooves were tales of deceit, paranoia, violence and victimization. Even before his life broke apart and the tabloids bore down, Jackson sang like a boy-man under attack.

"You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it," he warns on "Thriller," the title track to his all-time selling album and written by Rod Temperton. "You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes/You're paralyzed."

Jackson was almost 21 when his first "adult" record, "Off the Wall," came out in 1979. He had survived the childhood beatings and insults by his father and had already lived at least one life in show business, as the smiling, spinning prodigy fronting his brothers in the Jackson Five.

"Off the Wall" sold millions and shed the catchy, but impersonal persona of his child star youth. The title track, written by Temperton, was a lighthearted introduction to what would become Jackson's truest subjects: his strange life and the stolen innocence he wanted back. "The world is on your shoulder," the song advises, but "life ain't so bad it all/If you live it off the wall."

He would soon fire his father as his manager and vow that his next record, "Thriller," would make him the biggest star in the business _ a promise met like few others. "Thriller" sold more than 20 million copies initially and sales now top 50 million. It earned him the title he bestowed on himself, "The King of Pop," and offered the first full take from the throne.

"Michael Jackson wrote songs for one great artist _ which was himself," says Diane Warren, the Grammy-winning songwriter who has written for Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Kelly Clarkson and Mary J. Blige.

Warren says Jackson also picked great songs by other writers _ see "Thriller" _ and "was an amazing interpreter" of them. Among his songbook, she spots a theme of defiance and toughness that perhaps acted as protective armor.

Music producer Glen Ballard was in the studio with Jackson and Quincy Jones for the making of "Thriller," and worked on the later "Bad" and "Dangerous" albums, co-writing the songs "Man in the Mirror" and "Keep the Faith."

"As he grew up and matured as an artist, his lyric writing had this sort of air of mystery about it," Ballard says. "He still knew how to write hooks _ he just knew how to communicate that way _ but he sort of created this vocabulary" that was darker, surreal and futuristic.

The bouncy duet with Paul McCartney, "The Girl Is Mine," is an ###### love triangle. The hard rock "Beat It," set to the switchblade guitar runs of Eddie Van Halen, is an anthem of pacifism, or passivity, with Jackson pleading to stop a gang war _ and perhaps all wars _ because "It doesn't matter who's wrong or right."

The singer in "Billie Jean" has been taken by a girl he meets on the dance floor and later claims has borne him a child. "Billie Jean is not my lover," he chants, teeth clenched. "She's just a girl who claims that I am the one/But the kid is not my son."

Jackson's "Billie Jean" lyrics are paranoid, defiant and "cool," Warren says.

"Maybe in a way he wanted to be left alone," she suggests, noting the trauma of his missing childhood.

If so, Jackson did not give that impression in the recording studio, according to Ballard. He remembers Jackson as "very shy" around people he'd just met, but when he felt comfortable, he was funny and fun to be around. He was collaborative yet focused on his larger musical vision. He moved and grooved, feeling the music. When Ballard and others hosed him with water guns on his birthday, Jackson grabbed a water gun and joined in.

Ballard had no idea about Jackson's life outside the studio. As for "Billie Jean," he can't point to any real-life experience or demons within the pop legend's psyche.

"It's just this incomplete portrait that you can fill in however you want and you can see it as this huge, mysterious, sort of tragic story or something," he says of the 1983 chart topper.

The same woman, or at least another named "Billie Jean," turns up in the equally besieged "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," in which Billie Jean is another exploiter "always talkin'/when nobody else is talkin'/tellin' lies and rubbin' shoulders." Again, there's a child and Jackson, the alleged Peter Pan of popular music, doesn't want to know:

___

If you can't feed your baby

Then don't have a baby

And don't think maybe

If you can't feed your baby

___

Jackson was a cultural radical who broke the color line on MTV and shattered the old rock clique of white men with guitars. But his politics were more personal than collective, avoiding confrontation as surely as the guy in "Beat It." In "Man in the Mirror," from the 1987 "Bad" album, he worries about "the kids in the street/with not enough to eat," and concludes that the answer is to "take a look at yourself and then make a change." He would later call to "Heal the World," although doesn't say how beyond making sure that "you care enough."

Scandal and chaos only made him look harder, at himself, and at others: The boasts of "Invincible" and "Untouchable," the rage of "Tabloid Junkie" and the taunts of "Threatened." In the self-evident "Privacy," the world is a trespasser peeking through his window: "Ain't the pictures enough, why do you go through so much," he asks. "To get the story you need, so you can bury me."

Ballard, who has written for Alanis Morissette and George Strait, among others, says the passionate performer was a "remarkable songwriter" who "absolutely" felt his songs' lyrics.

"I don't think there's any question that that was just falling out of his creative, unpremeditated self. ... He tapped into his `whatever' and he was using it like an artist should and sort of creating these characters _ maybe they're him, maybe they're not," he says. "You get distance from it. (The lyrics) just really have this kind of compelling, mysterious, very cool air about them, in addition to being really hot at the center with these grooves."

You could heat a country on all the energy spent wondering what happened to Jackson in the second half of his life and what eventually killed him. But he explained himself well in the trembling "Childhood," set to Hollywood strings and to a melody lost and forlorn as an orphaned boy.

That song "was probably the most autobiographical of all his amazing lyrics," says Grammy-winning songwriter Carole Bayer Sager, who co-wrote "That's What Friends Are For" with Burt Bacharach.

"Have you seen my Childhood?" Jackson wonders, his voice light and high. "Before you judge me, try hard to love me/The painful youth I've had."

AP Entertainment Writer Erin Carlson in New York contributed to this report.

[kueytoc]

Black stars salute Jackson at awards show

AFP - Monday, June 29

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - - An annual awards show for black entertainers became a star-studded memorial to Michael Jackson as the African-American A-list turned out in force to salute the King of Pop.

Singers, actors, sports stars and television personalities crowded into Los Angeles's famous Shrine Auditorium for the Black Entertainment Awards, which had been hastily retooled as a night to celebrate Jackson.

Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx set the tone for proceedings by appearing in a variety of Jackson's signature costumes and even moonwalking across the stage at one point. "Is there any question who was the best?" Foxx asked the crowd.

Basketball star Lebron James, who won the award for best male athlete, paid tribute to the Jackson family as he collected his award.

"I want to say to all of the Jackson family. This night is unbelievable because of you guys. What you did for us and the whole world is unbelievable," James said.

Meanwhile rapper Lil Wayne told the audience: "We all know none of us in this room wouldn't be here without Michael Jackson."

Earlier, stars arriving on the red carpet told reporters personal stories about Jackson, saying his music had been instrumental in breaking down racial barriers.

"We miss him and we love him and we just feel devastated," said singer Alicia Keys, urging people to remember Jackson in a "respectful, positive way."

Asked how Jackson had influenced her, Keys replied: "In every way. How could he not influence us to break the barrier and to think bigger, and to try new things and to break the rules.

"Tonight I think is a true memorial for him. It's really about honoring him this evening."

BET announced shortly after Jackson's death that the annual awards ceremony would be tweaked to serve as an unofficial memorial for the singer and a celebration of his life.

"Michael Jackson's the biggest thing that's happened to music in our lifetime. When we heard he had passed away we knew we had to revamp this whole show and make it special just for him," said BET Chairwoman and CEO Debra Lee.

"It's going to be a celebration tonight, it's going to be a little sad, but it's going to be a celebration," Lee said.

Attendees said they remained in shock over Jackson's sudden and unexpected death last week at the age of 50.

Singer Chaka Khan held back tears as she spoke to reporters.

"I haven't gotten to the point where I can break down yet because I just don't believe it," she said. "I have to believe that energy lives on and he's still with us in some amazing way."

Several stars hailed Jackson's role in breaking down racial barriers and giving African-Americans a hero to idolize.

"He's one of the reasons why Barack Obama's president," said hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs. "He started the change in the world about how African-Americans are perceived."

Actress Taraji P. Henson, the Oscar-nominated star of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," echoed Combs's words.

"That's exactly what we're doing -- celebrating his life and that's what this night is about," Henson said.

"He's the biggest star in America -- in the world. I feel like he parted a gap so that Obama could be the president. His rise to fame was the beginning of 'Oh, black people are okay.'"

[kueytoc]

Janet Jackson makes emotional appearance at BETs

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer AP - Monday, June 29

LOS ANGELES - Some of the biggest stars on the planet turned back into gushing Michael Jackson fans at the BET Awards, donning single gloves, swapping stories about their idol and singing The King of Pop's standards. One person who perhaps knew him best, though, brought the night into perspective: his sister.

"To you, Michael is an icon," a somber Janet Jackson told the crowd at the end of Sunday's show. "To us, Michael is family and he will forever live in all of our hearts."

It was a stirring emotional climax for a telecast that was completely revamped to recognize the legacy of Jackson, who died Thursday at age 50. For the most part, it was a joyous wake.

"He's the man who made it possible for me to be on the stage; I love you and I miss you," said Ne-Yo, who sang one of Jackson's most sensual songs, "Lady In My Life."

Host Jamie Foxx kicked off the show with a re-enactment of the choreography from Jackson's iconic "Beat It" video in front of the star-studded crowd, on its feet from the start of the show.

Throughout the night, Foxx also regularly turned up in some of Jackson's signature looks, like the wide-collar black leather outfit from "Billie Jean." Sean Paul, Estelle and Alicia Keys were among the celebrities who at one point donned single gloves as part of their ensembles.

Ciara sang Jackson's humanitarian anthem, "Heal the World," dressed in a jacket that had Jackson's signature military epaulets.

Joe Jackson, the singer's father, also was on hand to represent the grief-stricken family, though he did not appear on stage during the show. "I just wish he could be here to celebrate himself," he said on the red carpet. "Sadly, he's not here, so I'm here to celebrate for him."

People close to Michael Jackson have said since his death that they were concerned about his use of painkillers. Los Angeles County medical examiners completed their autopsy Friday and said Jackson had taken unspecified prescription medication. But an official cause of death could take weeks to determine.

Jackson's family has sought a private autopsy, in part because of questions about Dr. Conrad Murray, the man hired to keep an eye on the pop star ahead of a planned comeback.

Edward Chernoff, a lawyer for the doctor, said Sunday that Jackson still had a faint pulse and his body was warm when Murray found him in bed and not breathing. The doctor immediately began administering CPR, Chernoff said.

Chernoff said any drugs the doctor gave Jackson were prescribed in response to a specific complaint from the entertainer. Murray never prescribed or gave Jackson the drugs Demerol or OxyContin, Chernoff said.

Paramedics were called to the mansion while the doctor was performing CPR, according to a recording of the 911 call.

Because Jackson was so frail, Murray "administered with his hand behind his back to provide the necessary support," Chernoff said. Some have speculated the doctor botched the CPR. "He's a trained doctor," Chernoff said. "He knows how to administer CPR."

Murray was interviewed by investigators for three hours Saturday. His spokeswoman called Murray "a witness to this tragedy," not a suspect in the death, and police described the doctor as cooperative.

Jackson's death prompted BET producers to scramble to meet the moment. While Beyonce, Lil Wayne and Ne-Yo each took home awards, giving out trophies was an afterthought: Honoring Jackson became the show's main focus.

"This is for you, Michael Jackson," said Beyonce, as she held her trophy for best female R&B artist skyward, calling the singer "my hero."

While some artists performed their own hits, most made sure to incorporate some of the man who influenced them in their performances. A chant of "Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson!" was heard while Keri Hilson performed, and Foxx's "Blame It" incorporated some of the Jacksons' dance hit "Blame It On the Boogie."

"We all know none of us in this room wouldn't be here for Michael Jackson," said Lil Wayne, as he picked up his award for best male hip-hop star.

Backstage, Ciara recounted talking on the phone with her idol and her regrets that she never got to meet him. As she talked, she started to cry. "He meant so much to me," she said through tears.

While Jackson's incredible influence stretched across genres, races and cultures, he had a unique place in the world of black entertainment. His influence is arguably most visible in urban music, seen in stars like Usher who mimic his dance moves, to Ne-Yo, whose music is marked by its Jackson-isms. But that influence went beyond music: Jackson was black America's biggest star, who broke racial barriers that allowed for so many other superstars to follow.

"Michael Jackson was so important to our world, to our country, to this network," said BET Chairwoman Debra L. Lee. "Michael was truly a musical deity."

New Edition, the 1980s teen sensations who were considered that generation's Jackson 5 with their own version of bubble-gum soul, ran through several of the Jackson 5's greatest hits, from "I Want You Back" to "ABC," mirroring their idols right down to the group's original choreography.

And Eddie Levert of the classic R&B group the O'Jays talked about how much he'd miss Jackson _ even as his group was honored with a lifetime achievement award.

Jackson connections were inescapable: Even the building where the ceremony took place, the Shrine Auditorium, was where Jackson's hair and scalp were burned during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in 1984. It was also the location for several of his Grammy and American Music Award performances.

The night ended when Janet Jackson _ in her first public appearance since her brother's shocking death _ emerged and elicited the most emotion as she vowed his memory would live forever.

"On behalf of my family and myself, thank you for all of your love, thank you for all of your support," she said. "We miss him so much, thank you so much."

Afterward, Ne-Yo and Foxx performed a somber version of the Jackson 5 classic "I'll Be There," as photos of Jackson flashed across the screen.

AP Entertainment writers Sandy Cohen, Anthony Mccartney and Derrik J. Lang and AP writer Alicia Quarles contributed to this report.

[kueytoc]

Questions mount over Jackson animal kingdom

AFP - Monday, June 29

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - - Besides leaving a musical legacy, Michael Jackson orphaned an array of exotic pets with some of them unaccounted for and even his beloved chimpanzee Bubbles depending on donations.

In what was once seen mostly as a harmless eccentricity, Jackson at the height of stardom amassed a private zoo of giraffes, tigers and other foreign animals at Neverland, his sprawling fantasy estate in California.

Nearly all of the animals have been moved to new homes in the past few years as Jackson's personal and financial woes worsened, with animal rights activists saying some have become roadside attractions in uncertain conditions.

Bubbles, once the world's best known ape who slept in the superstar's bedroom and mastered his Moonwalk dance, has lived since 2005 at the Center for Great Apes in Florida, the head of the sanctuary said.

Jackson did not provide financial support for Bubbles and, despite his stated desire, never visited him there, said Patti Ragan, director of the Center for Great Apes.

"To this date, all donations for his care have come from the Center for Great Apes supporters. We depend on donations in order to care for all our animals in need," she said.

An image of Bubbles on the center's website appeals to the public to make donations to care for him and other residents of the sanctuary, designed to provide a natural environment for apes who had been used as performers or pets.

The website, which does not directly mention Bubbles' famous former guardian, described the chimp as having a "broad, handsome face and a lot of charima."

Ragan estimated it cost 16,000 dollars a year to care for each ape, who usually live to be at least 50 years old.

Jackson rescued Bubbles from a Texas medical laboratory where he was bought by Bob Dunn, a Hollywood animal trainer. Jackson returned Bubbles to Dunn after the singer had children, who risk being injured by a large chimp.

Dunn, contacted by AFP, declined comment, saying he was negotiating a deal to speak publicly about Bubbles. The Florida center said Dunn handed to it Bubbles and all his other apes in 2005 when he exited the business.

Dunn was quoted as telling Britain's News of the World tabloid that Jackson thought of Bubbles as "his first child" and regularly visited while Bubbles was in Dunn's California preserve.

While Bubbles remains high-profile, animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said it was hard to track down most of Jackson's former pets.

Lisa Wathne, PETA's specialist in captive exotic animals, voiced particular concern about two of Jackson's orangutans sent to a private owner in Connecticut and reptiles at a roadside zoo in Oklahoma.

She said Jackson's case showed why wild animals should not be kept as pets.

"All too often even people who start with good intentions, as Michael Jackson certainly did, don't have the ability to properly care for these animals," she said.

"And unfortunately in Michael Jackson's case he did apparently run into financial problems that ultimately led to his animals being disbursed to places all over the world. We don't know, frankly, where most of them ended up."

PETA in January 2006 complained to US authorities that animals were being mistreated in Neverland. The authorities inspected the estate's menagerie but found no evidence of abuse or neglect.

Jackson's two tigers, Thriller and Sabu, were taken in at a sanctuary in California run by former actress Tippi Hedren.

The Voices of the Wild Foundation, which runs an animal preserve in Arizona, adopted Jackson's four giraffes along with reptiles and exotic birds. But PETA says the conditions were too cramped for giraffes.

Director Freddie Hancock appealed to Jackson fans to send donations in his memory so that the preserve can adopt more animals.

Hancock had nothing but praise for Jackson, saying he maintained "beautiful facilities" for the animals in Neverland.

"I think he just loved animals. And when you're an individual who loves animals, the animals know that," Hancock said.

[kueytoc]

Jackson's mother wins temporary control of estate

Reuters - Tuesday, June 30

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson's mother Katherine on Monday won temporary guardianship of the late singer's children and control of his estate as a legal battle over his kids, money and belongings began to take shape. :devil:

Katherine Jackson won the first round in what could become a protracted fight over an estate that could be valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. It is unclear if Jackson drew up a will before he died.

Questions about the singer's health prior to his death resurfaced Monday when Celebrity Website TMZ.com reported that Los Angeles County coroner officials returned to Jackson's rented home looking for more medication.

Four days after the singer's death from cardiac arrest, his father, Joe Jackson said the family was awaiting results of a second, private autopsy, and he expected to get details "real soon." He said funeral arrangements had not been made.

"We don't have a timeframe for that because I want to see how this autopsy is coming out," Jackson said after a family meeting at his home in suburban Los Angeles.

Two autopsies have been carried out on Jackson's body, one by the coroner's office and a second by a private pathologist. Speculation about what caused Jackson's heart to stop has centered on his prescription drug use, but toxicology tests are expected to take several more weeks.

The pop star died on Thursday at his rented Los Angeles home, days before kicking off a string of concerts in London that were designed to revive a career grounded by his 2005 trial and acquittal on child molestation charges.

On Monday, promoters AEG Live released pictures from a dress rehearsal two days before Jackson's death. Jackson looks thin, but much like his typical singing and dancing self. AEG Live declined to comment on reports it had video footage of the rehearsals that could be released on DVD.

JACKSON'S MOM WINS TEMPORARY CONTROL

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Monday approved the appointment of Katherine Jackson as temporary guardian of Prince Michael, 12, Paris Katherine, 11, and Prince Michael II, 7, pending a hearing next week.

Katherine Jackson was also named "special administrator" of her son's estate until a July 6 hearing, but the court order stipulated that she was not to take possession of money or property, except as permitted by the court.

In her court filing, Katherine Jackson said she was seeking control of funds "for the exclusive use of the decedent's children" and was concerned about bank accounts controlled by unnamed "third parties."

Jackson was reported to be as much as $500 million in debt when he died, but his estate has been estimated at $1 billion or more and is likely to rise following his death. Court papers list the value of the estate as "unknown."

His two eldest children were from his marriage to Debbie Rowe and the third is from an unidentified surrogate mother. In court papers, Katherine Jackson said the children had "no relationship with their biological mother," and it was unclear whether Rowe would also seek custody of the kids.

"Whoever has ultimate custody of these children, who are probably going to be the beneficiaries of his estate, will get control of his money to care for the children. So to that extent, whoever the permanent guardian will be will have tremendous sums of money to take care of the children," entertainment attorney Jerry Reisman told Reuters.

Jackson's court filing indicated the "Thriller" singer died without a will, but media reports said a former Jackson lawyer, John Branca, possessed a will signed by the pop star. Branca did not return calls on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles coroner's office dismissed as inaccurate a Monday report in Britain's Sun newspaper that said Jackson was almost bald, emaciated and that his hips, thighs and shoulders were riddled with needle wounds when he died.

Assistant chief coroner Ed Winter said the details did not come from the private or county autopsies. "I don't know where that information came from, or who that information came from. It is not accurate. Some of it is totally false," he said.

[kueytoc]

Jackson family: Michael Jackson had a will

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer AP - Wednesday, July 1

LOS ANGELES - A lawyer for Michael Jackson's family said Tuesday a will by the late pop star has been presented.

The word came just a day after the family said in court documents it believed the entertainer had died without a valid will.

"My clients are now aware after filings that a will has been presented ," said L. Londell McMillan. "His various advisers are looking for additional documents."

No further details were disclosed, and a copy of the document was not immediately available.

The existence of a will, and the likely appointment of an executor, could complicate a petition by Jackson's mother Katherine to become the administrator of his lucrative but debt-encumbered estate.

In documents filed in Superior Court, Jackson's parents say they believe their 50-year-old son died "intestate," or without a valid will.

A will almost always names an executor, and if validated, it would negate the petition of Jackson's mother to administer the estate, said John Novogrod, an estate lawyer and partner at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP in New York.

"If there is a will and if the will is a valid will, the whole petition to be named administrator will just fall way," Novogrod said.

He said the will could possibly be challenged on the grounds that Jackson may have been incompetent, did not understand it when it was created, or that he was unduly influenced.

Early Monday _ just four days after the death of the King of Pop _ lawyers for Katherine and Joe Jackson won temporary custody of Michael Jackson's three children and moved to become administrators of his estate.

Judge Mitchell Beckloff granted 79-year-old Katherine Jackson temporary guardianship of the children, who range in age from 7 to 12.

He also gave her control over some of her son's personal property that is now in the hands of an unnamed third party. But the judge did not immediately rule on her requests to take charge of the children's and Jackson's estates.

Associated Press Writers Ryan Nakashima and Anthony McCartney in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

[kueytoc]

Jackson set for final journey to Neverland: report

AFP - Thursday, July 2

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - - Michael Jackson's body will make a poignant final journey to Neverland Ranch, reports said, amid fresh revelations about the tragic pop icon's agonizing dependence on powerful prescription medication.

Citing unidentified sources, the celebrity news website TMZ.com said Tuesday the drug Propofol was found at Jackson's rented mansion following his death Thursday of cardiac arrest at the age of 50.

"There is no conceivable way this drug can be properly prescribed for home use," a source told the website, which described as an "extremely dangerous and potent" substance only available to medical personnel.

Earlier, a former nurse who cared for Jackson told CNN Tuesday the star pleaded with her to provide him with Diprivan -- the brand name for Propofol in the last months of his life.

Cherilyn Lee, a health practitioner with more than 20 years experience, said she had refused his request for the drugs.

Lee also revealed that a member of Jackson's staff sought the drug four days before the singer's death only to be rebuffed.

"I told him this medication is not safe," Lee said. "He said, 'I just want to get some sleep. You don't understand. I just want to be able to be knocked out and go to sleep.'"

Meanwhile, CNN and TMZ.com said the Jackson family planned a public viewing on Friday -- which could draw a crush of fans to the isolated Neverland Ranch north of Los Angeles.

A 30-car motorcade reportedly plans to escort the body on Thursday to the King of Pop's 1,050-hectare (2,600-acre) estate, a monument to Jackson's obsession with childhood that once included a fairground and a private zoo.

A worldwide outpouring of tributes to the music legend continued with crowds gathering at New York's famous Apollo Theater for a celebration of the star's life.

Friday's public viewing could be an indication that the Jackson family has permanent plans for Neverland.

Santa Barbara County officials said Tuesday they had received no formal notification of a memorial but said departments were "preparing to accommodate a large event" if a request for a Neverland funeral was made.

Some fans say the star should be buried at the ranch and want it to be transformed into a shrine similar to Elvis Presley's Graceland.

Neverland was named after the fantasy island of Peter Pan, Jackson's inspiration who refused to grow up.

But the estate fell into disrepair after becoming an alleged crime scene in Jackson's 2005 trial on child molestation charges. Jackson vacated the property following his acquittal and never lived there again.

The estate was reportedly on the verge of foreclosure before Jackson's death as his extravagant lifestyle and mounting personal and legal problems took their toll on his finances.

The long-term fate of Neverland has been one of the myriad legal issues arising from Jackson's sudden death.

A judge on Monday gave Jackson's 79-year-old mother, Katherine, temporary control over his estate including Neverland and the rights to songs of the Beatles. She was also named temporary guardian of his three children.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Jackson drafted a will in 2002 that divided his estate between his mother, his three children and one or more charities.

Conspicuously absent was his father, Joe Jackson, who groomed his nine children into musical sensations but had an uneasy relationship with his son Michael.

Lawyers for the Jackson family said Tuesday they had seen the will, which could be filed in court on Wednesday, according to reports.

The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, reported that police detectives are seeking to identify and interview "multiple doctors" who treated Jackson in the years before his death.

Attention has so far focused on the role of Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, who was with the star just before his death last Thursday.

Lawyers for Murray and law enforcement sources have said he is not suspected of wrongdoing and has cooperated with the investigation.

On Monday, coroner's office investigators removed several plastic bags of medication from Jackson's rented mansion in Holmby Hills, described as "additional medical evidence."

Meanwhile, the organizers of a series of Jackson's planned comeback concerts in London revealed Tuesday that video footage of his rehearsals existed and could be released to the public.

The president of promoters AEG Live, Randy Phillips, told Sky News television that video of the pop legend's performances would disprove rumors that he was incredibly frail before his death.

"We may at some point release some footage of him in rehearsal that would totally refute that," he said.

[kueytoc]

Hundreds say final farewell to Farrah Fawcett

AFP - Wednesday, July 1

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - - Hundreds of mourners paid tribute to Farrah Fawcett as the "Charlie's Angels" star was laid to rest in a private ceremony in Los Angeles.

The 62-year-old actress and pin-up girl died last Thursday after a three-year battle with ###### cancer, news that was quickly overshadowed by the death of King of Pop Michael Jackson later that day.

Fawcett's 24-year-old son Redmond, her child with longtime companion Ryan O'Neal, was granted compassionate leave from a prison cell to attend.

Both Ryan and Redmond O'Neal served as pallbearers for the service, held at Los Angeles Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angeles on Tuesday.

Fawcett emerged as a pop-culture icon in the 1970s and 1980s after her role in "Charlie's Angels" and appearance in a famous poster wearing a red swimsuit that would come to be her defining image.

During the 1970s, Fawcett was married to "Six Million Dollar Man" star Lee Majors, from whom she separated in 1979. In 1982 she began her long romance with actor O'Neal.

After splitting from O'Neal in the 1990s, Fawcett faded from public view, although she appeared in Robert Altman's 2000 comedy "Dr T and the Women" in a cast that included Richard Gere, Helen Hunt, Laura Dern and Kate Hudson.

In recent years Fawcett's health was the subject of intense scrutiny by a voracious tabloid media.

News of her cancer fight broke in October 2006, sparking an outpouring of support from fans and well-wishers.

In 2007 she declared that months of grueling chemotherapy had seen her beat the cancer despite "excruciating pain and uncertainty."

"It never occurred to me to stop fighting -- not ever," she said.

However, in April this year it emerged that the cancer had returned and the actress was gravely ill.

[kueytoc]

U2 world tour debuts with Jackson tribute

AFP - Thursday, July 2

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) - - Irish rock megastars U2 launched their world tour on a vast stage in Barcelona before some 90,000 fans with a show that included a linkup with the International Space Station and a tribute to Michael Jackson.

In a reflection of lead singer Bono's work as a human rights activist, masks of detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi were also distributed around the Camp Nou stadium.

The show was held on an immense stage that took up half the field at the Camp Nou, home to the Barcelona football team, and which was surrounded by spectators on the grass.

Above it was a massive metal structure, nicknamed "The Claw" by fans and which resembled a giant four-legged spider or a creature from outer-space, 50 metres (150 feet) across and weighing 390 tonnes.

"We want to do something which has never been done before," Bono said recently of the innovative stage.

The veteran band took the stage at around 10:00 pm (2000 MT) on a hot summer night to kick off its "360 degrees" tour, after a warm-up act by Scottish band Snow Patrol.

Bono held a live video linkup with the International Space Station during the two-hour performance, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing and to deliver a message of peace and environmental awareness.

He also delivered a message from for South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu on the fight against AIDS and malaria.

And he dedicated the song "Angel of Harlem" to the late Michael Jackson, "a great talent."

Part of the rendition included excerpts from Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" and "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough," sung in the King of Pop's falsetto voice.

U2 played extracts from their new album, "No Line on the Horizon", which came out in February.

But the stadium really came alight when the group performed its best-known songs such as "Where the Streets Have No Name," "Pride (in the Name of Love)", "Beautiful Day" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday."

Late in the show Bono changed from his traditional black into a Barcelona football shirt with his name on the back.

The 90,000 tickets for the concert sold out in just 54 minutes on March 25, for between 30 and 150 euros (40 and 200 dollars) each. A second concert is scheduled in Barcelona for Thursday.

A few hundred of the fans had even spent Monday night outside the stadium to ensure a good spot on the grass.

After Barcelona, the tour moves to Milan's San Siro stadium on July 7 and then to France, Germany and the Netherlands.

The band returns home on July 24 to play Croke Park in Dublin before heading for Sweden, Poland and Croatia and then five gigs in Britain.

They then head over the Atlantic, with their first show in the US and Canada leg of the tour at Chicago's Soldier Field on September 12.

Their last tour in 2005 and 2006 drew some 4.5 million fans at 127 shows, all sold out.

U2, founded in Dublin in 1978, has sold around 100 million albums.

[kueytoc]

Jackson will sets family trust, funeral undecided

Reuters - Thursday, July 2

* Will benefits Jackson's mother and his three children

* Judge denies bid by co-executors to take estate control

* Jackson's funeral will not be at Neverland - family

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES, July 1 - Lawyers for Michael Jackson filed the pop star's 2002 will in court on Wednesday that puts his multimillion-dollar estate in a family trust for his three children and his mother, but were denied a bid to take immediate control of his music fortune.

Funeral plans remained undetermined, and Jackson's family said in a statement that no public or private ceremony would be held at the singer's Neverland Valley ranch in central California.

The will, signed in 2002, values Jackson's estate at more than $500 million and puts his assets in the Michael Jackson Family Trust, which ultimately benefits his three children, his mother and unnamed charities.

The will names Jackson's mother, Katherine, 79, as guardian of the children: Prince Michael Jackson Jr. 12, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, 11, and Prince Michael Joseph Jackson, II, 7. If she cannot fulfill the guardianship duties, pop singer Diana Ross, formerly of the Supremes and a long-time Jackson friend, is nominated to be guardian of the children.

The five-page document said "I have intentionally omitted to provide for my former wife, Deborah Rowe Jackson."

On Monday, before the will was filed, Katherine Jackson was named temporary guardian of the children and administrator of the estate by a Los Angeles court until a hearing on July 6.

The 2002 document names Los Angeles-based attorney John Branca, a long-time Jackson lawyer, and music industry executive John McClain as co-executors. A third co-executor named in the will has since resigned.

Lawyers for Branca and McClain asked a judge on Wednesday to immediately appoint them executors and overturn Katherine Jackson's temporary administration of the estate, but the judge denied their request.

"I understand your argument that there was a race to the court house. It seems to me that we should know by Monday if there's another will out there,"' said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff.

NO NEVERLAND FUNERAL

Since his death last week, speculation has run rampant that there would be multiple wills and a legal battle over Jackson's estate, which includes part ownership in a Beatles music catalog and Jackson's own music company.

Jackson was said to be $500 million in debt when he died, but his assets have been reported to be worth as much as $1 billion, which would roughly approximate the will's estimated value of Jackson's estate that "exceeds $500 million."

But immediately unclear is whether Branca and McClain based the value of the estate in the will at the time of the singer's death in 2002 or in current, 2009 dollars.

That value could rise over time if his popularity in death grows, as with other entertainers like Elvis Presley. Jackson remains among the best-selling pop stars ever, and his 1982 hit "Thriller" is the top-selling album of all time.

Attorney David Seeley, general counsel for the Marlon Brando Living Trust, said people came "out of the woodwork making all sorts of claims" after the legendary actor died.

"I assume that there will be all sorts of claims with Michael Jackson as well, due to the nature of his celebrity, and the amount of people that were around and the amount of money that's involved," Seeley said.

Already one person has surfaced. London resident Nona Paris Lola A. Jackson filed a petition in a Los Angeles court Wednesday saying she was Jackson's wife and his estate and kids should belong to her. Her past claims have been widely dismissed by legal experts and others, who have said there was no evidence she ever had a relationship with the pop star.

Meanwhile, Jackson's family issued a statement that refuted speculation of a funeral at Neverland, which is located near Santa Barbara, California, about a four-hour drive from Los Angeles.

"Contrary to previous news reports, the Jackson family is officially stating there will be no public or private viewing at Neverland," the statement said.

Other reports surfaced citing plans for a public memorial service and private family funeral at various locations around Los Angeles, but none could be confirmed and spokespersons for Jackson's family did not return calls or e-mails for comment.

Additional reporting by Steve Gorman and Dan Whitcomb, Editing by Sandra Maler

[kueytoc]

Video shows vigorous Jackson before death

Thu Jul 2, 6:23 pm ET

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – A video released Thursday showed Michael Jackson vigorously practicing a song-and-dance routine days before his death, supporting accounts he had been in good health.

In footage obtained by AFP, the pop legend performed at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on June 23, two days before he died, as he prepared for a 50-date set in London starting in July.

Jackson, while thin, is seen dancing with energy in a tightly choreographed sequence with a group of performers. Jackson sings on a headset and at one point pushes back his jacket to reveal his red shirt underneath.

In the footage, Jackson switches sharply in styles in a medley of some of his hits. The video starts with Jackson dancing wildly in front of a rock 'n' roll guitarist before a pause for dramatic effect.

Jackson then shifts to a snippet of "Billie Jean," one of his greatest hits, before singing, "They Don't Care About Us," one of his most controversial tracks in which he brought in a hip-hop influence.

The set ends with a sample of a car horn. The stage then fades to black as an outside voice instructs, "Hold for applause."

Associates of Jackson have described the 50-year-old pop star as being in good form, including at another rehearsal just hours before his death.

Jackson collapsed and died on June 25 at his rented Los Angeles mansion. Speculation has focused on whether Jackson was taking painkillers or other medication.

Jackson's voice coach Dorian Holley said Jackson was in an upbeat mood in the days before his death, joking around with his wardrobe and makeup staff.

"My friends call and ask, 'Was Michael sick? Was he weak? Was he ill?' It's the absolute opposite of that," Holley told CNN.

"He was very energetic, he was happy. He was even more playful than he normally was at rehearsal," he said.

Holley said Jackson, 50, did not show his age.

"I'm sure that he was in pain after some rehearsals. But I got to tell you something -- the guys and girls dancing with him were all in their 20s," he said.

"When Michael was on stage with them, there was only one person that you could watch and that was Michael Jackson," he said.

A similar account came from Kevin Mazur, who was attending the rehearsal sessions as a photographer.

"He was like an expectant father pacing up and down the stage," Mazur told Britain's Sun tabloid.

"He was just so focused. Between songs, he burst into laughter and joked around with his dancers and the director. I have never seen him so happy," Mazur said.

Jackson had planned a series of concerts at London's O2 Arena starting on July 13, part of a comeback for the King of Pop whose personal and financial life had sharply deteriorated in the past decade.

Concert promoters AEG Live, who released the video, are offering full ticket refunds for the concerts.

British media reports said about 50 million pounds (59 million euros, 83 million dollars) has been spent on 750,000 tickets.

[kueytoc]

Jackson's Former Photographer: Michael a Good Dad with a Drug Problem

Thu Jul 2, 9:14 pm ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) – The past week has been filled with more Michael Jackson speculation than we even thought possible...and there's no end in sight.

Jackson's former personal photographer, Ian Barkley, spoke exclusively to E! News about the King of Pop's parenting, his apparent problems and various things he witnessed during his years spent traveling the world with the artist.

Barkley was hired in 2002 to document Jackson in all of his endeavors. "Michael liked having me around," says the photographer.

Throughout his years with the star, Barkley grew to know Jackson and his family intimately, gaining personal insight to a life shrouded in privacy. The ex-employee paints a portrait of Jackson as a doting father, saying that he and his three children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and Blanket, 7, had a "really good" relationship.

"His kids totally love their dad and he was extremely protective over them," says Barkley. "Even when we were just around his staff, he was protective."

Barkley explains Jackson's no-holds-barred attitude when it came to his children, in which the performer would go to great lengths to insure their welfare, especially while on the road: "We would baby-proof everywhere, like really expensive suites."

He continues: "They would tape up every corner with cardboard and make sure the kids couldn't hurt themselves and they were very strict on what the kids would eat to make sure they didn't have allergies."

Jackson's overly protective nature seemed natural to Barkley, who says, "To some it was odd, but under the circumstances it was understandable."

When asked if he believed the star seemed mentally sound, Barkley explains that the answer always coincided with whether or not Jackson was using drugs.

"There were two sides to him. When he wasn't dosed up on pills, he was extremely mentally sound, very business-like, very smart, but when he was on drugs, he would do some really odd things," claims Barkley.

"It was basically flipping a coin and depending on what day it was, was how he was," says the photog. "Some days Michael would show up to an event and we could tell because he had this giggly laughing face on. I am not sure what kind of meds, but I know there were mixtures."

Barkley goes on to state that he wholeheartedly believes that the icon was a drug addict. Barkley tells E! News that, during his three-year employment with Jackson, "50 percent of the time he was on drugs. He had doctor after doctor working with him and had people score him prescription drugs that he knew he didn't have prescriptions for. He definitely had a problem."

But recent claims of Jackson self-medicating due to immense pain comes as a surprise to Barkley. "He would dance around and didn't flinch. I think he just never got off of the drug from the many surgeries he had," the photog said.

The alleged addiction did not go unnoticed by those around him, however. Those who worked closely with the star would constantly attempt to intervene. "(Michael) would just get going and laughing and talking about other stuff and you just knew he was on drugs," Barkley says.

"He was off in his own little world. Managers tried to keep stuff away from him because there was a lot of business to be done, like when he was supposed to be at an event but was in bed sleeping ten minutes before he was supposed to be there, and they would get on his case, but as soon as you tell him no, he starts pushing you out."

There was at least one instance of Jackson recognizing that he might have a problem, as Barkley claims that during his run with the singer, a "witch doctor was around to get Michael off the drugs, to go through a detox thing, but that it didn't work.

When child molestation charges were brought against Jackson, Barkley was sort of phased out of his job. "I stopped working with him when I was basically pushed out around the time when the trial started," says Barkley. "His people started not letting me go to events. It became a joke and I just had enough."

As the Jackson family's custody battle starts to heat up and we wait to see where his children will end up, Barkley insists: "He was overall a good dad."

[kueytoc]

Jackson memorial set for Tuesday in Los Angeles

By ANTHONY MCCARTNEY, Ap Entertainment Writer – 45 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – The question of when and where a public memorial service will be held for Michael Jackson has finally been answered. But how city officials will handle the likelihood of a massive crowd remains to be settled.

A public memorial for the late singer has been set for 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, according to a press release from the office of the Jackson family's publicist. A press conference to announce further details was planned for Friday.

Randy Phillips, chief executive of AEG Live, which owns the Staples Center and was Jackson's promoter, said tickets would be free. He was not sure how they would be distributed.

Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine said plans for the memorial are clearly moving forward, but he wished there had been more time to work out the logistics for such a huge event.

"If you can imagine 100,000 people show up and you have 20,000 capacity (at the Staples Center), there is not sufficient room. Now you have a crowd-control problem," he said. With the July Fourth holiday weekend "it's the worst time ... to work something out." He also said he's concerned about the cost of police overtime for the cash-strapped city.

Jackson's brother Jermaine told Larry King during Thursday's broadcast of CNN's "Larry King Live," that there will be a private ceremony for family and some special guests before the public memorial, according to show transcripts.

He added the family wants to have other memorials around the United States.

Meanwhile, the future of Michael Jackson's children was thrown into question Thursday when his ex-wife emerged and won a delay in a custody hearing while she decides whether she wants to raise her two offspring.

It was the first legal move from Deborah Rowe since the entertainer's death. Jackson's will asks for his mother, Katherine, to get permanent custody of all three of his children.

Rowe, who met Jackson as a receptionist in the office of his dermatologist, has characterized their relationship as strictly for the purpose of birthing Jackson children. She is the mother of his two oldest children and received $8.5 million in their divorce, according to court records. His youngest child was conceived with a surrogate.

She has spent very little time with her son Michael Joseph Jr., known as Prince Michael, 12; and daughter Paris Michael Katherine, 11. But Rowe also has opposed the idea of Katherine Jackson getting custody of her children when it came up in the past.

Rowe's attorney, Eric M. George, said his client had not decided whether to seek custody.

A guardianship hearing was set for July 13 at the request of attorneys for Rowe and for Katherine Jackson, 79, who has temporary guardianship of her son's children.

The identity of the surrogate mother of the singer's youngest child, 7-year-old son Prince Michael II, has never been revealed.

In other developments, there will be another court hearing on Monday to deal with who will take temporary control of Jackson's estate. He left all his assets to the Michael Jackson Family Trust.

A person familiar with the details of the trust said it would be shared between his mother, who gets 40 percent, his three children, who together get 40 percent, and charities for children, which would receive 20 percent. The charities will be determined later by the trust.

The person was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.

Authorities also were investigating allegations that the 50-year-old Jackson had been consuming painkillers, sedatives and antidepressants.

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration and California Attorney General Jerry Brown both were helping Los Angeles police investigate the possible involvement of prescription drugs in Jackson's death.

Associated Press writers Michael R. Blood and Beth Harris in Los Angeles and Michele Salcedo in Washington contributed to this story.

[kueytoc]

Jermaine Jackson Talks Michael: "I Wish It Was Me"

Gina Serpe – Thu Jul 2, 11:46 am ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) – Exactly one week after Michael Jackson's death, brother Jermaine Jackson became the first member of the still-mourning musical family to sit down for an in-depth interview about the late icon, speaking to the Today show this morning from the grounds of Neverland Ranch.

Describing himself as Michael's "backbone," an emotional and frequently tearful Jermaine paid tribute to his little brother, and revealed what his surprisingly preferred outcome to last week's tragedy would have been.

"He went too soon, he went too soon," he told Matt Lauer. "I don't know how people are gonna take this, but I wish it was me.

"I've always felt that I was his backbone. Someone to be there for him. I was there and he was sort of like Moses. The things he couldn't say, I would say them. During the trials and during everything, I knew he was 1,000 percent innocent. I knew. We all knew.

"Michael is a gift from Allah. And he has taken him back."

As for how Jermaine discovered the tragic news in the first place, he said he received a call from a friend, but, disbelieving that anything could have happened to his brother, phoned his mother, Katherine, for clarification. It was then he found out Michael had been declared dead.

"To hear my mother say Michael's dead…to feel and hear the tone in her voice to say her child is dead, is nothing that anyone can ever imagine," he said, adding that he rushed across town and could already see the helicopters circling over the hospital before his arrival.

After attempting to console his mother, Jermaine said a personal goodbye to his brother.

"I wanted to see Michael. I wanted to see my brother. Seeing him there lifeless and breathless was very emotional for me, but I held myself together because I know that he's very much alive, his spirit is. That was just a shell.

"I kissed him on his forehead, I hugged him and touched him and I said, 'Michael, I'll never leave you.' I felt really, really empty."

As for how his family is holding up, Jermaine said that the devastation has taken a toll, but they're doing their best to stay strong.

"It's tough. My family is being strong. We've always been a family and we're just holding together. But it's tough. It's very tough.

"We lost our brother, our hero. The world is mourning, we're mourning, the fans are mourning. It's unreal. It's unbelievable."

As for Jackson's three children, Prince Michael, Paris-Michael and the affectionately nicknamed Blanket, Jermaine said they're "fine now" and called them "very special" kids.

He confirmed that the trio saw Michael's body at the hospital at the suggestion of a therapist, a move Jermaine was initially opposed to.

"I know it's tough, but I think it was the best thing to do. At first I was against it, but what do you say if you don't show them?"

The children are currently spending time with their cousins, and Jermaine took time out to praise Michael's decision, revealed in his recently filed will, to have their mother take over guardianship of the trio.

"I thought it was a great will, because the children are fine—my mother's the right person to be there.

"She's capable, she's up to it, because she's always with all the grandchildren all the time. She loves the laughter and the crying and all the excitement. She'll have someone with her to make sure they're doing the right things."

While a Neverland burial has already been discounted as a viable option, Jermaine says it's still his top choice for his brother's interment.

"This is his home. He created this, why wouldn't he be here? I feel his presence, it's like he's on tour somewhere or he's out somewhere and it would always feel like that and I love that. He built this place with love and you can see it and feel it.

"Look at this place…This is his creation."

Jermaine also took time out to address, albeit not specifically, the unending speculation and rumors that have surfaced in regard to Michael's use and potential abuse of prescription medications.

"For people to come forth and say things that they don't have the facts to is very damaging to the family, to me, to us, because we don't know."

And while he admitted he couldn't say without a doubt that medication played no part in Michael's death, he did say that seeing an overflow of prescriptions on his still-pending toxicology report would be a surprise.

"I would be hurt. Michael has always been a person who has been against anything like that," he said, before adding, "In this business, the pressures and things that you go through, you never know what one turns to."

Still, Jermaine has no doubt that the enormous amount of pressure Michael was put under in the last decade or so of his life took a toll on his health.

"Michael was always concerned about everybody. And to have that weight on your shoulders and to have that kind of pressure…I don't know.

"The world didn't appreciate him. The world loved him, but certain people, certain industries didn't appreciate him.

"He became a victim of his own success. It was hard for him. The things that happened during his life and then the pressure, the pressure. He felt tremendous pressure. You work so hard to do good and it's perceived a different way."

Addressing Michael's 50-show London comeback and questions of whether the King of Pop was ever up to the challenge, Jermaine said his brother would have had no problem pulling it off.

"Fifty shows is a lot of shows, but I do believe and I know Michael's very strong. Mentally and physically. He's a dancer, he never stopped dancing. He was strong, he was ready. I think it had a lot to do with the mental tear and just the stress."

Finally, when asked about the legacy his iconic brother would leave behind, Jermaine unsurprisingly opted not to wax on about Michael's undisputed musical genius, but rather paid tribute to the less public side of the star.

"The legacy of Michael Jackson is Michael being a wonderful person, a wonderful father, a caring person, a humanitarian, a person who wanted good for everyone, a person who would give his last whatever just to make someone happy.

"What he's done for the world, not just the financial, but the happiness of people…What kind of price can you put on that? How do you value that? The joy…to make someone happy, to make someone smile through your actions, through what you're doing, there's no price for that."

(Originally published on July 2, 2009 at 7:41 a.m. PT)

[Harlequinmania]

What a sad news to all.. He is once my idol too during my school days.

[kueytoc]

Madonna blames Jackson's childhood for downfall

43 mins ago, WENN

Madonna credits her "normal childhood" for not falling victim to superstardom like Michael Jackson - insisting having such a credible career so young was "unearthly".

The Material Girl superstar told the world of her grief after hearing of the Thriller hitmaker's death last week, confessing to fans she couldn't stop crying in the hours following his passing.

The tragic demise of her most famous contemporary came as an extra shock as she was putting plans in motion to make a special appearance at Jackson's London comeback gigs.

But the star will never have the chance to perform with Jackson - admitting it is a devastating blow as she has always looked up to him.

She tells The Sun newspaper, "I am so terribly sad about Michael Jackson's death. I don't know what artist wasn't inspired by him.

"To be able to do what he did at such an early age was unearthly, everybody grew up in awe of him."

Madonna looks back on her short-lived friendship with Jackson in the early 90s with fondness - insisting she loved to "pick his brains" about his musical talents.

She explains, "To work with him and become friends and hang out with him, was exciting for me. I used to love picking his brains about musical stuff."

And Madonna recognises she became a completely different person to Jackson despite similarities in their phenomenal success - blaming his tireless entertaining schedule when he was just a child.

She adds, "Obviously we have very different personalities - he was a lot more shy than I am. That's because I was allowed to have a normal childhood and he wasn't, so there was a vulnerable side to him that made you want to take care of him and protect him."

However, Madonna insists she will always remember both sides of Jackson - admitting the star completely changed when he stepped off stage.

She says, "He was a real paradox, one of the world's greatest performers and obviously very confident on stage, but in real life he was shy and you really felt for him. "

Madonna will pay tribute to Jackson with by involving a Jackson lookalike in her Sticky & Sweet tour when it returns to London's O2 Arena on Saturday.

[kueytoc]

Michael Jackson 'dated nanny'

2 hours 14 mins ago

bangshowbiz.com

Michael Jackson was secretly dating his children's nanny, it has been claimed.

The romance between the 'Thriller' star - who died of a suspected cardiac arrest last week - and Ugandan-born Grace Rwaramba was reportedly an open secret among the singer's staff and his three children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris Katherine, 11 and six-year-old Prince Michael II, even looked on her as their mother.

Ian Barkley - who was Michael's personal photographer for three years - said: "Grace loved Michael and he loved her. The kids called her 'Mom.' "

Last week the 'Billie Jean' star's former head of security, Matt Fiddes, admitted his ex-employer had a secret lover, but refused to name her, saying only that the mystery woman was not famous.

However, another bodyguard - who refused to be named - told Britain's Sunday Mirror newspaper: "Matt was referring to Grace. They were more like a married couple than employer and employee.

"Grace was the closest person to Michael and the kids. She will be broken-hearted. The children were always their joint priority and like any couple they'd row if they disagreed about how they were being brought up.

"But the difference between Grace and other women in Michael's life was that she had absolutely no interest in fame. It was something she actively avoided and Michael was determined to keep her and their relationship out of the public gaze.

"The romance was well-known among staff but it was made very clear to them that this was not something that should become part of the public domain."

Grace - who began working as the singer's secretary in 1991 - was sacked and quickly reinstated several times by Michael during her stint as the children's nanny, but was dismissed permanently in December and had quit America.

However, she returned to California last week and is expected to be among the chief mourners at the star's funeral on Tuesday (07.07.09).

Despite the singer's will naming his mother Katherine as guardian of his children, and the eldest two's natural mother Debbie Rowe planning to stake a custody claim, Ian believes they should be in the care of Grace.

He added: "Though I love Michael's mum Katherine, she is 79 and if she passes on, the best place for the kids to go would be to Grace. She really raised them. She was with them day in and day out. She really loved them and they adored her as they would a mother."

The singer's will also states close friend Diana Ross should become guardian to the children if Katherine dies.

In 2007, it was rumoured Michael and the nanny had secretly married but this was denied by Grace, who is still legally wed to her first husband Stacey Adair.

Meanwhile, pictures have been released showing the late singer, his former wife Debbie Rowe and their two children, which are expected to challenge claims she was just used a surrogate mother who had no contact with her kids.

The unnamed photographer commented: "People may think Debbie was an emotionally cold and uncaring woman to be able to walk away from her children.

"But if you saw her with them you'd realise there was much more to it than that,"

The mother of Michael's youngest son, known as 'Blanket', is unknown.

© BANG Media International

[kueytoc]

Jackson fans prepare farewell to 'King of Pop'

AFP - Monday, July 6

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - - Hundreds of millions of fans across the world will bid a final farewell to Michael Jackson on Tuesday in a lavish memorial to the tragic "King of Pop" expected to bring America to a standstill.

An exclusive guest list of family and VIPs will be joined by around 11,000 fans crowded into the Staples Center in Los Angeles for the send-off, which Jackson once said he hoped would be "the greatest show on earth."

Precise details of the service have been kept under wraps, but amid speculation that some of the biggest names in showbusiness may perform in an event intended as a celebration of the tortured pop icon's life and times.

Jackson's mysterious death from an apparent cardiac arrest at the age of 50 on June 25 sent shockwaves rippling around the world, triggering an avalanche of tributes from Beverly Hills to Beijing.

Thousands of fans continue to flock to Jackson's star on Hollywood's "Walk of Fame" in Los Angeles while a makeshift shrine of flowers, cards and toys has steadily grown outside the gates of the singer's Neverland Ranch.

Jackson sold more than 750 million albums during a glittering four-decade career that was ultimately overshadowed by repeated allegations of child abuse, his startling physical transformation and eccentric behavior.

Jackson's family has not revealed where the singer will be buried.

The musical clan earlier quashed the idea of a poignant ceremony at Neverland Ranch, which posed logistical headaches due to its remote location in ritzy Santa Barbara wine country.

However, Jackson's elder brother Jermaine said he would still like the pop legend to be buried at the estate, a tribute to Jackson's fascination with childhood that in its heyday boasted giraffes, tigers and a private amusement park.

"I feel his presence because this is his creation," Jackson said Thursday. "This is where he should be rested because it's him."

Organizers of Tuesday's memorial, which gets underway at 10:00am (1700 GMT), have appealed to ticketless fans to watch the event on television, fearing chaos if hundreds of thousands take to the streets to mourn.

Some 1.6 million applied online for only 11,000 tickets to attend the tribute at the Staples Center and another 6,500 for seats at a neighboring venue where giant screens will show the event live.

A website set up to manage an online lottery of the available tickets received more than half a billion hits within two hours on Friday, reflecting the huge interest in the event.

"Potentially, this could be enormous," said Robert Thompson, an expert in pop culture at Syracuse University in New York. "Everything that has to do with Michael Jackson was done huge, super-sized."

While all eyes turn to Jackson's memorial, multiple law enforcement agencies are continuing to probe the circumstances of his death while an army of lawyers prepare to tussle over the fate of his estate and children.

An autopsy on Jackson's body was carried out on June 26 but the Los Angeles County Coroner's office has said it will not issue a final cause of death until the results of exhaustive toxicology tests are known in "several weeks."

Police investigators have meanwhile zeroed in on the possible role of drugs in Jackson's death.

Close friends and associates of the star have angrily alleged that Jackson was surrounded by a coterie of medical professionals willing to provide him with potent prescription medication.

US media reports citing unidentified law enforcement sources say investigators found the powerful sedative Propofol, also known as Diprivan, amongst a variety of prescription medications at Jackson's home.

The discovery has raised the stakes in the probe, which widened last week as the Los Angeles Police Department enlisted the support of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

Propofol is commonly used in hospitals to induce unconsciousness in patients before major surgery. Healthcare experts say it should never be used at home and should only be administered by trained anesthesiologists.

Police have questioned Jackson's personal physician Conrad Murray but have stressed he is not suspected of criminal wrongdoing.

As the investigation into Jackson's death deepens, lawyers are preparing to head to court next week to tussle over his legacy.

Jackson's 79-year-old mother Katherine was placed in temporary control of her son's assets last week and appointed guardian of the singer's three children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11 and Prince Michael II, 7.

A 2002 will filed in Los Angeles Superior Court last week named Katherine Jackson as guardian but the singer's ex-wife Debbie Rowe indicated she planned to seek custody of the children. A custody hearing scheduled for July 6 has now been reset for July 13.

On Monday, the two men named as executors of Jackson's are scheduled to appear in court with lawyers for the star's family in the first full hearing on the star's assets, reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

A lawyer for the Jackson family has not said whether the clan intends to contest the will.

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Jackson memorial gets 1.6 million ticket requests

AP - Monday, July 6

LOS ANGELES - The more than 1.6 million fans who registered for tickets to Michael Jackson's memorial service will wait until Monday to learn if they received one of the 11,000 tickets for Tuesday's ceremony.

The two-day registration period for the service at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles ended Saturday. Another 6,500 tickets will be given away for the Nokia Theater overflow section next door.

Fans had to register for free at staplescenter.com between 10 a.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday for the random drawing of 8,750 names. Each person selected will receive two tickets and will be notified by e-mail after 11 a.m. Sunday.

Before the drawing, officials at AEG, the owner and operator of the Staples Center, will "scrub" the entries to eliminate duplicates and any suspected of being made by automated systems or "go-bots," said Jackson family spokesman Ken Sunshine in a statement.

Winners will receive a unique code and instructions on how to pick up their tickets at an off-site distribution center on Monday. At the distribution center, they will receive the ticket and a wristband that will be placed on their wrists at that time.

Fans must have both the ticket and the wristband to enter Staples Center on Tuesday. Wristbands that have been ripped, taped or tampered with will be voided.

Sunshine said those steps are being taken to prevent ticket-scalping.

City officials are preparing for massive crowds. Assistant Police Chief Earl Paysinger says anywhere from a quarter-million to 700,000 people may try to reach the arena, even though a wide area around Staples Center will be sealed off to those without tickets.

City Councilwoman Jan Perry strongly urged people to stay home and watch the memorial on TV. The ceremony will not be shown on Staples' giant outdoor TV screen and there will be no funeral procession through the city.

No details were given about the actual memorial events, which come as the nation's second-largest city struggles with a $530 million budget deficit. Perry said the cost of police protection for "extraordinary" events like the memorial is built into the Police Department's budget, but she still solicited help for "incremental costs."

Last month, donations covered about $850,000 of the city's $1 million cost for the Los Angeles Lakers' NBA championship parade. Critics had blasted the idea of using city money when it is considering layoffs to close its budget gap.

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Jackson family seeks delay in naming will executor

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY,AP Entertainment Writer AP - 1 hour 25 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson's family wants a judge to delay the appointment of two men as temporary administrators of the pop superstar's estate, a person close to the Jacksons said.

The family is looking for the delay at a hearing Monday so they can look deeper into his affairs, to see if another will emerges, and to accommodate Jackson's memorial service on Tuesday, said a person close to the family who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly.

"It has been very insensitive, particularly to this family, that you would even schedule a court hearing on the status of the mother, the day before she has to go to the cemetery for her son," the Rev. Al Sharpton, a friend of the Jacksons, said on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday. "It's almost insulting."

The person who spoke on condition of anonymity said Sunday that the family wants the delay in naming attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain, who are designated in a five-page will filed Wednesday as administrators to shepherd Jackson's estate into a private trust.

Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, was granted some limited powers over the singer's estate days after his death. But because Branca and McClain are named as executors in the 2002 will, it's expected that they would be granted more authority to oversee Jackson's estate, estimated in court filings as being worth more than $500 million, in Monday's scheduled hearing.

Jackson's mother and those close to her want "time to further investigate the circumstances and individuals that were surrounding Michael Jackson during his final days," the person close to the family said.

"We don't have the answers," Sharpton told ABC. "But we do have the questions, and we know how to make those questions loud and clear. We owe it to Michael to get to the bottom of what happened."

In court filings, attorneys for Katherine Jackson ask Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff to delay naming Branca and McClain as the estate's administrators. Attorneys for the two men argue their appointment is crucial to controlling Jackson's diverse financial interests and its liabilities, which include refunds due on a series of London concerts that have been canceled, and several lawsuits.

The person close to the Jackson family said late Sunday that Katherine Jackson also wants the delay to see if any newer wills emerge. An older will had already been presented, the person said.

"She wants to know what happened to her son before appointing individuals to take over his estate worth over a billion dollars," the person said.

In court filings, Katherine Jackson's attorneys state it would be "premature" to contest the 2002 will, but they also note that several wills may have been filed. The 2002 will stated that Jackson wanted his three children entrusted to his mother, Katherine, who has been named a temporary guardian until July 13.

Attorneys for Branca and McClain said last week they do not expect any other wills to emerge.

Monday's hearing will be crucial in deciding who takes control of Jackson's financial empire, which includes an estimated $400 million in debt. A judge on Thursday delayed a hearing on who should have custody of Jackson's three children, making Monday's hearing entirely about the singer's fortune.

"This is going to be a very important hearing in the sense of giving the public an indication of where the case is heading and what the judge is thinking about," said Lawrence Heller, an estate planning attorney for the Santa Monica office of the firm Bryan Cave LLP.

Jackson's memorial service was planned for Tuesday, a day after the hearing over his financial affairs. Thousands of fans were expected to attend the service in Los Angeles. More than 1.6 million people registered to win the coveted free tickets.

Downtown hotels were quickly filling Monday, and police warned those without tickets to the memorial to stay away. There was no funeral procession planned and the service will not be shown on outdoor screens.

Last week, Katherine Jackson was given authority over some of her son's possessions, including items taken from his Neverland Ranch that were slated for auction earlier this year, but not his finances. She had sought to control Jackson's finances and the estate of his children, but that was before Branca and McClain filed the will.

Beckloff, perhaps sensing a rift between the two sides, urged attorneys for Katherine Jackson and the two men to meet before Monday's hearing and try to reach a compromise.

No agreement between the two sides had been announced as of Sunday. Katherine Jackson's temporary control of the Neverland items expires Monday.

Experts say the Branca and McClain have an upper hand going into Monday's court hearing because they were designated by Jackson. In Branca's case, he helped organize one of the singer's smartest financial moves _ acquiring a stake in the Sony-ATV Music Publishing Catalog, which includes music by the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Lady Gaga and the Jonas Brothers.

Branca also helped Jackson acquire the rights to his own master recordings, which include ample material for new music to be released posthumously.

Gaining even temporary control of Jackson's estate is key, attorneys for Branca and McClain argue in court filings, because they can begin tapping into the singer's earning potential by licensing "records, music, TV, publishing, pay-per-view, theatrical" properties.

Attorney Jeryll S. Cohen told Beckloff on Wednesday that the men also could minimize the loss of an estimated $85 million in ticket refunds required for Jackson's canceled London concerts. Randy Phillips, president and CEO of concert promoter AEG Live, said Thursday that the company has ample material for a possible movie, live album and other media that will likely allow them to break even on their Jackson investment.

A temporary administrator would also have the power to take over numerous lawsuits pending against Jackson, including a $44 million federal claim filed by former publicist Raymone Bain, two lawsuits filed by "Thriller" director John Landis, and another one filed by "Thriller" co-star Ola Ray.

Temporary administrators would also control 2,000 items taken from Neverland Ranch that were slated for an auction halted by the singer this year. The items, which include awards, clothing and numerous other unique items taken from Jackson's former home, were expected to fetch at least $12 million.

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Hollywood Remembers Michael Jackson : Michael Jackson: The Life Of An Icon

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Brooke Shields talks about 'asexual' Jackson

Associated Press - July 6, 2009 5:37 PM PDT

Brooke Shields was 13 when she first met Michael Jackson and the two "instantly became friends" -- mainly because sexual tension was off the table.

"Nothing was jaded about him," the 44-year-old actress told Rolling Stone magazine for a special commemorative issue about the King of Pop, on sale Friday.

Shields said the two became close since sexuality wasn't a part of their friendship. She describes her young self as "the most celebrated virgin ever" at a time when women "wanted to throw themselves at (Jackson) and feel like they were going to teach him."

Shields said that as Jackson grew up, "the more asexual he became to me." But he was curious about her early relationships.

"He was like a little kid who talked about the bases -- what first base was, what second base was," Shields said. "It sounded very odd to the outside, I can imagine, but to the inside, to someone who's never really left his bubble, you can understand how he would be curious."

Shields said she last saw Jackson in 1991, at Elizabeth Taylor's most recent wedding.

"We snuck in and took pictures of ourselves next to her dress," Shields recalled. "We always seemed to revert to being little kids."

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Michael Jackson was working on two albums

Reuters - Saturday, July 4

By Mariel Concepcion

NEW YORK - At the time of Michael Jackson's death last week, it was well-known that he was preparing for a 50-show concert series at London's O2 Arena later this month.

What was less well-known -- and what many are now speculating about -- was what kind of recordings Jackson had done for the last few years.

Billboard has learned that the singer was working on two albums at the time of his death: one in the pop vein that made him famous and another that would consist of an instrumental classical composition. And while some believe the star wanted to recapture his '80s glory days -- or escape financial trouble -- those who worked with him recently say he was motivated by his fans and his children.

Jackson was working on the pop album with songwriter Claude Kelly and R&B star Akon, who says that Jackson was motivated by the ticket sales for his performances.

"He said, 'My fans are still there. They still love me. They're alive,'" Akon says. "His kids are like his first priority, and they had never seen him perform live. He was trying to create the most incredible show for his kids."

Kelly, who wrote "Hold My Hand," the Akon-produced Jackson track that leaked last year, says Jackson never lost his passion. "He was the King of Pop, the biggest to ever do it, and the one thing you never lose -- whether known by the whole world or just 10 people -- is your love for music," Kelly says. "That never goes away, and it never went away for him amidst his troubles."

Composer David Michael Frank had worked with Jackson on a 1989 TV tribute to Sammy Davis Jr. and received a call from the star's assistant two months ago about collaborating again. Jackson invited Frank to his home in Los Angeles' Holmby Hills, told him he was working on an instrumental album of classical music and asked for help with orchestration.

"He had two demos of two pieces he'd written, but they weren't complete," says Frank, who adds that he was impressed with Jackson's knowledge of classical music. "For one of them, he had a whole section of it done in his head. He had not recorded it. He hummed it to me as I sat at the keyboard in his pool house and we figured out the chords. I guess this recording I made is the only copy that exists of this music."

A few weeks ago, Jackson called to see how Frank was progressing on the orchestrations. "He mentioned more instrumental music of his he wanted to record, including one jazz piece," Frank says. "I hope one day his family will decide to record this music as a tribute and show the world the depth of his artistry."

Although questions arose about Jackson's health, and the impact it had on his dancing and singing, those who collaborated with Jackson say his voice was in fine form, despite his frail appearance.

Greg Phillinganes, a keyboardist who collaborated with Jackson as musical director of the "Bad" tour and appeared on several of his albums, says Jackson sounded as good as he ever did. "He still had a good voice and never had a problem singing," says Phillinganes, who last spoke to Jackson in March. "There were questions about him being able to pull off the tour on the choreography side, but sources working with him told me he was dancing all the time, every day, and was very focused, excited and committed to making this tour the best it could be."

Akon last spoke to Jackson three months prior to his death. "He would always tell me to eat right and ask me if I was exercising and drinking water," he says. "He'd always stress you had to take care of yourself before you can go off and do anything else."

Frank agrees. "He seemed totally healthy, not frail, and gave me a firm handshake when we met. He seemed in good health, had a good voice and was in good spirits," he says. "He was very skinny, but from what I knew, he was always thin. He was also taller than I pictured, but he might have been wearing some platform shoes. And he was impeccably dressed."

Much has been made of Jackson's intense rehearsal schedule, but Phillinganes says that Jackson lived up to his reputation as a perfectionist. "It was the biggest comeback of his career, arguably the biggest comeback in pop music -- even bigger than Elvis," he says. "So obviously he'd want to do the best he could. He never did anything half-assed, which is what originally got him to the stature he had."