For Jackson Memorial, Dancing and Mourning

 

 

For Jackson Memorial, Dancing and Mourning

 

 

LOS ANGELES —

Smokey Robinson read messages from Diana Ross and Nelson Mandela. Mariah Carey and

Trey Lorenz performed the song “I’ll Be There.”

And Queen Latifah read a poem from Maya Angelou.

We had him,” Ms. Latifah read. “Whether we knew who he was or did not know, he was ours.”

Michael Jackson, the pop star whose life was a complicated tale of celebrity, is being honored at a memorial service at the Staples Center here as millions watch on live television. He died at age 50 on June 25 in Los Angeles .

The center was filled almost to capacity by fans who had won free tickets in a random lottery, and friends and others who had known him since he began his career singing with his brothers in the Jackson 5.

Berry Gordy, the Motown founder who helped develop the Jackson 5, said of him at the service, “I think quite simply he was the greatest entertainer that ever lived.”

Earlier Tuesday morning, family members and close friends of Mr. Jackson attended a private service at the Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, a San Fernando Valley cemetery. That service began at about 8:30 a.m. local time and lasted less than an hour, before the group, and the casket, made its way to downtown Los Angeles.

About 50 movie theaters around the country, from Los Angeles to Washington, were planning to broadcast the memorial service, The Associated Press reported, which is also to feature performances by Stevie Wonder, Usher, Lionel Richie, Kobe Bryant, Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer and Martin Luther King III.

Before the memorial service began, Mr. Jackson’s casket, covered in red flowers, was carried into the center and placed in front of the stage. Celebrity guests — from Mickey Rooney to Kobe Bryant — came in on a black carpet.

Mr. Rooney walked in with his wife, Jan, wearing a United States Army pin on the lapel of his brown suit.

“Michael was a dear friend,” he said. He said he last heard from Mr. Jackson about a year ago.

When he was asked how he thought Mr. Jackson should be remembered, Mr. Rooney said: ”We’re all human beings. We’ve lost a great man today.”

Downtown, the police had braced for large crowds by assigning hundreds of extra police, blocking off streets near the center and warning those without tickets to stay away, saying they would not be able to get close to the arena.

In an interview on CNN early Tuesday morning, Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton had predicted that the crowds gathering at the Staples Center and nearby could rival those at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Minutes before the memorial was to begin, the crowd outside the center was enthusiastic but orderly. Small groups of fans without tickets clustered quietly around street corners near lines of police officers. Inside the barricades, people milled around, taking pictures of one another in front of large flat-screen displays showing photographs of the singer. A man wearing a black suit and fedora reached above a small crowd to write on a large white panel near the street that was covered with messages written by fans over the past few days.

Sarah Chen, 28, and Michelle Liu, 27, reached around a line of people to photograph the scene. “We’re lucky enough to come and experience this,” Ms. Liu said. “I want to capture the memento to share with other people who weren’t so lucky.”

Ms. Chen said the two drove from Orange County yesterday to pick up tickets to the memorial that they had won in the raffle. But they missed the deadline. Still, they were able to get some leftover tickets, Ms. Chen said.

“So we’re here,” she said. “I can’t believe it, even though I should be at work this morning.”

Ms. Chen said she sent an e-mail message to her boss last night that she would not be at work.

Lauren Bledsoe, 19, wore a sequined glove on her right hand and took pictures of a flat screen across from the center displaying an image of Mr. Jackson in a red jacket with gold shoulder tassels standing between Ronald and Nancy Reagan.

“My mom played his music all the time,” she said, smiling. “It’s music that makes you happy, and I grew up listening.”

Ms. Bledsoe said that she had traveled to the service from Santa Clarita with her mother, and that they stayed overnight at a hotel.

“I wanted to feel the vibe and love of everyone here,” she said. “It’s a historic day.”

Vito Francone, 41, used the box seats his accounting firm has at the Staples Center to bring his wife, Mary, 39, and two friends, Karen Haines, 51, and her daughter, Alex Depeyster, 19. The group waited in line, dressed as if to attend an evening opera performance.

“We worried about the crowds,” Mr. Francone said at about 8 a.m. “Right now it’s quiet.”