Fitting Send Off For The King Of Pop
Updated : Jul 7, 2009
Tens of thousands of Michael Jackson fans will crowd into downtown Los Angeles later for a memorial to the man whose sudden death nearly two weeks ago shocked the music world.
Jackson died on 25 June after suffering cardiac arrest in his rented Los Angeles mansion.
R&B veterans Smokey Robinson, Lionel Richie and Stevie Wonder will mix with singers Mariah Carey, Usher and Jennifer Hudson at the event.
Sports stars like basketball player Kobe Bryant and other celebrities such as Brooke Shields also are expected to turn out.
Some 18,000 people will crowd into the Staples Center sports arena and a nearby overflow theatre for the two-hour ceremony.
Police estimate more than 250,000 people will cram onto the sidewalks outside the arena to pay their final respect to the Thriller singer and one-time member of Motown legends the Jackson 5, who was 50 years-old when he died.
About 1.6 million people registered to be among the 8,750 who won two free tickets to the event, and police expect many who did not win tickets to show up outside.
VHP says it’s a fitting send off for the King Of Pop
