Michael Jackson Finally Laid To Rest In L.A.

Exactly ten weeks after he was found dead, and more than enough hullabaloo over his final resting place, Michael Jackson was finally laid to rest last night, Sept. 3, with a private ceremony at Glendale, California’s Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Some 200 friends and family members attended the 90-minute, evening funeral, which concluded with the King of Pop entombed in Forest Lawn’s Great Mausoleum, the final resting place of Walt Disney, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, W.C. Fields and other Hollywood legends. According to a statement from the Jackson family, Michael’s five brothers Tito, Jermaine, Randy, Marlon and Jackie all served as pallbearers.

Elizabeth Taylor, Jackson’s ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley, Stevie Wonder, Macaulay Culkin and Quincy Jones were among those in attendance. Michael’s three children – Prince Michael, Paris Michael and Prince Michael II – placed a crown atop Jackson’s casket, “to signify the final resting place of the King of Pop,” according to a family spokesman.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Glendale police established a security cordon, blocking off streets around the 300-acre cemetery and relegating the sprinkling of fans who showed up to positions behind barricades a couple of blocks away.

A dozen fans held up a banner reading “King of Pop Michael Jackson Gone Too Soon.”

After the service, the family released a statement, saying, “Michael Jackson reached his final resting place tonight at 9:43 pm PST in The GreatMausoleum at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park.”

Pastor Lucius Smith read the opening prayer and a portion of Ecclesiastes 3:7. Gladys Knight followed by singing the gospel hymn “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” the statement said. Songwriter Clifton Davis sang “Never Can Say Goodbye,” the hit he wrote for the Jackson 5.

Afterward, the family planned a private reception at a restaurant in Pasadena. The Jackson estate is picking up the tab for the service.

While we do not know exactly what was said by friends and families who spoke at the ceremony, including Joe Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton, a family statement said loved ones spoke “spontaneously to celebrate Michael’s life.”

The first page of the invitation also featured a quote from Michael’s 1992 book of essays and poems Dancing the Dream:

“If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with.”

Of course the event drew a throng of media; the Jackson family did provide a live video feed to the media horde prior to the ceremony, but the feed was shut down as soon as the Jackson brothers went to take Michael’s gold-plated casket out of the hearse.

The service ended with Jackson’s brothers carrying the casket inside the Great Mausoleum where he was placed in his crypt.

And while the funeral does provide a bit of closure, the saga does not end inside the Great Mausoleum. The investigation into Jackson’s death continues and the selling of the legacy is just beginning to swell; Jackson’s death is merely another new chapter in the amazing Michael Jackson Story.

Goodbye, Michael.

Further Reading:

• Michael Jackson Tribute Concert Cancelled
• Michael Jackson To Receive Lifetime Achievement Grammy
• This is It Earns Over 100 Million Dollars
• This Is It: Movie Review Redux
• Michael Jackson’s Glove Sold for $48,000
• Hear Michael Jackson’s Single, This is It
• Michael Jackson’s MTV VMA Tribute
• What If Michael Jackson Is Still Alive?
• Prince Considering A Michael Jackson Tribute Performance
• Videos of Speeches and Songs at Michael Jackson’s Memorial
• Michael Jackson’s Death Boosts Album Sales
• Michael Jackson’s Life in Pictures
• Michael Jackson: Life in Videos
• Michael Jackson Has Died