Michael Jackson laid to rest

GLENDALE, Calif. (AP) — The King of Pop has been laid to rest.

More than two months his death, Michael Jackson was entombed at a private ceremony before more than 200 family and friends Thursday night. The service was delayed more than an hour by his family’s tardy arrival at Forest Lawn Glendale.

Celebrities including 77-year-old Elizabeth Taylor waited in the stubborn heat for the outdoor service that was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

The Rev. Al Sharpton spoke at the ceremony, and Gladys Knight performed. Just before 10 p.m., Sharpton posted on his Twitter page that “Michael Jackson has been laid to rest.”

Family members present included the singer’s three children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris Michael, 10, and Prince Michael II, 7, known as Blanket.

A vivid orange moon, a mark of the devastating wildfire about 10 miles distant, hung over the cemetery.

Police had escorted the family’s motorcade of 31 cars, including Rolls-Royces and Cadillacs, from Encino to Forest Lawn, with the hearse bearing Jackson’s body at the end.

A large, blimp-like inflated light, the type used in film and television production, and a boom camera hovered over the seating area placed in front of the elaborate marble mausoleum. The equipment raised the possibility that the footage would be used for the Jackson concert documentary “This Is It.”

About 250 seats were arranged for mourners over artificial turf laid roadside at the mausoleum. Nearly double the number of media credentials, 435, were issued to reporters and film crews who remained at a distance from the service and behind barricades.

Sharpton, who gave a rousing eulogy at Jackson’s public memorial two months ago, posted on his Twitter account — while the service was still under way — that he made a repeat performance Thursday night.

“I just spoke at the conclusion of tributes,” Sharpton wrote. “Gladys knight sang her heart out. Now we prepare to lay him top rest.”

The few clusters of fans who gathered around the secure perimeter that encircled the cemetery entrance struggled to see much. Maria Martinez, 25, a fan from Riverside, Calif., who was joined by a dozen other Jackson admirers at a gas station near the security perimeter, gave a handful of pink flowers to a man with an invitation driving into the funeral.

“Can you please put these flowers on his grave?” she told him. Martinez said she picked them from a nearby park.

“They were small and ugly, but I did that with my heart,” she said. “I’m not going to be able to get close, so this is as close as I could get to him.”

The man consented, adding, “God bless.”

Story Continues →