June
- More than 1m tipped for Jackson funeral
(Yahoo!7 News, June 30 2009)
From Elvis Presley to Princess Diana, iconic funerals are often marked by massive crowds, celebrity mourners and gut-wrenching emotion - and Michael Jackson's memorial will be no different.
More than one million people are expected to pay homage to the King of Pop at his funeral, an event which could dwarf the memorial services held for Presley in 1977 and Diana 20 years later, experts say.
Plans for Jackson's memorial began to filter out, with reports saying the tragic icon would make a poignant return by motorcade to his Neverland fantasy ranch on Thursday. A public viewing of Jackson's body is planned for Friday before private services for his family take place at the weekend. Precise details of Jackson's burial and final resting place are not known. Yet intense anticipation has already begun to build, with speculation that the Jackson family could hold a series of simultaneous services in all corners of the globe to reflect the star's huge worldwide appeal. ...
- The deaths of Michael Jackson and other icons
By Nina Teggarty
(channel4.com, June 30 2009)
More4 News compares the reaction to Michael Jackson's death with those of Elvis Presley, John Lennon and Diana, Princess of Wales. The deaths of all four have led to huge outpourings of grief.
But those not mourning Michael Jackson have expressed to us, and other news outlets, an impatience with the level of coverage - so we thought we'd look back at the deaths of the other stars in the past, to see if responses to them were any different? ... [video]
- Thriller legacy that lives on
(sun2surf.com / AFP, June 29 2009)
MICHAEL Jackson was one of the biggest stars in the history of music along with the Beatles and Elvis Presley, thanks in a large part to his top-selling album of all time, Thriller. With his high-pitched voice and extraordinary dance skills, Jackson left his mark on modern music, selling a total of 750 million records according to US statistics, a record for a solo artiste. ...
- Plan for Michael Jackson's Neverland to become 'new Graceland'
(belfasttelegraph.co.uk, June 29 2009)
Speculative reports suggest that Jackson's home, Neverland, could be turned into a tourist mausoleum much like the late Elvis Presley's home, Graceland, with Jackson's grave as the central attraction.
The proposal has apparently come from Tohme Tohme, Jackson's former manager and special ambassador to Senegal. Mr Tohme works with Colony Capital LLC, the firm that holds the mortgage note on Neverland. Their idea is to turn the estate into a new Graceland. The idea is likely to be met by substantial legal issues, including a permit to bury someone on site.
Neverland is on a two-lane country road opposite a school, in the hills above the Santa Ynez Valley, which many locals feel is not equipped for heavy traffic.
- Special Features: A piece of Michael Jackson's legacy lives on at Beech Bend
(thrillnetwork.com, June 29 2009)
Elvis Presley had the mansion called Graceland, Michael Jackson had the ranch called Neverland. Two Kings of pop culture had their castles, each with their ways to entertain their owner. Both met a relatively early demise through strikingly similar circumstances (as of this writing), and both live on through their music and through what they left behind. ... Late Friday night/early Saturday morning, within an hour's time, we learned of two tribute events going on. The first being a weekend event at Freestyle Music Park honoring Jackson in Myrtle Beach, S.C., posted by one of my fellow staffers. The other one, which I posted, was a relatively short blurb about complimentary rides being offered on Sea Dragon at Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green, Ky. ...
- Michael Jackson tribute: 'I want my children to remember that they came first'
(mirror.co.uk, June 29 2009)
After his high-profile divorce from Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie, Michael's mind turned to parenthood and being a better dad than his own father. ...
- Letters to Datebook: Thanks, King of Pop
From Nicholas Duka, Lafayette
(sfgate.com, June 29 2009)
Editor - Notwithstanding their considerable shortcomings, Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley changed people's lives and will, as time passes, be linked together forever ("Pop royal's frenetic reign," Datebook, Saturday).
Elvis was my childhood and the main exponent of what most white kids came to know as rock 'n' roll in the 1950s. I wonder how many times I've heard "Don't Be Cruel," "Heartbreak Hotel" or "Are You Lonesome Tonight?"
Elvis was unique, charismatic, with a voice to match. Very few if any artists attempt to cover his songs because no one can without appearing amateurish. He WAS the King of Rock 'n' Roll.
Michael came along as lead singer of the Jackson 5 when I was in my 20s. Regardless of how old you were then, you took notice of this prodigy. Later, as a solo artist, he released "Thriller" in 1982.
It transcended the color line. Everyone bought that album and played it nonstop. He could rock with "Beat It," then tone it down with "Human Nature," now an anthem and covered by many jazz musicians.
Here was a truly different entertainer who was not only a brilliant singer, but an innovative and electrifying dancer. No one could believe his moonwalk. No one had ever seen anything like it onstage! He was the King of Pop.
Yes, they are now both just another Hollywood statistic, but like most of us, I'm glad they came along.
- Lisa Marie Presley Says Michael Jackson Thought He Would Die Like Elvis
Written by: Kelcey Bridges
(thecelebritycafe.com, June 29 2009)
The pop star's ex-wife says he always knew how his life would end.
Lisa Marie Presley, Michael Jackson's first wife, took to her MySpace blog to release a public statement regarding her feelings about Jackson's tragic death. "As I sit here overwhelmed with sadness, reflection and confusion at what was my biggest failure to date, watching on the news almost play by play The exact Scenario I saw happen on August 16th, 1977 happening again right now with Michael (a sight I never wanted to see again) just as he predicted, I am truly, truly gutted," Presley said in her MySpace blog.
During a conversation she had with Jackson, the subject shifted to the tragic death of Presley's father, Elvis Presley. Presley claims Jackson told her, "I am afraid that I am going to end up like him, the way he did." "I promptly tried to deter him from the idea, at which point he just shrugged his shoulders and nodded almost matter of fact as if to let me know, he knew what he knew and that was kind of that. 14 years later I am sitting here watching on the news an ambulance leaves the driveway of his home, the big gates, the crowds outside the gates, the coverage, the crowds outside the hospital, the cause of death and what may have led up to it and the memory of this conversation hit me, as did the unstoppable tears," Presley said in her blog.
Presley and Jackson wed in May 1994 and divorced in 1996.
- Elvis impersonators get shook up in Penticton
By Kent Molgat
(ctvbc.ctv.ca, June 28 2009)
As music fans around the world mourn the death of Michael Jackson, residents in Penticton, B.C. gathered Sunday to pay tribute to a rock icon. It proves that dying young makes stars like Elvis Presley and Jackson immortal. The Penticton event drew tribute artists with names Relvis, and Velvis, and Adam Fitzelvis. All have the patented Elvis moves, such as the shaking knees and gyrating pelvis.
For many fans, Elvis was a teen crush that can't be replaced. But a guy named Shawn Klush, the undisputed world's best Elvis impersonator, comes eerily close.
It's a bit of a mystery how Elvis impersonation has become its own industry. But sadly it seems it's Elvis's early departure that's a big part of it. "As with Michael Jackson, The guy left too early. It's a mystique because you can't have it anymore," said Klush. "He's bigger now than he was when he was alive almost,'' said two-time Penticton Elvis champ, Ben Klein. " Why have so many people out here who absolutely love Elvis and I'm one of them."
Thousands and thousands have come to the event, a sign that if memories are supposed to fade with time, it just doesn't seem to work with Elvis. ...
- Jacko's funeral likely to be bigger than that of Elvis Presley
(newkerala.com / ANI, June 28 2009)
Late King of Pop Michael Jackson's funeral is expected to be even bigger than Elvis Presley's in 1977, when 75,000 fans lined the streets of Memphis. If that happens, Jackson's funeral will become the biggest the entertainment world has seen.
According to reports, plans were under way on Saturday for a private service and public memorial for the music legend, whose body was moved to a private mortuary. A source close to the Jackson family revealed that the singer's coffin was being kept under armed guard to deter ghoulish fans trying to discover its secret location.
Jackson's funeral is expected to take place on Wednesday or Thursday, believably, at the enormous Forest Lawn cemetery in Los Angeles.
Following the funeral may be a public service, expected to claim a global audience as big as that of Princess Diana. Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor, 77, who was one of Michael's closest friends, and Sir Paul McCartney, who sang with him but fell out when Jackson bought the back catalogue of Beatles' music from under his nose, are expected to be among mourners. Mourners are also likely to include Liza Minnelli, Jackson's former wife Lisa Marie Presley and Brooke Shields, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Madonna.
Jackson was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, who are forbidden from following funeral customs that are mentioned in the Bible, including rowdy wakes and alcoholic toasts. The faith is still followed by most of his close family, apart from brother Jermaine, who became a Muslim 20 years ago.
Jackson was briefly linked to the Nation of Islam group but never fully embraced the Muslim faith. "The Witness path is the one Michael's mother and father, Joe and Katherine, are anxious to follow for his funeral," the Daily Express quoted a family friend as saying last night.
- Rwanda: Obituary - Michael Jackson - The King of Pop
(allafrica.com, June 27 2009)
He liked to be known as the King Of Pop and only a handful of performers - Presley, Sinatra, the Beatles - could outrank Michael Jackson as the most successful popular music entertainer of all time. Although ill-health impeded his career in later years and his reputation was irrevocably tarnished by the allegations of child abuse levelled against him in 1993 and again in 2004, the sheer scale of Jackson's achievements remains undiminished. ...
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