Michael Jackson Public Viewing At Neverland Set For Friday
Michael Jackson's fans will get a chance to pay their final respects to the fallen pop icon at a public viewing at his Neverland Valley Ranch on Friday.
According to CNN, Jackson's body will be returned Thursday — via a 30-car motorcade — to the amusement park/zoo/mansion that was his home for nearly two decades, just a week after the 50-year-old singer died at a rented Los Angeles mansion.
A spokesperson for Jackson also told CNN that private memorial services for the singer will be held on Sunday, though the question of where Jackson will be buried remains unresolved.
On Monday, Jackson's father, Joseph, refuted rumors that his son would be buried at Neverland and said that it was too early to talk about funeral plans because the family was still awaiting the results of a second autopsy.
On Tuesday, thousands of admirers gathered in New York's Harlem neighborhood to pay their respects at the famous Apollo Theater, where Jackson performed with the Jackson 5 some 40 years ago.
Though Jackson spent much of his adult life living in the Los Angeles area, the mayor of his hometown of Gary, Indiana has asked the family to consider burying the singer there. A spokesperson for Mayor Rudy Clay told CNN that the city's leader has been in touch with the Jackson family and is hoping that the gritty Midwestern industrial town could be Jackson's final resting place. At the very least, Clay told Chicago radio station WGN, he expects that Jackson's body will be taken to Gary for a memorial service he is planning next week.
"I believe that his body will lie in state in Gary, Indiana," Clay said Tuesday. "Now, it may not happen, but I believe it will." That memorial service is slated to take place on July 10 at the city's U.S. Steel Works ballpark and Clay promised that it would be a memorial "fit for the prince of peace and a memorial that's fit for Gary, Indiana's favorite son, the greatest entertainer that ever lived."
Should the Jackson family agree to have the singer buried there, a spokesperson for the mayor said the tomb could be near a proposed Jackson family museum and performing arts center that the city has discussed with family patriarch Joseph Jackson.
The public viewing at Neverland will likely be an emotional event for Jackson's many fans in the U.S. and across the globe, as the secluded 2,500-acre property was off-limits to all but Jackson's intimates during the time he lived there from 1988 to 2005.
Ownership of the ranch, renamed Sycamore Valley Ranch, was transferred to a company called Colony Capital in 2008 in a deal that allowed Jackson to hold onto the property when Colony agreed to buy the $23.5 million mortgage, according to TMZ.
Jackson took leave of Neverland — named after the fictional world in the story of Peter Pan — in 2005, following his acquittal on child-molestation charges. Aerial shots shown on CNN on Tuesday revealed that amusement park rides, train and zoo had all been removed since Jackson's departure.
-MTV
Tags: at, for, friday, jackson, michael, neverland, news, public, set, viewing
Add a Comment
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Comment by JuCa's best on July 25, 2009 at 11:25am - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQJc71dSCks
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Comment by Justice on July 2, 2009 at 11:02am - I LOVE YOU MICHAEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO MATTER WHAT THIS MAN WILL ALWAYS LIVE IN OUR HEARTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Comment by Unique_Style on July 2, 2009 at 6:47am - Shit, I wish I could go but I'm ballin' in Europe. Its too far and I aint got no money
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Comment by King S.Dot on July 2, 2009 at 3:16am - They had changed his public viewing... It's now gonna be at The Staples Center where the L.A. Lakers stadium is...
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Comment by jBrizzle on July 1, 2009 at 8:02pm -
Where ever they put his body i tell you now it will be the new Graceland.
This is why he should stay in neverland or back in Indiana of course.
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Comment by Jamie James on July 1, 2009 at 6:59pm -
Theres gunna be such a huge turn out for the viewing i wish i could go but im to far away
R.I.P MJ
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Comment by B.DOT on July 1, 2009 at 2:56pm -
A new Michael Jacskon Tribute came out last night.....Produced By Kanye West for G.O.O.D.M.U.S.I.C
Ne-yo ft. Drake, Jamie Foxx, Estelle, and Mos Def
"Put Your Lighters Up" (Michael Jackson Tribute)
http://www.zshare.net/audio/6209902380d1dbfc/
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Comment by FlawdaKing on July 1, 2009 at 1:23pm - im tired of hearin bout this shit i could give to fucks bout this shit he is dead not the end of the world for us just him wheres the eminem beatiful video?? thats wat i want not this shit
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Comment by ENDR WON on July 1, 2009 at 1:08pm -
WHAT UP THISIS50 MEMBERS & STAFF???
I'M BRAND NEW TO THIS SITE AND JUST TRYNA MAKE SOME GOOD FRIENDS, FAM, & CONNECTIONS...
I'VE PERFORMED WITH E-40, TWISTA, THE GAME, MIKE JONES, DIGITAL UNDERGROUND & MORE BUT THAT DON'T MEAN SHIT...
COME PEEP GAME AND IF YOU FEEL IT,
THAN ADD ME!!!! EITHER WAY, THX FOR THE TIME AND GOD BLESS...
-ENDR WON
(Also, find me at these sites. Copy & paste the url.)
myspace.com/whoisendrwon
twitter.com/endrwon
facebook.com/endrwon
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Comment by MRS*K*J...B.I.S.D... on July 1, 2009 at 12:56pm - I WISH I CAN GO ITS COOL IM STILL GOING TO CRY MY EYES OUT R.I.P M.J :(
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