More than two months after his sudden death, Michael Jackson has been laid to rest. Friends and family gathered for the private funeral at Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, Calif., Thursday night. Under a full moon, hundreds of fans screamed Jackson's name as the motorcade drove by. The black hearse was followed by two dozen identical SUVs carrying Jackson's family. They all passed through the ornate front gates, up a gently winding road toward the Great Mausoleum. "There is no access," admirer De Marco De Leon says. "Nobody can go and visit. You have to have a key to get in." De Leon stood outside the entrance to the cemetery wearing a single, silver, beaded glove, like his idol. De Leon grew up in Sudan, and learned to speak English by listening to Jackson's songs. Holding up a California license plate that read "Love 4MJ," De Leon says Forest Lawn shouldn't be the final resting place for Jackson.
"It's very private and Michael Jackson is a public figure, loved by millions," De Leon adds. "I will love to see him move ... to Neverland. I have a feeling that's going to happen." But Jackson's Neverland Ranch could never offer the star-studded setting provided by Forest Lawn. It's the eternal address for such Hollywood royalty as Clark Gable, Walt Disney, Nat King Cole and Sammy Davis, Jr.
Jackson's crypt lies next to replicas of Michelangelo statues and beneath a stained glass window picturing Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper." The service was so private, the Federal Aviation Administration restricted the airspace to stop news helicopters from buzzing overhead.
Pictures provided by the family showed longtime friends such as Elizabeth Taylor and Stevie Wonder. Ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley was there, too. Jackson's five brothers were his pallbearers. And his three children placed a crown on his coffin to signify he was the King of Pop. Down the street, behind police barricades, fans mourned from a distance.
Angel Villegas, 11, danced on the sidewalk, imitating Jackson. "I feel bad that he died," Villegas said. "Michael Jackson. Gone too soon."
by Mandalit del Barco
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112546464&ft=1&f=1039
1 Comment:
May he finally rest in peace.
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