MICHAEL JACKSON29
More than two months after he died, and following a steady trickle of gossip over how and where he would be laid to rest, Michael Jackson was entombed Thursday night at a highly guarded mausoleum in a Los Angeles suburb.Taylor, Lisa Marie Presley, Macaulay Culkin, Quincy Jones and many other celebrities, attended the nearly 90-minute ceremony behind the gates of the heavily guarded Forest Lawn cemetery here, several miles north of downtown Los Angeles.
With closed streets, nervous guards, restricted airspace over the grounds and family and friends arriving in a multi-vehicle motorcade, the proceedings took on the feel of a presidential visit.
Small clusters of fans of Mr. Jackson, one of the biggest-selling entertainers of all time, gathered at blockaded streets around the cemetery, with one group unfurling a large white banner that read, in part, “Gone too soon.”
Members of the news media — 460 people from the around the world received credentials — far outnumbered the fans, and they greeted every car turning into the gated grounds with a bouquet of camera flashes and quizzical looks. Was that Ms. Taylor? Joe Jackson, the family patriarch? Corey Feldman?
It was. They and other guests were shown for a short time on a video feed from the invitation-only service before it ended abruptly as Mr. Jackson’s brothers, wearing single white gloves in homage to their brother, opened the back door of a hearse.
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.”
“The pallbearers were Michael’s five brothers: Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Randy Jackson,” the statement continued. “At the beginning of the ceremony, Michael’s children placed a crown on their father’s coffin to signify the final resting place of the King of Pop.”
Gladys Knight sang the gospel hymn “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” the statement said, and songwriter Clifton Davis sang “Never Can Say Goodbye,” the hit he wrote for the Jackson 5.
Afterward cars streamed out, and the family planned a private reception at a restaurant in Pasadena.
A memorial service attended by several thousand fans, family members and friends had already been held for Mr. Jackson, 50, who died June 25. The memorial, on July 7 at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, took place in the arena where he had been rehearsing for a series of London concerts expected to revive his career.
But the family never announced burial plans, and news station helicopters lost track of the hearse carrying his gleaming gold coffin after it left the arena.
Representatives of Mr. Jackson inquired about a burial at the Neverland Ranch he lived in for several years until after his acquittal on child molesting charges in 2005, but that proposal would have entailed months of red tape, local and state officials said.
A couple of weeks ago, his family announced he would be entombed at Forest Lawn Glendale, joining Walt Disney, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, W. C. Fields and many other famed Hollywood figures.
The cemetery covers 300 verdant acres and includes the statue-studded, castle-like Great Mausoleum that was chosen as Mr. Jackson’s final resting place.
The cemetery prides itself on a high level of security, with guards shooing away loiterers and restricting mausoleum visits largely to people authorized by the family of the deceased.
Mark Masek, who maintains cemeteryguide.com, which tracks entertainers’ graves, said that several weeks ago guards stopped him from taking pictures outside the mausoleum and forced him to delete the images.
“They are not kidding,” he said, predicting that fans would have trouble finding and documenting Mr. Jackson’s crypt.
“If they wanted to restrict access and keep people out, they could not have picked a better place,” he said.
William Martin, a spokesman for the cemetery, declined to discuss security arrangements for Mr. Jackson’s crypt or what steps might be taken to keep out unwanted visitors.
“We are very cognizant of what may happen in the near future, and we are taking the necessary steps,” he said.
A judge Wednesday approved Mr. Jackson’s estate paying the costs, with the total described in court papers as “extraordinary,” but the actual amount blacked out. A Glendale police spokesman, Tom Lorenz, said police costs would be no more than $150,000 and would be paid by the family.
The family bought a bloc of 12 spaces in the mausoleum as a single unit.
“Mrs. Jackson and her family wish to honor her son by a funeral that seeks to offer solace to his multitude of fans and by which the family also may be comforted,” Burt Levitch, a lawyer for the singer’s mother, Katherine Jackson, wrote in a court declaration.
The investigation into Mr. Jackson’s death continues. The coroner has ruled that he died from a mix of the anesthetic propofol and another sedative, injected by someone.
Mr. Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, has told investigators he gave Mr. Jackson a mix of drugs, including propofol, to help him sleep, but it is unclear whether Dr. Murray will face criminal charges. Dr. Murray’s lawyer has said the doctor did not cause Mr. Jackson’s death.
Rebecca Cathcart contributed reporting from Los Angeles.
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