Hollywood Burial For Jackson

07/06/09 1:11pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Michael Jackson will reportedly be buried at Los Angeles' Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills instead of his Neverland Valley Ranch in Santa Barbara County, Calif.

Jim McDonnell, assistant chief of staff at the Los Angeles Police Department, told CNN that officials at the cemetery were working with Jackson's family on the superstar's funeral plans.

It's still not known when or where Jackson will be buried and Jackson's family has made no official announcement about his burial, but CNN reports a pack of media trucks has been waiting outside the Forest Lawn Cemetery gates for days.

Jermaine Jackson, Jackson's brother, told CNN a private service would be held on Tuesday morning in addition to the 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) public memorial that will be held at Los Angeles' Staples Center on the same day.

The public memorial is being handled by AEG Live, the company that was behind Jackson's 50 shows that were to take place at London, England's O2 Arena this year. No funeral procession will be held before the service, which will be broadcast live by ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC and E! Entertainment.

About 1.6 million fans registered for a chance to win one of 9,000 tickets to the memorial, and winners were notified via email about whether they had won a ticket.

TMZ has reported Mariah Carey will perform at Jackson's memorial service. The British tabloids are also full of rumours about who will attend and perform at the event.

The Daily Star reports Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Barry Manilow, actor Eddie Murphy and actress Elizabeth Taylor will attend the service on Tuesday, which will end with an "all-star" performance of 1985's "We Are The World," according to NME.com.

The Sun reports Diana Ross will read Jackson's eulogy at the event, and Justin Timberlake and Usher are rumoured to be among those who will perform tributes.

The investigation into Jackson's death continues. A judge signed search warrants connected to Jackson's death, which also reports the sedative Diprivan was found in the star's home.

Jackson's cause of death is still not known, but the Associated Press reports authorities are investigating the possibility that he was on painkillers, sedatives and anti-depressants at the time of his death.

Meanwhile, TMZ reports attorney John Branca and entertainment executive John McClain, who Jackson's 2002 will named co-executors of his estate, have been named "special administrators" of the estate. A lawyer for Katherine Jackson, Jackson's mother, and Branca and McClain were in court today to deal with matters pertaining to the administration of Jackson's will.

Judge Mitchell Beckloff ruled Katherine Jackson is not an administrator of the estate and is not required to be involved in every decision pertaining to it, but she does have the power to object to decisions.