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Music stars lined up for Michael Jackson memorial

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-07 14:06

LOS ANGELES: Some of the biggest names in pop music, from singers Mariah Carey and Stevie Wonder to Motown records founder Berry Gordy, will take part in Michael Jackson's memorial on Tuesday, the family said.

In the first official details of the public memorial in the Staples Center arena in downtown Los Angeles, Jackson's family said singers Usher and Lionel Richie, civil rights leader Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III, and basketball stars Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant would also be among the participants.

A winner shows her Michael Jackson memorial service ticket which will be held on July 7 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. [Agencies]

The statement from the family said the list was preliminary, subject to change and that there would be no further information on the program. It was not clear whether singers like Carey and Wonder would perform at the event, which is expected to last two hours.

Lawyers for Jackson's ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, said she had decided against attending because "her attendance would be an unnecessary distraction." Rowe has not decided whether to challenge the family for custody of Jackson's three children.

Actress Elizabeth Taylor, one of Jackson's closest friends, will also be absent. Taylor said in a Twitter message on Monday that she had been asked to speak but "I cannot be part of the public whoopla. And I cannot guarantee that I would be coherent to say a word. I just don't believe that Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others," she wrote.

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While some 18,000 people will attend the memorial, police expect hundreds of thousands of fans to converge on the area. And officials estimate that beefed up public security and cleaning could cost the cash-strapped city up to $2.5 million.

About 1.6 million people registered to be among the 8,750 to receive two free tickets to the event. Successful fans lined up on Monday to collect their tickets, although some tried to auction their vouchers on websites like eBay and Craigslist.

Both websites were swiftly removing the listings, which carried asking prices of up to $10,000.

The "Thriller" singer, who died June 25 of cardiac arrest at age 50, is expected to be buried in a private family service in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning, ahead of the public memorial.

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