Home
Politics
As the party got underway there were fears that the rains would keep the crowds away, but as the skies cleared police estimated there were between 7,000 and 10,000 people.
Videos of some of Jackson's greatest hits were showing on a big-screen television. Some fans hit the dance floor and got down, Jackson-style.
Others waited and took turns writing down their memories of the star on a special memorial wall.
"May your spirit, light, love and music forever bless us as we dance the nights away," a fan named Kayine wrote inside a heart.
"We re-fell in love with Michael Jackson," said Juliette Friedman, 32, who came from Boston with a friend for the party. "When he died we rediscovered him, songs we didn't know, and how great his music is."
The celebration came as weeks of feverish speculation about the cause of Jackson's sudden death in Los Angeles on June 25 ended Friday when the county coroner's office ruled his demise was a homicide.
In a statement, the officer said that while "acute intoxication" from the powerful anesthetic propofol was the primary cause of death, Jackson had also suffered from the effects of other drugs in his system.
As well as propofol, powerful drugs including lorazepam, midazolam, diazepam, lidocaine and ephedrine were found in Jackson's body.
The coroner's announcement will fuel speculation that authorities are likely to charge Jackson's personal physician Conrad Murray in connection with the death. Cardiologist Murray was the last person to see Jackson alive.
But in scores of locations around the world, the focus was on Jackson, his songs and his outsized influence on music and pop culture.
Hundreds of fans streamed past Jackson's boyhood home in Gary, Indiana, at the beginning of an all-day block party celebrating the icon's life.
"This street here will be like Graceland someday right here in Gary," said artist Steven "Bumpcasso" Hill, referring to the famed mansion of rock star Elvis Presley in Memphis, Tennessee.
Vendors were hawking Michael Jackson key chains, belt buckles, DVDs, and T-shirts, as Jackson hits blared from a soundstage at the end of the street.
Local music performers were to take the stage in the early afternoon with a candlelight vigil scheduled for dusk.
Jackson's family had originally planned to bury the late popstar on his birthday, but the interment will now take place on Thursday at the prestigious Forest Lawn cemetery, in the leafy Glendale suburb of Los Angeles.
Other tributes were taking place around the world, as some of Bollywood's biggest stars released a free musical tribute to Jackson.
The video, called "Make It Large -- A Tribute to Michael Jackson," features introductions from actors including Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif and Priyanka Chopra as well as Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh.
In it, Khan says of Jackson: "We've lost a part of our history; some of us have lost a part of our growing up."
Nearly 700 fans in the Spanish city Barcelona are destined for the record-books after dressing up as zombies and participating in a mass performance of Jackson's famed 1982 "Thriller" dance Saturday, according to organizers.
The previous world record was set on April 19 in the United States by 242 dancers, according to the Guinness Book of Records, which still needs to certify Barcelona's attempt.
But the Spanish record may be shortlived. Up to 15,000 people in Mexico were expected to take part Saturday in that country's bid to smash the "Thriller" choreographed dance record.
"We're expecting between 12,000 and 15,000 participants," said Javier Hidalgo, director of youth services in Mexico City, during a press conference.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Videos of some of Jackson's greatest hits were showing on a big-screen television. Some fans hit the dance floor and got down, Jackson-style.
Others waited and took turns writing down their memories of the star on a special memorial wall.
"May your spirit, light, love and music forever bless us as we dance the nights away," a fan named Kayine wrote inside a heart.
"We re-fell in love with Michael Jackson," said Juliette Friedman, 32, who came from Boston with a friend for the party. "When he died we rediscovered him, songs we didn't know, and how great his music is."
The celebration came as weeks of feverish speculation about the cause of Jackson's sudden death in Los Angeles on June 25 ended Friday when the county coroner's office ruled his demise was a homicide.
In a statement, the officer said that while "acute intoxication" from the powerful anesthetic propofol was the primary cause of death, Jackson had also suffered from the effects of other drugs in his system.
As well as propofol, powerful drugs including lorazepam, midazolam, diazepam, lidocaine and ephedrine were found in Jackson's body.
The coroner's announcement will fuel speculation that authorities are likely to charge Jackson's personal physician Conrad Murray in connection with the death. Cardiologist Murray was the last person to see Jackson alive.
But in scores of locations around the world, the focus was on Jackson, his songs and his outsized influence on music and pop culture.
Hundreds of fans streamed past Jackson's boyhood home in Gary, Indiana, at the beginning of an all-day block party celebrating the icon's life.
"This street here will be like Graceland someday right here in Gary," said artist Steven "Bumpcasso" Hill, referring to the famed mansion of rock star Elvis Presley in Memphis, Tennessee.
Vendors were hawking Michael Jackson key chains, belt buckles, DVDs, and T-shirts, as Jackson hits blared from a soundstage at the end of the street.
Local music performers were to take the stage in the early afternoon with a candlelight vigil scheduled for dusk.
Jackson's family had originally planned to bury the late popstar on his birthday, but the interment will now take place on Thursday at the prestigious Forest Lawn cemetery, in the leafy Glendale suburb of Los Angeles.
Other tributes were taking place around the world, as some of Bollywood's biggest stars released a free musical tribute to Jackson.
The video, called "Make It Large -- A Tribute to Michael Jackson," features introductions from actors including Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif and Priyanka Chopra as well as Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh.
In it, Khan says of Jackson: "We've lost a part of our history; some of us have lost a part of our growing up."
Nearly 700 fans in the Spanish city Barcelona are destined for the record-books after dressing up as zombies and participating in a mass performance of Jackson's famed 1982 "Thriller" dance Saturday, according to organizers.
The previous world record was set on April 19 in the United States by 242 dancers, according to the Guinness Book of Records, which still needs to certify Barcelona's attempt.
But the Spanish record may be shortlived. Up to 15,000 people in Mexico were expected to take part Saturday in that country's bid to smash the "Thriller" choreographed dance record.
"We're expecting between 12,000 and 15,000 participants," said Javier Hidalgo, director of youth services in Mexico City, during a press conference.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
