Authorities in Los Angeles released the entertainer’s death certificate, which does not list a cause of death. The document, which was filled in with information given by Jackson’s sister La Toya, lists Jackson’s occupation as “singer” and states that he had been in the business for 45 years — since the age of five.
Elsewhere there were signs that a media backlash might be beginning. “Enough!” wrote New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser. “You got two for the price of one if you attended Michael Jackson’s spectacular dog-and-pony show on Wednesday — a memorial as dignified as a Vegas lounge-lizard act combined with the entertainment value of a carnival freak show.”
Doubts about final resting place
Michael Jackson’s glimmering casket took centre stage at the Staples Centre, sitting for more than two hours as celebrities memorialised the King of Pop. And when the ceremony was over, it was gone, AP reports from Los Angeles.
By law, the casket should be exactly where his death certificate says it is: back at Forest Lawn cemetery. But where his body will eventually be laid to rest remained a mystery, fed by the same level of rumour and speculation that surrounded much of his life. Will it be Forest Lawn? Is Neverland Ranch still a possibility? What if he’s not buried at all, but cremated? The family isn’t talking — and may not even have decided yet.
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