Tributes to Michael Jackson flow on 10th death anniversary

LOS ANGELES — Hundreds of Michael Jackson fans gathered at his grave for a daylong celebration of his life and music Tuesday, with some traveling thousands of miles to join in the singalongs, selfies and moment of silence that marked the 10th anniversary of the death of the King of Pop. “He was a master singer, a master dancer and a master humanitarian.” It was largely a lively celebration outside the mausoleum that is Jackson’s final resting place at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, where his music played loudly amid a sea of floral arrangements and poster-sized pictures of the pop superstar who died at age 50 on June 25, 2009. “Now more than ever, we’ve got to show that we know that Michael Jackson is innocent,” Williams said, as Jackson’s song “Smooth Criminal” blasted in the background. A heart made from flowers in the colors of the Iranian flag featured the message “Iran MJ.” Another flowered heart read “Love from Denmark.” Others gathered on Tuesday at Jackson’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and his last home in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, where the singer received a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol from his doctor. But it will never be defeated.” John Branca and John McClain, both major figures in Jackson’s career when he was alive, as co-executors have taken his badly debt-ridden estate and grossed over $1.3 billion through various Jackson-related projects in the past decade, including the film “This Is It,” a pair of Cirque du Soleil shows and the sale of Jackson assets that included The Beatles song catalog.