Remembering Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson fans around the world lit candles on Friday (June 25) to mark the death one year ago of the controversial pop star whose posthumous popularity has returned him to a pedestal and made him a billion dollar man.

Jackson's sudden death at age 50 on June 25 last year in Los Angeles sparked an outpouring of grief internationally for the former child star, who was rehearsing for a series of concerts aimed at reviving a career shattered by bizarre events as an adult and acquittal on charges of molesting a 13-year-old boy.

One year on, Jackson is again idolized and his debts a burden of the past. The Billboard analysis shows Jackson's earnings in the past year have hit $1 billion, including album sales generating about $383 million and revenue from the film "This Is It" hitting nearly $400 million.



Michael's hometown of Gary, Indiana, matriarch Katherine Jackson will unveil a monument outside the humble house where the legendary Jackson 5 began their singing career half a century ago. A memorial and candlelight vigil will follow, ending with the song "We are the World."

Jackson's children -- Prince Michael, Paris and Blanket -- are expected to mark the anniversary privately in Gary.

The cemetery where Jackson is buried near Los Angeles will open its gates to all fans on Friday but they will not be allowed into the vast mausoleum containing his body.

The singer's estranged father Joe has helped organize a "Forever Michael" tribute at a Beverly Hills hotel on June 26 and Katherine Jackson, 80, has given the fund-raising dinner her blessing with her self-published book of personal family photographs -- "Never Can Say Good-bye" -- to be sold there.

Source: Billboard.biz

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