The King of Pop will finally have a final resting place and it is not at Neverland Ranch as many of his fans would prefer but at Forest Lawn, Glendale. In a recent interview with CNN , his brother Jermaine Jackson said that his mother would make the final decision and it was announced on Monday that Michael Jackson will be interred in a private ceremony on August 29 at 10:00 a.m. on what would have been his 51st birthday.
Michael Jackson’s grandmother, Martha Bridges, died in 1990 and was buried in the Court of Liberty Garden section in the southern end of Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills. It was reported that a month before his own death, the superstar visited his grandmother’s grave there. A source at the cemetery had confirmed on August 7 that preparations were under way to bury the late star near his grandmother. Radaronline reported that a maintenance worker pointed out the family plots saying,” This one is for Michael.” But the family decided on an entirely different cemetery, preferring to inter him in Holly Terrace in the Great Mausoleum in Forest Lawn Glendale, which contains the crypts of Clark Gable, Carole Lombard and Jean Harlow and which is not accessible to the public.
The family was reportedly trying to keep the location secret due to security concerns and the probability that fans would flock to the family plot in Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn and perhaps desecrate the grave site. Jermaine Jackson said in the Larry King Live interview on CNN that he was “just concerned about security and being secure in a peaceful setting.” Another source from the Hollywood Hills cemetery was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying, “Other than the Jackson family and the Forest Lawn management, no one knows the exact spot. Staff at the cemetery have been fed several locations, it’s as if they’re hoping to confuse everyone.” Apparently, it worked because the announcement of the Glendale cemetery took the press and public by surprise.
Due to the same security issues, in 1979 the family of John Wayne buried him in an unmarked grave in Newport Beach, California and only years later placed a marker over the site.
The superstar’s funeral was held on July 7, at the Hall of Liberty at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, immediately before the public memorial at the Staples Center. After the memorial service, the body was taken back to Forest Lawn to rest in Motown founder Berry Gordy’s family crypt. There had been disagreement among the Jackson family members where Michael Jackson should finally be buried. Father Joe Jackson and brother Jermaine wanted him interred at his former Neverland Ranch home but other family members, including mother Katherine, insisted on a burial at Forest Lawn.
Until the final autopsy report is revealed, arrests are made, and the guilty are sentenced, it will be a very long time until Michael Jackson is finally able to rest in peace.
