Michael Jackson's family silent on burial plans

Michael Jackson's family silent on burial plans :

More than 31 million Americans watched Michael Jackson's public memorial on television, but mystery surrounded the whereabouts of his body on Wednesday and plans for his burial.A day after Jackson's casket was taken to a Los Angeles basketball arena for an emotional memorial for fans, friends and his family, attention returned to how Jackson got his hands on powerful prescription drugs reportedly found in his rented mansion after his sudden death on June 25.

Sales of Jackson's albums soared for a second week, with his solo albums jumping another 90 percent to 800,000 copies in the United States, tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan said.Nielsen Media Research said 31.1 million Americans watched Tuesday's Los Angeles memorial live on television. The figure is lower than the TV audience of some other recent events.

The Jackson family spokesman did not return calls for comment on burial plans for the "Thriller" singer, who died of cardiac arrest at age 50.The 79-year-old former steelworker is again fully immersed in the family's dealings since his son's death. The return of Joe Jackson — a controversial, sometimes vilified figure who Michael said abused him as a child — is sure to renew questions about his influence on his troubled son. Since Michael Jackson died Thursday of what his family has said was cardiac arrest, his father has been vocal about his son and the posthumous arrangements being made.

Medical examiners in Los Angeles are perhaps weeks away from officially determining the cause of death, though a second autopsy has been requested at the family's request.The elder Jackson and other relatives have been mostly holed up at the family's compound in Encino. He made an unexpected appearance Sunday night at the BET Awards, which became a tribute to the King of Pop. Joe Jackson said in an emphatic statement at the show that he and his wife, Katherine, have the "personal and legal authority to act, and solely ... have authority for our son and his children." Michael Jackson's 79-year-old mother asked a judge on Monday to name her administrator of the singer's estate so she can ensure his three children — two boys and a girl — are its beneficiaries.

Her husband supported her in the request. Jackson, who turns 80 on July 26, was a boxer, a guitarist for a local band and a crane operator at U.S. Steel. When he recognized the musical talents of his children, he organized and trained the Jackson 5, also serving as their manager. However, he also noted that his father was incredibly strict with his children, some would say abusive, beating his children if they missed a step or note during rehearsals. Michael said that he would get physically sick — as a child and as an adult — just at the sight of his father. He also spoke of emotional abuse. Appearing still fearful of his father, Michael repeatedly turned to the camera during the interview and said, "Sorry, Joseph." Michael always believed that he had missed out on childhood and sought to experience it again as an adult.

He surrounded himself with children and built an amusement park at his Neverland Ranch, his nearly 3,000-acre California property named after the Peter Pan fantasy island. Joe Jackson disputed his son's claims of abuse, telling the BBC in 2003: "I whipped him with a switch and a belt. ... I never beat him. You beat someone with a stick."In a 2005 interview with The Associated Press, Jackson said: "Katherine whipped Michael more than I did." He also acknowledged driving his children hard: "When they said they didn't want to go, I pulled them by the hand and said, `We're going. We're going to do this.'" Michael's brother Jermaine defended their father in a 2005 interview with Larry King: "We grew up like any other black family. You did something, you got your butt tore up ... you got a spanking." Added Jermaine: "He kept us off of the streets." It was Joe Jackson who brought the Jackson 5 to a deal with Motown Records and helped build the solo careers of Michael and Janet. By the 1980s and the mega-success of "Thriller," Michael was operating professionally on his own. All of Joe Jackson's children eventually cut professional ties to their father.

Joe Jackson remained president of Jackson Family Entertainment Inc. and opened the Joe Jackson Talent Agency. In 1999, he filed for bankruptcy. In 2005, he launched Joe Jackson's Hip-Hop Boot Camp, a rap contest meant to find "the best hip-hop artist in the world." "When Michael became a father, that changed his perspective about his relationship with his own father," said Taraborrelli. "He began to rethink some of his animosities about his parents and his childhood. He began to realize what it's like to want to protect your son." That he would use such an opportunity for self-promotion struck many Jackson fans as inappropriate. Negative reaction flowed across the Internet, where people on Twitter and various sites called Jackson "shameless" and "self-serving." But Sharpton defended him: "Some misinterpreted why Mr. Jackson went and what he said. He said it and went because he wanted to send a signal to the world that the Jackson family is going to continue doing what Michael did: give music and love to the world across all boundaries and across all nationalities."

PREVIOUS