MTV News |
- Jackson's Memorial Service Details To Be Announced Friday
- Michael Jackson Concert Rehearsal Footage Emerges -- Watch It Here
- Michael Jackson's Video Legacy, In His Own Words
- Exclusive: 50 Cent Previews <i>Forever King</i> Mixtape
- Michael Jackson's Alleged Addictions: Experts Weigh In
- Rihanna Being Investigated For Illegal Tattooing
- Michael Jackson Memorial Planned For Los Angeles' Staples Center July 7
- Drake Explains 'Best I Ever Had' Video's Basketball Metaphor
- President Obama Remembers 'Music Icon' Michael Jackson
| Jackson's Memorial Service Details To Be Announced Friday Posted: 02 Jul 2009 07:16 AM PDT Press conference to be held at 10 a.m.; memorial confirmed for Tuesday.
LOS ANGELES — Official plans for Michael Jackson's public memorial service will be revealed Friday morning at a press conference to be held by Tim Leiweke, the president and CEO of AEG, the parent company that owns the Staples Center, the venue where the memorial is due to take place. Representatives for the Jackson family announced the media briefing late Thursday. At the briefing, which will take place at 10 a.m. PT, Leiweke is expected to announce details, including how the public will be given the opportunity to register for the 11,000 tickets available for the service. The tickets are free, but are limited in comparison to the venue's capacity, reportedly over 20,000 seats.
Jermaine Jackson appeared on "Larry King Live" on CNN Thursday night and expressed concern over the Staples Center location. "There's 20,000 people just coming from the U.K.," the elder brother told King when asked about the capacity. Jackson also confirmed that a private service for the family and select friends will be held on Tuesday prior to the public service. He also said the services will be the first of many that will take place across the country. ABC News reports that sources close to the planning said that over 750,000 people from all over the world are expected to attend the memorial. According to the same report, over 2,500 police will be on hand to help with the huge crowds occupying the downtown area. A number of public and private travel partnerships have noted the upswing in arrivals into the Los Angeles airport and hotels, in addition to the already high number of holiday travelers into the city. Previous reports suggested the services for the late King of Pop would take place anywhere from his Neverland Ranch to the Los Angeles Coliseum. On Wednesday, however, police began to barricade Chick Hearn Court, the street located directly in front of the Staples Center. The move, along with reports by the Hollywood Reporter and CNN, confirmed that the services would in fact be held at the Staples Center. The venue is controlled by AEG, the company that also was promoting Jackson's upcoming 50-show run in London. To accommodate the huge number of fans expected to attend the services, large screens are will be placed outside the Staples Center. As of press time, workers are placing Michael Jackson signage around the arena. A representative for the company that created the material told MTV News that a number of items that will be on display were made in just a few hours for the services. For complete coverage of the life, career and passing of the legendary entertainer, visit "Michael Jackson Remembered." Share your Michael Jackson memories by uploading video and comments to Your.MTV.com or joining the discussion below. Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists |
| Michael Jackson Concert Rehearsal Footage Emerges -- Watch It Here Posted: 02 Jul 2009 02:26 AM PDT Brief clip of 'They Don't Care About Us' was filmed two days before death.
Earlier this week, the promoter of Michael Jackson's 50-date "This is It" residency at the O2 Arena in London said there was ample footage of a Jackson rehearsal for the planned series of shows, and that he hopes to release them. On Thursday (July 2), one week after Jackson, 50, died following cardiac arrest at a rented Los Angeles-area mansion on the eve of the July 13 start of the O2 run, MTV News obtained a clip of a rehearsal filmed just two days before Jackson's sudden passing. And though it is just a 90-second glimpse of the singer performing the controversial track "They Don't Care About Us," the brief bit of film does appear to show Jackson in solid shape, stomping around the stage, apparently singing in full voice and energetically dancing with an all-male troupe of backup performers.
The footage, shot on June 23 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles — where a memorial service for Jackson reportedly will be held on July 7 — opens with Jackson performing some of his patented military-style, slow motion marching dance moves along with the male dancers, who are behind him on a slanted platform. It then cuts to the singer enthusiastically pulsating to a solo from his guitarist. Jackson gives one of his signature "Oh!" exclamations as the track changes tempo to a rousing royal fanfare overlaid with a snipped of the "I Have a Dream" speech from the late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King. The singer and dancers straighten up and salute, then do a high-step march across the stage to a martial beat as Jackson does knee bend and shuffles in place alone center stage. After what appears to be an edit, the sound of a car horn blaring overtakes the music, the dancers put their hands out in a stop motion and the tempo shifts once again into a spare, funky track to which Jackson does a subtle shoulder shimmy walk to, landing him at the lip of the stage. It's clear the rehearsal is a casual run-through, as the dancers are wearing sweats and t-shirts and the typically meticulously dressed Jackson is clad in black pants, a grey jacket and a pattered red button-down shirt that is half-untucked. Near the end of the clip, the car horn blares again and an unseen director says "hold for applause, hold for applause" and a look of what appears to be relief washes over Jackson's face. While Jackson is hardly the frail, sickly performer that some reports have portrayed him as near the end of his life — with one observer on the set of the singer's mysterious "Dome Project" saying the pop star was so weak he needed help descending steps — he doesn't appear to be the whirling dervish of energy and jaw-dropping dance moves that he was in his prime. Granted, at 50, Jackson was nearly two decades removed from his heyday and the footage was shot at a rehearsal, but given that it was less than two weeks before the beginning of a showcase that was meant to put the singer back on top, Jackson appears to be moving at a curiously deliberate pace in the brief clip. The song featured in the clip appeared on his 1995 greatest-hits collection HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I and it was one of Jackson's most controversial late-period releases thanks what some deemed its anti-Semitic overtones. Among the lyrics were the lines, "Jew me, sue me, everybody do me/ Kick me, kike me, don't you black or white me," as well as "Skinhead, deadhead, everybody gone dead/ Hit me, kick me, you can never get me," which said at the time could be interpreted as being "pointedly critical of Jews." Jackson denied the charges in a statement released at the time, saying, "The idea that these lyrics could be deemed objectionable is extremely hurtful to me, and misleading. The song in fact is about the pain of prejudice and hate and is a way to draw attention to social and political problems. I am the voice of the accused and the attacked. I am the voice of everyone. I am the skinhead, I am the Jew, I am the black man, I am the white man. I am not the one who was attacking." He later apologized again and eventually re-recorded a second version of the song without the offending lyrics. It has been reported that the London show's promoter, AEG Live, has more than 100 hours of rehearsal footage that could eventually be culled into the singer's first live CD/DVD set. For complete coverage of the life, career and passing of the legendary entertainer, visit "Michael Jackson Remembered." Share your Michael Jackson memories by uploading video and comments to Your.MTV.com or joining the discussion below. Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists |
| Michael Jackson's Video Legacy, In His Own Words Posted: 02 Jul 2009 02:06 AM PDT We spoke to the King of Pop in 1999 about revolutionizing the world of music videos.
Michael Jackson revolutionized the world of music videos — he embraced the medium and took it to a new level by creating groundbreaking short films. Jackson spoke to MTV News back in 1999 about why he felt music videos are more than just commercials for the artist — they were an important part of the creative process for him. "The idea is to take it a step further and innovate, otherwise why am I doing it?" he said. "I don't want to be just another can in the assembly line. I want to create, do something that's totally different and unusual."
Before talking about some of his greatest music-video achievements at length, he went on to say that "in my opinion, it has to be completely entertaining and has a linear sense of continuity. I like having a beginning, middle and an ending so that you can follow a story. I am very much involved in complete creating of the piece. It has to be from my soul." In 1983, Jackson changed the face of music videos with his John Landis-directed music video for "Thriller," off the album of the same name. "We're never serious on the set, so it's fun working with John 'cause I get to throw water balloons and stink bombs at him," he said. "That's a ritual for me — after we wrap on each video I throw a lot of stuff at everybody. My idea was to make a short film with conversation at the beginning and bookmark it with conversation at the end. Believe it or not, I'm afraid to watch scary movies. I always try to be a pioneer and innovator in whatever I do." While choreographing the video, Jackson wanted to make sure that dancing zombies would look natural, not cheesy. "It was a delicate thing to work on, 'cause I remember my original approach was, 'How do you make zombies and monsters dance without it being comical?' So I got into the room with Michael Peters and he and I together kind if imagined how these zombies move." Before Jackson released the video for "Thriller" in 1983, he released "Beat It." And surprisingly, he found his inspiration for the video from a McDonald's commercial. "I remember [Quincy Jones] telling me to write this song that I would enjoy with an edge. The song is so self-explanatory that it was so easy to make the short film," Jackson explained. "I had seen ... I think it was a McDonald's commercial. I said I want this director [Bob Giraldi] for this piece." In "Billie Jean," also released in 1983, Jackson made sure to include some of his signature dance moves. "It's kind of surreal and it's different. I didn't come up with that concept. I think it was a British fellow, Steve Barron. I thought he had wonderful ideas but I let him go with it," Jackson recalled. "The only part I wrote in the piece ... I said, 'Give me a section I can dance a little.' So that whole section where you see that long street, that's the only part I contributed." In 1991, Jackson released the controversial video for "Black or White" off his album, Dangerous, but looking back on the song eight years later, he didn't see any reason for the controversy. "I wanted to do a dance number [and] I told my sister Janet, I said, 'You remind me of a black panther.' I said, 'Why you don't do something where you transform into a black panther and you transform into yourself again?' She said, 'I like it,' but she didn't go with it," he explained. "The two of us, we always think alike. So I did it. And in the dance, I said, 'I want to do a dance number where I can let out my frustration about injustice and prejudice and racism and bigotry,' and within the dance I became upset and let go. I think at the time people were concerned with the violent content of the piece, but it's, like, easy to look at. It's simple." For complete coverage of the life, career and passing of the legendary entertainer, visit "Michael Jackson Remembered." Share your Michael Jackson memories by uploading video and comments to Your.MTV.com or joining the discussion below. Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists |
| Exclusive: 50 Cent Previews <i>Forever King</i> Mixtape Posted: 02 Jul 2009 05:04 AM PDT 'Act as if you're a king to be treated like a king,' 50 says in Mixtape Daily.
Forever King: A Mixtape Daily Exclusive 50 Cent is definitely up on everything. He looks at the Internet just like everybody else. Sitting in his New York office Thursday (July 2), 50 was looking at the Drake video, refusing to watch Game's apology to the G-Unit on MTVNews.com and answering calls from Leonardo DiCaprio's camp for a dinner with the movie star. All that, and he played his latest mixtape, Forever King for Mixtape Daily. He was originally going to call his latest mixtape Sincerely Yours: Southside Part 2, and on it he planned to rap over '90s R&B classics. But in the end he decided to throw in some additional flavor with his throwback stylings.
"It was Sincerely Southside Part 2, but I changed it to Forever King because of the content," he explained. "I wanted to not just make all '90s music, I wanted to switch up the content a little bit. Also, calling it Sincerely Southside would cause an expectation based on Part 1. So I called it Forever King. In the past, you've had artists, when they feel they're on top their game, say they are, or would be considered, the King in New York City. So I feel on top of my game. It's actually one of the laws of power: Act as if you're a king to be treated like a king." The cover of the tape features 50's face digitally imposed with an iced-out skull. "When Michael Jackson passed, there was a piece of artwork that had 'King of Pop, King of Rap' with me and his pictures. That's what gave me the concept of the artwork. There's a real human skull that's got diamonds embedded in it," he said. "I saw the photo in Dubai. It's an artifact, it's priceless. That's a real skull they see. We used the effect to make it feel like it's a skull inside my face. And the Yankee hat would be my crown." The King gets anything but the royal red carpet rolled out for him in a track called "Put Da Work In." Over a slow beat, Fif tells shocking, pensive true stories about his childhood. "You know, my aunt killed my dog and never said sorry," he raps about one of his family members doing away with his pet canine. "N---as broke in my crib and stole my Atari/ Man, n---as could've asked, I would let them hold a cartridge." Fif just couldn't catch a break. "Instead of selling crack, I could've been Tiger Woods/ But they ain't got no f---in' golf courses in the 'hood.' The tempo gets faster as does the mood on the playfully disparaging "If You Leave." Fif raps over the 1991 classic "You Called and Told Me" by Jeff Redd (the man who discovered Mary J. Blige). As the beat builds up, Fif rhymes: "N---as know how I do./ Let's get mo' paper, mo' bread./ It's grind time./ I ain't f---in' 'round kid./ ...If there's a problem I get right to the root./ ... You talk too much, I'll put your a-- on mute." "If you're leaving, then leave/ On the way out leave my keys," 50 sarcastically says on the chorus while Redd's chorus of "you called and told that you wanted to leave" plays. "I got y'all back in Bentley's," he adds, referring to the legendary New York nightclub. "Dreaming" incorporates Christopher Williams' 1992 hit off the "New Jack City" soundtrack "Dreamin'." Here, the G-Unit general tells his aspirations of being rich away from drug dealing. "It's bigger than coke, bigger than dope," he promises in his rhyme. "My marijuana mentality went up in smoke." "Things You Do," uses Gina Thompson's "The Things You Do" and finds Fif having fun with fast women, while "Funny How Time Flies" is about him withstanding the hate he receives from rolling with one particular woman. "They can wish bad sh-- on us, it's cool we made it/ Look at me and see the Lord's blessing while they stressing/ Switch whips, push the Bugatti through the recession." You can also look out for "London Girl 2" and 50 flipping records by Horace Brown and Case. He also includes tracks that he previously leaked such as "Paranoid," "Respect It or Check It" and "Where You Are," which includes vocals by Michael Jackson. " 'You Called and Told Me,' that was [popular] at Bentley's!" 50 said with a grin. "That's when I met Jay-Z. That has gotta be '97. That record was ill at that point. A lot of those joints, I have memories tied to the records. Music marks times. 'Get Money,' that joint right there I took the Horace Brown joint, 'One for the Money.' Then I used Gina Thompson. Intro! That was my favorite group. At one point, Intro was consistently giving me [hits]. 'Let me be, let me the one!' A bunch of joints man. Of course, 'Funny How Time Flies,' the one I used. Then they had 'Let Me Come Inside.'" Forever King drops Friday night (July 3) on Thisis50.com. Last night, 50 debuted his new video for "OK You're Right," which will be featured on his upcoming Before I Self Destruct. Fif said he came across the clip from the short film "Carousel," which was directed by Adam Berg and won the Grand Prix Award at the Cannes Film Festival, and placed portions of it at the beginning of his video. The story escalates from there, with 50 in a clown mask for part of it. "We're searching to find the newest thing possible or newest film tricks. That clip actually won in Cannes Film Festival. I felt it would have been a dope intro to the movie. It was a four-minute-long piece. I felt it was overkill the way they did it, but for what they were doing it for made sense. "A little bit of the Joker," he explained about what "Carousel" reminded him of. "That was my opportunity to play the Joker with the mask on." Forever King's track listing: » "Paranoid" |
| Michael Jackson's Alleged Addictions: Experts Weigh In Posted: 02 Jul 2009 03:04 AM PDT Doctors Drew Pinsky, Arnold M. Washton discuss Jackson's alleged psychological and pharmaceutical problems.
It's the ultimate American dream: a meteoric rise from obscurity and struggle to worldwide fame and adulation. Untold riches, palatial estates, a fiercely loyal crew of hangers-on, private jets, screaming fans and limousines come with the territory. But so does seclusion, paranoia, loneliness and access to any and all vices the heart and mind can imagine. It's a dark side of celebrity that has come into focus all too well recently, from Eminem's admitted struggles with painkillers to Britney Spears' very public difficulties and, last Thursday, Michael Jackson's death at age 50 after decades of isolation, plastic surgery, multiple allegations of impropriety with young men and an allegedly fierce addiction to prescription medications. How does superstardom so quickly turn into a life-threatening fall from grace? By many accounts, Jackson, 50, was a lonely man, one whose lifelong fame had resulted in a secluded life inside a childlike fantasy world of his own making that few could understand. From his fascination with his own lost childhood and a Peter Pan-like existence to a proclivity for plastic surgery that had radically altered his facial features and skin color to the point where he barely resembled his former self, Jackson publicly struggled to find peace in a world where fans and the media incessantly thirsted for a peek into his mysterious kingdom. Dr. Drew Pinsky, star of VH1's "Celebrity Rehab" and an addiction specialist, said he has done extensive research on the link between celebrity and addiction, and said his findings indicate that being a superstar has little impact on someone's addictive tendencies. "It's the kind of person who strives to be a celebrity who has a high incidence of childhood trauma, addictive and narcissistic tendencies and who surround themselves with people who support that narcissism," he told MTV News. "And when that addiction emerges, it gets out of control and there's no way to cut it out. They spiral into severe consequences and situations where, if it was the rest of us, we would have someone who would tell us to stop." Pinsky said his research has shown that people who are addicted to the kind of opiates that Jackson allegedly struggled with — painkillers and other strong prescription sedatives and antidepressants — are almost always survivors of abuse. Jackson had stated in several interviews that he was the subject of physical and emotional abuse from his father, Joseph, who often teased him about his looks. "These people walk around every day feeling shattered, with an out-of-control sense of miserable worthlessness, and when they find their way to an opiate, for the first time in their lives they feel like everything is OK," Pinsky said, noting that patient confidentiality would not permit him to answer a question about whether he had ever treated Jackson, but that if someone had approached him about helping the star, he would "run for the hills" because he felt the situation might not have been treatable given the chaotic state of the singer's personal life. "But there's no doubt he was in pain." In a touching postmortem essay, former Los Angeles Times pop music critic Robert Hilburn recalled a nearly two-decade-long friendship with Jackson that ended in the mid-1980s at the peak of Jackson's career. Speaking to him in 1981, before Thriller would make him a worldwide icon, Hilburn asked the then 23-year-old singer — who he described as anxious, possessing a "Bambi-like shyness" and speaking in barely a whisper — why he lived with his parents and not on his own like his brothers. "Oh, no, I think I'd die on my own," Jackson reportedly said. "I'd be so lonely. Even at home, I'm lonely. I sit in my room and sometimes cry. It is so hard to make friends, and there are some things you can't talk to your parents or family about. I sometimes walk around the neighborhood at night, just hoping to find someone to talk to." Hilburn said that Jackson was so embarrassed by his awkward teenage years — when his fame had tapered off a bit and, like many teens, he suffered from acne and physical changes that he told the reporter made him unrecognizable to some — that he vowed to do whatever it took to make people "love me again." The writer said that rejection fueled an ambition to be the biggest pop star in the world and to try to make his face "beautiful." Those body image problems aside, Pinsky said the most serious problem with opiate addiction is that the drugs themselves can cause pain when the patient begins to feel that if they cease taking the medication they will be in even worse agony. "With chronic pain, once you start taking these medications, you are in constant pain," Pinsky said. "And when you have enablers around you who help provide the drugs, it makes it almost impossible to get off of them. It's like a crack addict living in a crackhouse." On Thursday, an official confirmed for MTV News that the Drug Enforcement Administration had been called in by the Los Angeles Police Department to help in the investigation into Jackson's death. The LAPD has already removed several bags of medical evidence from Jackson's rented Beverly Hills-area mansion, and the DEA was reportedly called in to help the police investigate Jackson's doctors and possible drug use. A number of Jackson's former friends have come forward since his death to say that they tried to help him kick his reportedly expensive, serious prescription drug habit, including spirituality guru Dr. Deepak Chopra, who has spoken about Jackson allegedly asking him for the highly addictive pain medication OxyContin, and mentalist Uri Geller, who said he tried to intervene and help Jackson get clean several times, according to The Associated Press. "This is how my patients die," Pinsky said of the alleged prescription drug cocktail Jackson was taking, which also is reported to have included Diprivan, a surgical anesthetic that the singer was said to have sought as a sleeping aid and which is typically only available to licensed anesthesiologists and medical professionals for use in a clinical setting during outpatient surgery. "You get to the point where you build up such a high tolerance to the opiates that you can't take enough to get the desired effect, or enough to keep you from painful withdrawal," said Dr. Arnold M. Washton, a New York-based psychologist with more than 30 years of expertise in treating addiction. "And chronic use makes it impossible to go to sleep, so the person using these drugs may use double or triple the dose, hoping to go to sleep, but no matter how much they use, they can't. So they need to switch to a drug that affects a different part of the brain, which are the sedative drugs." Washton, who also said he had no firsthand knowledge of Jackson's case and had not treated the singer, told MTV News that Jackson's alleged drug issues and his equally disturbing proclivity for image-altering plastic surgery were signs of someone who was struggling mightily with poor self-image. "This is a man who had profound problems with his sense of self," he said. "He was struggling his whole life to feel OK about himself and despite his extraordinary talent, fame and riches, it's obvious he was never satisfied and was constantly trying to change himself." While Washton differed with Pinsky about the correlation between childhood trauma and addiction, he agreed that addiction is more about the person and not the addictive nature of the drugs. "The biggest issue for people who collide with drugs is that some get a corrective relief from the drug for the pain inside them, whether that's from their sense of self or regulating their self-esteem or relationships with important people in their lives," he said. "And they find that the drug takes away that psychic pain, and opiates are more effective than any drug known to man to do that, and that relief from the bodily and emotional pain ... you take enough of a narcotic and you can't feel anything." Washton, who wrote about "The Addictive Personality," in his 1989 book "Willpower's Not Enough," said another reason Jackson may have fallen into an alleged spiral of prescription drug abuse was a result of the rarified air the pop star lived in. "People like Jackson get far away from the free world and live an insular existence where one is not subject to the limits others deal with and they can often engage in behavior without consequence that others cannot," he said. "People are willing to do their bidding and give them things because of their fame and money, doctors will write them prescriptions. ... It's not hard for them to feel that the laws of the universe apply to everyone but them." For complete coverage of the life, career and passing of the legendary entertainer, visit "Michael Jackson Remembered." Share your Michael Jackson memories by uploading video and comments to Your.MTV.com or joining the discussion below. Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists |
| Rihanna Being Investigated For Illegal Tattooing Posted: 02 Jul 2009 01:43 AM PDT New York City Department of Health says, 'Only licensed tattoo artists can administer tattoos in the city.'
When Rihanna tatooed a few of the tattoo artists at East Side Ink in New York on Wednesday night, she may not have realized what she was doing was illegal. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene confirmed to MTV News on Thursday (July 2) that someone has been sent to the tattoo parlor to investigate the incident. In a statement, the department said, "Only licensed tattoo artists can administer tattoos in the city according to the City's Health Code. We are sending someone to follow up on this." TMZ reported that if the department decides to press charges against the pop star for tattooing someone without a license, she could face three misdemeanors, with penalties as much as $300 for the first offense, $500 for the second and $1,000 for the third offense. Additionally, sources told the Web site that in addition to Rihanna, East Side Ink could be facing fines as well if an investigation is opened. Earlier on Thursday, MTV News spoke to East Side Ink owner Yadira, who said that Rihanna hadn't visited East Side with the intention of inking her long-time tattoo artist, BangBang, as well as two other artists at the parlor. Rihanna was there with a few friends and a bodyguard for "a few hours, just hanging out and joking," she said, and BangBang decided that he wanted the pop star to give him a tattoo. Yadira added, "We had a blast. It was so funny and cute." Related Artists |
| Michael Jackson Memorial Planned For Los Angeles' Staples Center July 7 Posted: 02 Jul 2009 12:05 AM PDT Planning is still under way, according to multiple media reports.
LOS ANGELES — A Michael Jackson public memorial service has been set and will take place on Tuesday, July 7, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, according to multiple media outlets. The memorial honoring the 50-year-old pop star will unfold at the 20,000-capacity arena after the holiday weekend, nearly two weeks after Jackson died after suffering cardiac arrest at his rented home in Los Angeles on June 25. The arena is also the venue where Jackson was rehearsing for his 50-show "This is It" concerts, which were originally slated to kick off at London's O2 Arena on July 13. He rehearsed at the venue just hours before his death.
Randy Philips, president and CEO of AEG, which runs the facility, told KNBC that the service, which will be open to the public, will begin at 10 a.m. Arrivals are set to begin at 8 a.m. According to Philips, the overflow crowd will be accommodated at Nokia Plaza outside the venue, where widescreen TVs will broadcast the proceedings inside. "Details are still to be finalized when I meet with the Jackson family this afternoon," Philips said. "Everything is in preliminary stages except the place and time." Representatives for the Jackson Family have yet to confirm the arrangements and had not responded to inquiries made by MTV News at press time. On Thursday morning (July 2), preparations for the event were under way. Chick Hearn Court, the street that runs in front of the Staples Center, had been closed down, and several police cars and television trucks were parked in front of the venue. On Wednesday, in a prepared statement, the Jackson Family squelched reports that memorial and funeral services for the King of Pop would be held at his Neverland Valley Ranch, which was Jackson's home for many years. "Contrary to previous news reports, the Jackson family is officially stating that there will be no public or private viewing at Neverland," the statement reads. "Plans are underway regarding a public memorial for Michael Jackson, and we will announce those plans shortly." Details of Jackson's will were revealed on Wednesday, but the 2002 document appeared to make no provisions for his burial or a memorial service. Jackson's funeral is expected to draw thousands of fans from all over the world. For complete coverage of the life, career and passing of the legendary entertainer, visit "Michael Jackson Remembered." Share your Michael Jackson memories by uploading video and comments to Your.MTV.com or joining the discussion below. Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists |
| Drake Explains 'Best I Ever Had' Video's Basketball Metaphor Posted: 02 Jul 2009 09:11 AM PDT After coaching Team Drake in the clip, the newly signed MC outlines his bigger game plan.
Drake's new video for "Best I Ever Had," directed by Kanye West, premiered Wednesday night. In it, Drizzy coaches a basketball team of well-endowed female lovelies, clad in revealing pink uniforms, who face a more focused and skillful squad of women. Coach Drake doesn't seem heartbroken that his hoopers won't exactly draw comparisons to the Dream Team. "Some of us younger men, we refer to our affiliation with women like a roster," Drake said, explaining the clip's concept to MTV News. "You have key women in your life when you're single and doing your thing."
"Best I Ever Had" is the first video from his debut LP, Thank Me Later, which he aims to release later this year, now that he's signed to Lil Wayne's Young Money label. Of course he does. He's red-hot right now, thanks to the mixtape So Far Gone. "I just gotta get this tour knocked out," he said earlier this week, smiling about going on the road as part of the America's Most Wanted Music Festival, which will feature Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy Tell'em and Young Jeezy. "I am working on [the album] right now. I've actually started. I was in the studio with Pharrell, and it's basically a pretty lax process for us. "Basically, So Far Gone worked," he continued, talking about his strategy for the highly anticipated LP. "So, let's just try to do it again. You know, let's try and act as if we were making a second disc to So Far Gone." Related Artists |
| President Obama Remembers 'Music Icon' Michael Jackson Posted: 02 Jul 2009 12:24 AM PDT 'I still have all his stuff on my iPod,' the president tells The Associated Press.
On June 26, the day after Michael Jackson passed away, President Obama issued a statement on the singer's tragic death though his press agent. Now in a new interview with The Associated Press on Thursday (July 2), Obama is remembering the legendary pop star for everything he has contributed to the world of pop culture.
"I'm glad to see that he is being remembered primarily for the great joy that he brought to a lot of people through his extraordinary gifts as an entertainer," he said, adding, "I still have all his stuff on my iPod." When news broke of the singer's death on June 25, a lot of people were wondering why the President didn't release a statement sooner. Obama didn't see why people felt it was controversial of him not to and he also commented on whether or not the African-American community felt dissatisfied with Jackson over the years. "I know a lot of people in the black community, and I haven't heard that," Obama told the AP. Jackson, whose career was marked by both incredible highs and tragic lows, has left an indelible mark on pop culture. "I think that Michael Jackson will go down in history as one of our greatest entertainers," Obama said. "His brilliance as a performer also was paired with a tragic and, in many ways, sad personal life." In a statement last week, Obama remembered Jackson as "a spectacular performer and a music icon," adding, "I think everybody remembers hearing his songs, watching him moonwalk on television during Motown's 25th anniversary." For complete coverage of the life, career and passing of the legendary entertainer, visit "Michael Jackson Remembered." Share your Michael Jackson memories by uploading video and comments to Your.MTV.com or joining the discussion below. Related Videos
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