Her voice cracking and her lips trembling, Michael Jackson‘s daughter spoke out for the first time ever at the pop legend’s memorial service Tuesday, bringing to tears millions around the globe.
“Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine,” Paris Jackson, 11, said, choking back sobs.
“And I just want to say I love him so much,” she added, before aunt Janet Jackson enveloped her in a hug.
Paris‘ heartbreaking words capped a two-hour tribute that combined song, sequins and sadness at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
His family spoke on a blue-bathed stage above his flower-draped golden casket.
“I hurt,” brother Marlon Jackson told the crowd in the 20,000-seat arena.
“I stand here… trying to understand why the Lord has taken our brother,” he said, wearing one sparkly glove like his other brothers.
“Michael, when you left us a part of me went with you,” he added. “A part of you will live forever within all of us.”
The memorial was more subdued than spectacular. It featured a message from best friend Diana Ross, Mariah Carey singing “I’ll Be There,” and a poetic tribute from Maya Angelou.
Usher broke down in tears after singing “Gone Too Soon.” Stevie Wonder called it a “moment that I wished I didn’t live to see.”
Jermaine Jackson sang his brother’s favorite song, Charlie Chaplin‘s “Smile,” and Brooke Shields fought back tears as she remembered Jackson’s love of laughter.
“We need to look up, where he is undoubtedly perched on a crescent moon, and we need to smile,” she said.
The lucky fans who scored tickets to the tribute streamed into the arena screaming in delight. They walked out a solemn mass, hugging each other and dabbing tears from their eyes.
“It was absolutely beautiful,” said Kelly Loraine, 34, of Los Angeles.
“The people came together. It showed that he was more than what the media portrayed him as. I only wish this was given to the world before he died.”
Thunderous applause shook the packed coliseum when Motown Records founder Berry Gordy said Jackson’s nickname didn’t do him justice.
“Sure, there were some sad times and some questionable decisions on his part, but Michael Jackson accomplished everything he dreamed of,” he said.
“The King of Pop is not big enough for him,” he added. “I think he is simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived.”
The 50-year-old legend died June 25 in the midst of a comeback tour and the grip of a prescription drug addiction.
A cavalcade of stars took the stage to speak of how he changed the music world forever – and opened doors for other black entertainers.
“In the music world, he put on one glove, pulled his pants up and brought down the color curtain,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said.
Singer and actress Queen Latifah delivered a very personal eulogy before reading a poem Angelou wrote for Jackson titled “We Had Him.”
“Somehow when Michael Jackson sang and he danced, we never felt distant,” Latifah said. “You believed in Michael, and he believed in you. He made you believe in yourself.
“He let me know that as an African-American, you can travel the world.”
The service was full of high-wattage star power: singers Usher, Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer; athletes Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson; and activists Bernice King and Martin Luther King III.
It began with a mention of two who couldn’t make it: Smokey Robinson reading notes from Diana Ross and Nelson Mandela.
“Michael was a personal love of mine, a treasured part of my world, a part of the fabric of my life in a way that I can’t seem to find words to express,” wrote Ross, who starred with Jackson in “The Wiz.”
“I hope today brings closure for all those who loved him. Thank you, Katherine and Joe, for sharing your son with the world and with me.”
The memorial began about an hour after a private funeral service at Forest Lawn Memorial in Hollywood Hills.
Scores of relatives – many clad in Versace, according to one report – and friends gathered there for a half-hour farewell.
Then a motorcade of Rolls Royces, Cadillac Escalades and Range Rovers accompanied the hearse 13 miles to the Staples Center.
Ticketholders began arriving at 6 a.m., some screaming with joy at being able to participate. Some fans carried signs reading, “We Love You Michael.” Others broke out in spontaneous chants of his name.
“It’s history in the making,” said Eddie Montoya, 43, who drove 100 miles to join the crowds even though he did not have a ticket. “We’ll do whatever it takes.”
Notably absent from his tribute was actress Elizabeth Taylor, a longtime Jackson friend, and Debbie Rowe, his former wife and the mother of his two older children.
Taylor, in a message posted on Twitter, said she declined an invitation to speak because she “cannot be part of the public whoopla…I just don’t believe that Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others.”
“The onslaught of media attention has made it clear [Rowe’s] attendance would be an unnecessary distraction to an event that should focus exclusively on Michael’s legacy,” said Rowe’s attorney Marta Almli.
