Guest list
The participants were Ron Boyd (family friend), Kobe Bryant, Mariah Carey, Andrae Crouch (choir), Berry Gordy, Queen Latifah, Judith Hill (recruited 'This Is It' performer), Jennifer Hudson, Shaheen Jafargholi (a child finalist on Britain's Got Talent, who sang a Jackson song), Magic Johnson, Martin Luther King III, Bernice A. King, John Mayer, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Brooke Shields, Pastor Lucious Smith (family friend), Usher, and Stevie Wonder.[20]
In addition to the above persons, ABC News reported, Lionel Richie's daughter Nicole, who was Michael's goddaughter, and singers Akon and Sean Combs would attend the services.[21]
Debbie Rowe, Jackson's ex-wife and mother of two of his three children, hoping not to be a distraction,[22] did not attend the funeral; nor did his first wife, Lisa Marie Presley.[23] Elizabeth Taylor & Diana Ross, two of Jackson's closest friends, as well as Macaulay Culkin, and Janet Jackson's then boyfriend Jermaine Dupri also did not attend.[21]
Other attendees with tickets were CNN-anchor Larry King, Barbara Walters, Dionne Warwick, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Brown, Evan Ross (Diana Ross's son), Riley Keough (Lisa Marie Presley's daughter), Chris Tucker, and Gladys Knight. Actor Wesley Snipes (who starred in the Bad video with Jackson) was also in attendance.
