Michael Jackson Fans Descend on Los Angeles for Memorial Service

Hundreds of thousands of fans were descending on downtown Los Angeles today to bid their final goodbyes to Michael Jackson outside a celebrity-packed memorial service to the singer.

Stars including Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Smokey Robinson, Lionel Richie and Jennifer Hudson were due to perform before 18,000 people at the LA Staples Centre sports stadium. Among these will be some of the 8,750 fans who won tickets in a lottery which attracted 1.6 million bids, with others watching in an overflow theatre, where the memorial will be broadcast on a giant screen.

Police estimate that more than 250,000 people will crowd the streets around the service commemorating the 50-year-old singer, who died on 25 June. City blocks nearby have been sealed off with barriers, with only ticket-holding fans allowed through.

The event is being televised live by TV networks around the world and will be streamed on websites.

The Reverend Al Sharpton, a friend of the family, is also on a list of attendees, as well as the children of the assassinated civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Martin Luther King III and Bernice King.

Former child star Brooke Shields will be there, and also Shaheen Jafargholi, the 12-year-old from Wales who reached the finals of the TV show Britain's Got Talent. In his audition he fluffed his performance, but on being asked by Simon Cowell for a second song he chose Jackson's Who's Lovin' You and wowed the audience.

Among those who will not be attending any of the memorial events are the singer's ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, and his close friend, the actor Elizabeth Taylor.

Taylor announced last night on Twitter that she would not be attending. "I just don't believe Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others. How I feel is between us. Not a public event."

She had been asked to speak at the service, she said, but "I cannot be part of the public whoopla".

Rowe, the mother of Jackson's two oldest children, had planned to attend the memorial but backed out yesterday. "The onslaught of media attention has made it clear her attendance would be an unnecessary distraction," her attorney Marta Almli said in a statement.

While Jackson's family have refused to comment on arrangements for his funeral, it is widely expected he will be buried ahead of the commemoration concert at the Forest Lawn cemetery in the Hollywood Hills, resting place of such famous names as Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Sammy Davis Jr, Nat King Cole, Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye. The burial is reported to be scheduled for 8am local time (4pm BST).

Jackson's body is understood to be lying near the cemetery, and crowd barriers have already been put up. Residents nearby have reported a buzz of activity, including flyovers by police helicopters.

The entertainment website TMZ, which broke the story about him collapsing at his home in Bel Air, said he would be buried in a gold-plated coffin costing $25,000. Others have reported that his body would be laid out in the velvet-lined coffin by his friend Karen Faye and dressed by his long-time costume designers Michael Bush and Dennis Tompkins.

According to reports, relatives including Jackson's three children attended a brief "celebration of life" service at a the cemetery last night, holding a vigil by his casket.

Since the recipients of the public tickets to the memorial service were announced, a series of advertisements have appeared on sites such as eBay and Craigslist, offering tickets for tens of thousands of dollars. However, both sites told the BBC they were seeking to remove such adverts.

Jackson sold an estimated 750 million albums during his musical career, which began as a child in the Jackson 5 and saw the release of three of the most celebrated pop albums ever, Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad. However, his celebrity was tainted by ridicule over his ever-changing appearance and a series of allegations concerning child abuse.

Coroners in Los Angeles are still investigating the cause of his sudden death, with the possible use of painkiller and other prescription drugs among possible factors being looked into.

There is also the tangled issue of Jackson's huge assets and many debts. A court filing has estimated that his net estate may still be worth more than $500m, including a 50% stake in the Sony-ATV music publishing catalog featuring songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.