Update
Jackson Fans Gather for Apollo Tribute
AP Photo/David Goldman
It's a stirring tribute to the King of Pop in the place where it all began.
Thousands of Michael Jackson fans began lining up this morning at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem to pay their respects to the singer, who died suddenly last Thursday from cardiac arrest at 50.
The public memorial began with a eulogy by longtime Jackson family friend the Rev. Al Sharpton.
"Michael made young men and women all over the world imitate us," Sharpton said. "Before Michael, we were limited and ghettoized. But Michael put on a colorful military outfit, he pulled his pants up, he put on the one glove, and he smashed the barriers of segregated music."
Groups of approximately 600 people, many holding photos and cheering, were let into the historic venue at a time while DJs spun Jackson music. There, they shuffled past the stage where a black fedora with a white glove draped across its brim rested atop a lone stool and watched a video tribute to the iconic entertainer. They were also able to leave flowers, memorabilia (posters, T-shirts and album covers) and personal notes in his honor.
There will be a moment of silence at 5:26 p.m. ET—the time when Jackson was declared dead.
Shortly after his death, the Gloved One's devotees started gathering at the Apollo—the venue where the Jackson 5 exploded into world consciousness by winning the theater's Amateur Night contest in 1967, when Michael was a mere 9-years-old.
And as fans did when James Brown died in 2005, thousands beat it over to the Apollo for an impromptu celebration Thursday, singing, dancing and leaving messages scrawled on walls near the landmark.
(Originally published June 30, 2009, at 10:10 a.m. PT)
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