Memorial for a 'King Michael Jackson'

Michael Jackson's family and close friends held a private service at a Los Angeles cemetery on Tuesday as fans crowded into the city's downtown area for a star-packed public memorial to the "King of Pop."

After winning a random drawing for tickets to the Michael Jackson memorial, fans danced and sang on Monday, and some tried to make a buck, while city officials girded for the throngs expected to show up at the Tuesday event, invited or not.

As organizers distributed free pairs of tickets on Monday to 8,750 of the more 1.6 million people who had applied online for them, offers of tickets priced from a few hundred to several thousand dollars appeared on Web sites like eBay and Craigslist. Site administrators rushed to remove the postings, saying such sales were not authorized by the Staples Center, the downtown arena that will host the event. Organizers of the memorial said they were confident security measures would limit illegitimate ticket holders.

Late Monday night, local television broadcast live images of Jackson family members and others arriving and departing from Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, a San Fernando Valley cemetery studded with celebrity graves where Mr. Jackson's private service is expected Tuesday morning. A hearse was seen driving from one building to another, backing nearly into it through a large entrance way where men then removed a coffin covered by a dark cloth.

The official list of participants in the service for Mr. Jackson, who died suddenly on June 25 at 50 of undetermined causes, included some of the biggest names in music, past and present, including Stevie Wonder, John Mayer, Jennifer Hudson, Smokey Robinson and Usher. More than a dozen television channels, including the big broadcast networks, planned live coverage of the memorial, which is set for 10 a.m. California time on Tuesday.

Michael Jackson Memorial 2009 Part 1