Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Ross explains Jackson memorial absence

|
|
 
  
Figures from the worlds of sports, entertainment, politics and activism honored Michael Jackson at a public memorial service in Los Angeles Tuesday. (UPI Photo/Jim Ruymen/File) 
License photo
Published: July 8, 2009 at 12:22 PM

LOS ANGELES, July 8 (UPI) -- Diana Ross says she did not attend Tuesday's public memorial service for Michael Jackson in Los Angeles because she is trying to "find closure."

"I have decided to pause and be silent," Ross said Tuesday in a statement quoted by UsMagazine.com. "This feels right for me. Michael was a personal love of mine, a treasured part of my world, part of the fabric of my life in a way that I can't seem to find words to express."

Figures from the worlds of sports, entertainment, politics and activism turned out Tuesday at the Staples Center to honor Jackson, who died of cardiac arrest June 25 after a suspected prescription drug overdose. He was 50.

"I am trying to find closure," Ross said. "I want you to know that even though I am not there at the Staples Center, I am there in my heart."

In his will, Jackson asked Ross to care for his two sons and his daughter if his elderly mother is unable to.

"Michael wanted me to be there for his children, and I will be there if ever they need me," Ross said. "I hope today brings closure for all those who loved him."

Topics: Diana Ross, Michael Jackson
Recommended Stories
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Entertainment News Stories
1 of 29
Members of the Army's Old Guard place flags at Arlington National Ceremtery
View Caption
U.S. flags are seen in the rucksack of a soldier with the Army's 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard, as he places flags at gravesites in Arlington National Cemetery as part of the Flags-In Memorial Day ceremony on May 24, 2012 in Arlington, Virginia. American flags were placed at each of the more than 220,000 grave markers in honor of those who served and Memorial Day. UPI/Kevin Dietshc
fark
Maine soft-shell lobsters are in early this year. Marine biologists require more clarified butter...
The Death List: Cars that aren't coming back for 2013. Subby will sob for Saab, the rest shall not...
Come listen to a story about a man named John / A poor farmer, barely kept his family fed / Then...
Reporter shows up too late to cover a sandstorm, tries to recreate it
How to be #1 SUPER-PATRIOT. USA USA USA USA
If you don't like these amusing examples of passive aggressive behavior, than you can kindly piss...