{"id":645874,"date":"2019-06-26T13:46:27","date_gmt":"2019-06-26T13:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"
\"Michael<\/div>

With roses crafted into heart shapes and"},"modified":"2019-06-26T13:46:27","modified_gmt":"2019-06-26T13:46:27","slug":"michael-jacksons-fans-sing-sob-leave-sunflowers-and-roses-on-10th-anniversary-of-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/06\/26\/michael-jacksons-fans-sing-sob-leave-sunflowers-and-roses-on-10th-anniversary-of-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Jackson\u2019s fans sing, sob, leave sunflowers and roses on 10th anniversary of death"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Michael<\/div>\n

With roses crafted into heart shapes and crowns made of bright yellow sunflowers, Michael Jackson fans from as far afield as Iran and Japan, paid tribute on Tuesday to the King of Pop on the 10th anniversary of his death.<\/p>\n

Several hundred fans gathered outside his burial place in the Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, north of Los Angeles, and held a minute\u2019s silence at 2:26 p.m., the moment when Jackson, 50, was pronounced dead on June 25, 2009. They then broke into a rendition of \u201cHeal the World\u201d as some mourners quietly sobbed, hugged or wiped away tears.<\/p>\n

Fans, some dressed like Jackson, placed posters, dolls, sequined gloves and even a red jacket like the singer\u2019s signature \u201cThriller\u201d outfit outside the private mausoleum where he is buried.<\/p>\n

\u201cForever King,\u201d \u201cWe\u2019ll never forget you\u201d and \u201cWe\u2019ll never let you part\u201d read some of the messages from Iran, Hungary and Japan.<\/p>\n

Joan Simons travelled to the cemetery from the Netherlands, meeting up with people she had met on fan Facebook groups over the years. \u201cWe all feel the same \u2013 the love for Michael as a person, his music,\u201d Ms Simons told Reuters.<\/p>\n

Jackson died at his Los Angeles home after an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol, which he was using as a sleep aid. His doctor, Conrad Murray, was convicted at a 2011 trial of involuntary manslaughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cA decade later, Michael Jackson is still with us, his influence embedded in dance, fashion, art and music of the moment. He is more important than ever,\u201d the Jackson estate said in a statement marking the anniversary.<\/p>\n

While Michael\u2019s death was met with a wave of grief in 2009, his reputation has come under scrutiny again because of the documentary \u201cLeaving Neverland,\u201d in which two men gave emotional accounts of what they said was sexual abuse by the singer in the 1990s when they were boys.<\/p>\n

Michael was acquitted on charges of molesting a different boy in 2005, and his family have denied the accusations made in the documentary.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are going to believe what they want to believe. But if they really do their research, they\u2019ll know the truth,\u201d Rem Garza, 22, a Jackson impersonator from Long Beach, California, said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Carla Tonti said she travelled from Florence, Italy, to the cemetery with her 79-year-old mother, Sabrina. \u201cWe feel like as if we are close to the people who just enjoy Michael as much as we did,\u201d Ms Tonti said.<\/p>\n

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