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Xinhua News Agency, Los Angeles, July 7 (reporter Cao Weiguo) -- The public memorial service for American pop music superstar Michael Jackson was held on July 7 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Eleven thousand fans randomly selected by computer from around the world joined Jackson's family, relatives, and many celebrities and performing arts stars to bid farewell to the "King of Pop" for the last time.

Before the start of the public memorial event, the Jackson family held a brief private funeral at a cemetery in Hollywood Hills, a suburb of Los Angeles. Subsequently, Jackson's hearse, escorted by the police, arrived at the Staples Center located in downtown Los Angeles. Jackson's coffin, covered with flowers, was placed in front of a temporary stage set up at the Staples Center. Above the stage, large screens played photos and videos documenting Jackson's artistic career and social activities throughout his life.

During the more than two-hour-long memorial service, numerous performing and cultural sports stars, including Mariah Carey, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Queen Latifah, Brooke Shields, Kobe Bryant, and "Magic" Johnson, walked onto the stage. Some sang famous songs by Jackson, while others delivered speeches, paying tribute to what they regarded as "the greatest artist of all time."

The memorial event concluded with numerous stars and children jointly singing the charity songs "We Are the World" and "Heal the World," which were co-created by Jackson in the past. Afterwards, Jackson's family went on stage to deliver speeches, expressing their gratitude to those who attended the day's memorial service and to all the fans who cared about and remembered him.

On June 25, Jackson was pronounced dead after being rushed to a hospital in Los Angeles due to cardiac arrest. Investigations into the cause of his death are still ongoing. Born in 1958, Jackson was one of the most influential singers in the American pop music scene. Over his 40-year-plus career, he set a world record by selling 750 million albums. He was the first black artist to frequently appear on mainstream American television and was praised for his active involvement in charitable causes. However, starting from the late 1990s, two charges of child molestation damaged his public image and effectively ended his once-peak performing and singing career prematurely.