Jennifer Hudson,Kobe Bryant, Mariah Carey Usher and Lionel Richie are among the celebrities who will participate in Michael Jackson's memorial service Tuesday morning at L.A.'s Staples Center, Usmagazine.com has confirmed.
The list does not specify which of the attendees will perform, but Carey is reportedly slated to reprise her famous cover of the Jackson song "I'll Be There" at the public ceremony and CNN has reported that Oscar-winning actress/singer Hudson will also sing at the event. Wonder was a contemporary of Jackson's on the Motown label in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Usher has often stated how influential Jackson was on his career, and Mayer performed the iconic guitar solo in "Beat It" on Fall Out Boy's 2008 cover of the song.
Others participating in the service reportedly will include John Mayer, Lionel Richie, Usher, Stevie Wonder, Kobe Bryant, Brooke Shields, Magic Johnson, Berry Gordy, Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III.
Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe, who backed out of going because "her attendance would be an unnecessary distraction to an event
that should focus exclusively on Michael's legacy," said attorney Marta Almli.
Other plans for the event include a performance from Indiana's first black Miss Indiana, Kellee Patterson, who kept in touch with Jackson after both left the city, and a 500-member choir singing "We Are the World."
