Jacksons Negotiating Fan Access to Michael's Grave

Michael Jackson fans hoping to visit the King of Pop's resting place on the one-year anniversary of his death June 25th received some encouraging news this morning. A Glendale, California police sergeant revealed that the Jackson family and the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, where Jackson's body rests in the Great Mausoleum, are working on a deal that would allow fans limited access to the cemetery, MTV reports. "We understand that Forest Lawn is working with the Jackson family for some kind of commemoration," said Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz. "We will be working closely with Forest Lawn to ensure the safety of those who want to pay their respects to Michael Jackson while ensuring the safety of others who are coming to the cemetery to pay respects to their loved ones."

As Rolling Stone previously reported, Jackson's youngest brother Randy said he hoped to allow fans to visit Michael's final resting place, but due to the likely surge of fans, Forest Lawn officials were reluctant to grant permission. Fans will definitely not be permitted to enter the Great Mausoleum, the resting place of Hollywood legends Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and Carole Lombard. "[Fans] will be viewing it from a distance," Lorenz said.

In other Jackson tribute news, Harlem's legendary Apollo Theatre, where Michael Jackson and his brothers won Amateur Night in 1967, will induct the King of Pop into its Hall of Fame at a ceremony on June 14th. Soul legend Aretha Franklin will also join the Apollo Legends Hall of Fame, while Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony will be honored with the Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis Arts and Humanitarian Award, Billboard reports. Past inductees into the Apollo Legends Hall include James Brown, Quincy Jones and Smokey Robinson. Jamie Foxx will host the ceremony.

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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