Michael Jackson's Casket will be at the Staples Center Memorial

story by AP

by AP National Writer Jesse Washington –

LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson's body will be taken to the singer's star-studded memorial in downtown Los Angeles, adding to the spectacle that promises to be among the biggest celebrity sendoffs of all time.

"Mr. Jackson's remains will be going to the Staples Center. We're not giving any details," Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton said Tuesday.

Police have blocked off roads and warned those without tickets to stay away because they would not be able to get near to the downtown venue. Some fans were allowed past street barriers into the immediate area around the Staples Center early Tuesday.

More than 1.6 million people registered for free tickets to Jackson's memorial. A total of 8,750 people were chosen to receive two tickets each.

Among the memorial participants will be Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Usher, Lionel Richie, Kobe Bryant, Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer and Martin Luther King III.

About 50 theaters across the country, from Los Angeles to Topeka, Kan., to Washington, D.C., were planning to broadcast the memorial live, for free. Jackson died at age 50 on June 25.

"There are certain people in our popular culture that just capture people's imaginations. And in death, they become even larger," President Barack Obama told CBS while in Moscow. "Now, I have to admit that it's also fed by a 24/7 media that is insatiable."