The Rev. Al Sharpton said it was a "personal honor" to be invited to the service.
"I talked about how it's harder traveling east to west because you face a headwind," Sharpton said. "Michael, coming from Gary, Indiana, always had to battle headwinds, face some accusation. But he landed well. I told the children they crowned their father for all eternity."
Above, Rev. Al Sharpton arrives.
Katherine Jackson and Joe Jackson mourn at the service.
Jackson's brother and his two sons all wore black suits and red ties and sported purple arm bands embroidered with gold crowns as they filled the front rows.
Two color photos of Jackson sat on easels in front of the crowd.
Pictured above, Tito, Jermaine, Jackie, and Randy Jackson.
Joe Jackson, Prince Michael and Prince Michael II (Blanket)
Jermaine Jackson arrives at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
The producers Berry Gordy and Suzanne De Passe were among the music luminaries in attendance. Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson's first wife Lisa Marie Presley also paid their respects.
The service took place exactly 10 weeks after the music superstar unexpectedly died at his Beverly Hills mansion from an overdose of sedatives allegedly given by his doctor.
Macaulay Culkin, above with actress Mila Kunis
Above, La Toya Jackson sits with other mourners. They filled more than 200 white chairs set up outside the Great Mausoleum.
The high-security structure is filled with reproductions of Michelangelo statues and a stained-glass replica of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper," according to Forrest Lawn's Web site.
The graves of Hollywood legends Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard, Red Skeleton and Nat King Cole dot the heavily guarded mausoleum's dim hallways - as do 24-hour security cameras.
Chris Tucker
Jackson's three young children poured their hearts out in personal letters that were placed in their father's gold-plated coffin along with one of his signature gloves. They placed a crown on top of a bed of flowers on the casket.
actor Mike Brando, seen above arriving at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
Legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor, who was dressed in black and arrived in a wheelchair, was one of Jackson's many celebrity friends who attended the service . . .
Michael Jackson was laid to eternal rest in a crypt fit for a king. His family and a slew of stars turned out to bid the King of Pop a final farewell.
Pictured, the hearse bearing the remains of US pop icon Michael Jackson arrive for his burial ceremony.
Maria Martinez, Riverside, Calif., is seen holding a Michael Jackson poster one city block away from the controlled entrance to Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Calif., on Thursday Sept. 3, 2009. Michael Jackson is scheduled to be interred in the Great Mausoleum, where he will be joining Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields
The hearse carrying Michael Jackson is seen at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Calif., on Thursday Sept. 3, 2009. Jackson is scheduled to be interred in the Great Mausoleum, where he will be joining Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields.
Elizabeth Taylor arrives to Michael Jackson's funeral at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Calif., on Thursday Sept. 3, 2009. Jackson is scheduled to be interred in the Great Mausoleum, where he will be joining Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields.
Michael Jackson fans offer gifts to the Jackson family prior to Michael Jackson's funeral at the family residence in the Encino section of Los Angeles for his son's funeral on Thursday Sept. 3, 2009. Jackson is scheduled to be interred in the Great Mausoleum, where he will be joining Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields.
In this handout photo provided by Harrison Funk/The Jackson Family, Janet Jackson, Randy Jackson, Jackie Jackson, Tito Jackson, Jermaine Jackson and Marlon Jackson attend Michael Jackson's funeral service held at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park on Sept. 3, 2009 in Glendale, Calif.
Michael Jackson's father Joe Jackson leaves the family residence in the Encino section of Los Angeles for his son's funeral on Thursday Sept. 3, 2009. Jackson is scheduled to be interred in the Great Mausoleum, where he will be joining Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields.
Michael Jackson's father Joe Jackson leaves the family residence in the Encino section of Los Angeles for his son's funeral on Thursday Sept. 3,2009. Jackson is scheduled to be interred in the Great Mausoleum, where he will be joining Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields.
Members of the media gather outside Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Calif., on Thursday Sept. 3, 2009. Michael Jackson is scheduled to be interred in the Great Mausoleum, where he will be joining Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields.
Michael Jackson's father Joe Jackson, center, leaves the family residence in the Encino section of Los Angeles for his son's funeral, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009. Jackson is scheduled to be interred in the Great Mausoleum, where he will be joining Hollywood legends such as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields. Jackson died June 25.
In this image made from video, Joe and Katherine Jackson are seated outside the Great Mausoleum where Michael Jackson will be interred, prior their son's funeral in Glendale, Calif. on Thursday Sept. 3, 2009.
The massive marble and concrete Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park was slightly accessible by the public before Michael Jackson was entombed somewhere in its maze of floors and hallways.
Tell the entrance guard you were there to see the "Last Supper" stained-glass window show, and you were allowed to roam a portion of the catacombs for about 10 minutes before anyone hassled you.
But those open sections are only a fraction of the sprawling building that rises many stories and plunges deep underground.
So wherein lies the King of Pop in the monolith? That may be a secret for the ages.
On Friday, a tourist family asked a guard whether the superstar's tomb was private. The guard said it was.
"Private ... forever?" one of them asked.
"Private forever." he said.
No fans, no paparazzi, and so far no one trying too hard to steal a glimpse of the vault containing Jackson's golden casket.
The exact location may forever remain unknown to all but a select few: A guest who attended the Jackson ceremony told The Associated Press the casket had not been put into the vault by the time mourners left.
The funeral began Thursday night nearly two hours after its scheduled 7 p.m. time. Some 200 mourners, including 77-year-old Elizabeth Taylor and other celebrities associated with Jackson, showed up promptly, only to wait at the outdoor seating area, under a withering late-summer sun that pushed temperatures to 90 degrees even as it was going down.
The ceremony began with remarks and song after the family arrived to fill the front five rows of white folding chairs.
Mourners then followed Jackson's brothers as they carried the casket into the mausoleum. The singer's daughter, 11-year-old Paris, cried and was comforted by her aunt, LaToya.
Paris and brothers Prince Michael, 12, and Prince Michael II, 7, known as Blanket, began the service by placing a bejeweled crown on their father's casket. They were composed through most of the 90-minute ceremony, the guest said.
Once inside, Gladys Knight performed the hymn "Our Father" (The Lord's Prayer) and moved many to tears, according to the guest. When it was over, many of the 200 mourners hugged each other. Among them were Taylor, Jackson's ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley, Barry Bonds and Macaulay Culkin.
As it ended, Katherine Jackson appeared extremely weary and had to be helped to her car, according to the guest. Earlier, she had a difficult time going into the mausoleum; she was overcome and turned back, making it unclear if she went in at all, the guest said.
More than 400 media credentials were issued to reporters and film crews who were kept behind barricades. The few clusters of fans who gathered around the secure perimeter encircling the cemetery entrance struggled to see.
Jackson will share eternity at Forest Lawn with the likes of Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields, entombed alongside them in the Great Mausoleum. The level of security and secrecy about the location of Jackson's vault all but guaranteed it won't be turned into a shrine or tourist stop.
The entombment also ends months of speculation that the singer's body would be buried at Neverland Ranch, in part to make the property a Graceland-style attraction.
The King of Pop died a drug-induced death June 25 at age 50 as he was about to embark on a comeback attempt. The coroner's office has labeled the death a homicide, and Jackson's death certificate lists "injection by another" as the cause.
Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal physician, told detectives he gave the singer a series of sedatives and the powerful anesthetic propofol to help him sleep. Prosecutors are still investigating, and no charges have been filed.
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Michael Jackson's outdoor funeral service began at Forest Lawn Glendale Thursday after a more than hour delay, keeping Elizabeth Taylor and other celebs waiting in the stubborn L.A. heat.
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