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Michael Jackson names Diana Ross as childrens' guardian
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Michael Jackson's will names Motown legend Diana Ross as his children's guardian if his mother Katherine is unable to care for them.
The will specifically cuts out ex-wife Debbie Rowe and sees the entire estate left to a family trust which will provide for Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11 and Prince Michael II, 7, who is known as Blanket - as well as his 79-year-old mother Katherine.
Fans of the singer will have to wait for a public memorial after his family said his body would not go on show at Neverland. A spokesman said plans for an event are still being worked out and will be announced "shortly".
It had previously been suggested the singer's body could be taken to the Californian ranch following his death last week at the age of 50. A statement released by the Jackson family's PR firm, Sunshine, Sachs & Associates, read: "Contrary to previous news reports, the Jackson family is officially stating that there will be no public or private viewing at Neverland.
"Plans are under way regarding a public memorial for Michael Jackson, and we will announce those plans shortly."
Santa Barbara County officials said there are no final decisions by the family for any funeral or memorial service in the county or at Neverland, located around 150 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
The will names Los Angeles-based attorney John Branca, a long-time Jackson counsel, and music industry executives John McClain and accountant Barry Siegel as co-executors, but Siegel resigned as a co-executor in 2003.
The pop star, who died last Thursday at the age of 50 after suffering cardiac arrest at his rented Los Angeles home, left behind a multimillion-dollar estate that includes part ownership in a Beatles music catalogue and his own music company that held rights to some of his music.
Elsewhere, his long-time friend and leading civil rights campaigner Jesse Jackson urged mourners to "celebrate Michael's life" amid reports that obsessed fans were committing suicide in the wake of the superstar's death.
In a message posted on website YouTube, Mr Jackson said: "This is a time that, while our hearts are heavy and there's great pain and great loss, we celebrate Michael's life.
"And we celebrate his life by creating futures not funerals, futures not funerals, to make Michael happy and maintain his sense of dignity, (his) sense of decency. It made Michael happy saying 'We Are The World'. Don't self destruct, don't give up or surrender.
"We fall down sometimes, we get back up again, and again and again. That's the right thing to do. In Michael's name, let's live together as brothers and sisters and not die apart as fools. Through all of this, keep your hope alive."
Earlier, a nutritionist said the singer pleaded for a powerful sedative to cure his insomnia ahead of his comeback tour in London. Cherilyn Lee, 56, a nurse and nutrition specialist in California, said the singer had asked to be prescribed the drug Diprivan - despite warnings that it could have harmful side-effects.
Jackson, who released Thriller in 1982, the best-selling album of all time, had been booked to play 50 gigs at the O2 arena in London starting later this month. Tour promoter Randy Phillips, president of AEG Live, denied the singer was suffering from stage fright, saying his firm would at "some point" be releasing footage of the rehearsals.
He said the show was going to be "beyond anything", adding: "At some point the world needs to see this production and I would imagine it could be done as a tribute with the family, with the brothers performing, some sisters, and the stars that were influenced by him.
"The world needs to see this production. It would have been, which is the tragedy here, one of the most amazing shows ever, so at some point we want the world to see that. We are discussing with the family so the sooner, the better."
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