Tattle: It's news vs. speculation in MJ saga
erland Ranch (hotel rooms in the area quickly sold out), an effort to bury Jackson at Neverland fizzled.
E! News reported that Jackson's body was being held at the Hollywood Hills location of Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuaries and that he would be laid to rest there.
(This could be news or speculation. It could also be 100 percent accurate when reported and 100 percent inaccurate by tomorrow. Jackson family decision-making seems to be a tad fluid.)
Burying Jackson at Forest Lawn would make traffic a little more bearable in Santa Barbara County, where authorities had been preparing for tens of thousands of fans to descend on the 2,500-acre ranch for the previously rumored viewing, but it would be a royal security pain for Forest Lawn - reminiscent of when Elvis's body had to be moved to Graceland because the cemetery couldn't deal with the hordes of tourists.
The reason Jackson can't be buried at Neverland is that California's health and safety code makes interring any uncremated remains outside of a cemetery a misdemeanor. Cremated remains can be kept in a home or private mausoleum outside a cemetery.
* A private memorial service for family
and friends could take place at Neverland, most likely after the TBD funeral.
* Details of the Michael Jackson Family
Trust will not be made public.
But that doesn't mean there won't be countless stories citing anonymous sources providing details.
* One of Jackson's most lucrative assets
is his stake in the massive Sony-ATV Music Publishing Catalog, which includes music by the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Lady Gaga and the Jonas Brothers, and is estimated to be worth as much as $2 billion.
* Debbie Rowe, who
was married to Jackson in 1996 and filed for divorce three years later, surrendered her parental rights. An appeals court later found that had been done in error, and Rowe and Jackson entered an out-of-court settlement in 2006.
So far, she has not made a claim of parental rights on the children.
* Since his death, Jackson's album sales have been off the wall - "Number Ones," "Essential Michael Jackson," and "Thriller" are the top three albums in the country, and a record-breaking 2.3 million MJ tracks have been downloaded, Nielsen SoundScan said yesterday.
No single artist has sold more than a million digital tracks in a week since Nielsen began counting in July 2004.
When adding in all Jackson 5 songs, as well as sales in Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, digital downloads for the week hit 3.3 million.
Last week the Jackson catalog accounted for 52,000 downloads.
Nothing spurs sales of "Never Can Say Goodbye" like saying goodbye.



