Michael Jackson Laid To Rest

Glendale (myFOXla.com) - Michael Jackson was interred Thursday night in Forest Lawn Memorial Park's ornate Great Mausoleum, more than two months after dying from an overdose of a powerful sedative.

You can watch Hal Eisner's and Tricia Takasugi's reports in the video player.

The ceremony was held outdoors, adjacent to the Great Mausoleum. The stage was adorned with six large bouquets of white lilies and white roses along with green topiaries.

Jackson's five brothers -- Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Randy -- served as pallbearers. At the beginning of the ceremony, Jackson's children placed a crown on their father's coffin to signify the final resting place of the King of Pop.

Longtime Jackson friends Elizabeth Taylor and Macaulay Culkin, Jackson's first wife, Lisa Marie Presley, Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, music producer Quincy Jones, the Rev. Al Sharpton and actor-comedian Chris Tucker were among the approximately the 200 invited guests at the approximately 90- minute private service.

Members of the Jackson family arrived shortly after 8 p.m. for the ceremony which had been set to begin at 7 p.m.

Pastor Lucius Smith delivered the opening prayer and read from Ecclesiastes 3:7. Gladys Knight sang the gospel hymn "His Eye Is on the Sparrow," accompanied by Greg Phillinganes.

Songwriter Clifton Davis sang The Jackson 5 song "Never Say Goodbye," which he wrote for the group.

Jackson's father Joe Jackson and Sharpton were among the speakers at the ceremony.

Following the ceremony, the Jackson brothers carried the casket into the Great Mausoleum, where Jackson was interred at 9:43 p.m.

A 26-car caravan of Jackson family members and close friends exited the cemetery around 10 p.m.

Glendale police and Forest Lawn officials took extra measures to ensure that the service remained private. The cemetery was closed, security officers patrolled the grounds in search of trespassers, and police in helicopters kept a close watch from the air.

Streets around the cemetery entrance were restricted or closed. One print photographer and one video photographer was allowed to shoot pool photos for the media, but all other cameras were banned from the cemetery.

Spectators were kept at least three blocks from the cemetery by Glendale police officers, many of who patrolled the area on Segway Personal Transporters. At one point, there were more than 100 spectators.

Flight restrictions over the cemetery were approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to keep news media helicopters at bay.

Reporters gathered under sweltering heat for much of the day to cover the funeral of the 50-year-old entertainer, who died June 25. Satellite trucks beamed coverage to North America, Asia and Europe.

The cemetery is the final resting place of such Hollywood luminaries as Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, Carole Lombard, Jimmy Stewart, Mary Pickford, Walt Disney, Nat King Cole and Sammy Davis Jr.

All the costs for Jackson's funeral service will be covered by the family -- specifically by the singer's estate.

Attorneys for Jackson's mother, Katherine, and the administrators of the singer's estate were in court Wednesday looking for authorization to use funds from the estate to pay for the funeral. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff decided to leave the decision up to the estate's administrators, and they expressed no objection.