Jackson's Joining Ranks Of Iconic Funerals
Some people are already calling it the greatest show on earth, but how will Michael Jackson's funeral compare to other recent iconic funerals?
CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer pointed out from London that, on the day in 1997 when Princess Diana's casket, followed by royal mourners, slowly wound its way through the city's streets, 2.5 billion people, almost half the population of the planet at the time, were watching.
It was a funeral transformed by television into a global spectacle.
And almost exactly 20 years before, when TV's reach was smaller, 80,000 people lined up outside Graceland to say goodbye to Elvis Presley.
"It's just unreal right now I just can't believe it. I'm just numb. I'm in a daze," said a Presley fan at the time.
In 2006, the body of James Brown, the "King of Funk and Soul," arrived at New York's Apollo Theatre in a gold-plated casket in a glass-sided carriage, and was given a loving send-off at a packed public funeral in Augusta, Ga. that included a tribute from Jackson.
"I shall miss you. And I love you so much and thank you for everything," Jackson said.
Today, fans will echo those sentiments worldwide as they watch the "King of Pop" take center stage for the very last time.