Michael Jackson Memorial Quotes & Photos

It turned out to be a star studded event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for the Michael Jackson memorial. Some of the celebrities who attended the memorial were Kobe Bryant, Mariah Carey, Brooke Shields, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, Usher, and Magic Johnson.

Michael's golden casket was carried by several of his brothers, who each wore a sequined glove in honor of Michael.

Michael's daughter Paris Katherine told the crowd her daddy was the best father anyone could imagine and "I just wanted to say I love him so much."

Here's a few quotes from celebrities who spoke at the event this afternoon:

"He was driven by his hunger to learn, to constantly top himself, to be the best. He was the consummate student. He studied the greats and became greater. He raised the bar and then broke the bar."

- Barry Gordy founder of Motown Records.

 "This is a moment that I wished that I didn't live to see come, but as much as I can say that and mean it, I do know that God is good, and I do know that as much as we may feel, and do, that we need Michael with us, God must have needed him more."

-Stevie Wonder

 "When Michael started, it was a different world, but because Michael kept going, because he didn't accept limitations, because he refused to let people decide his boundaries, he opened up the whole world in the music world. He put on one glove, pulled his pants up and broke down the color curtain."

- Al Sharpton

 "Michael was a personal love of mine, a treasured part of my life, part of the fabric of my life, in a way that I can't seem to find words to express"

- Diana Ross

 Brooke Shields said she and Michael bonded "because we both understood what it was like to be in the spotlight from a very, very young age."

Everyone has their opinion on Michael and his crazy life. I'm not blind to what has happened with him and the molestation accusations in the past, but that's not how I'll remember him.

He was a huge part of my childhood and the Thriller album was the first record I ever had. I had a purple jacket with zippers on the chest that I called my 'Michael Jackson Jacket' and stole one of my mom's white winter gloves to use as my Michael glove when I would attempt to do the moonwalk. Needless to say, this white girl can't moonwalk. :)

Lucky for him, heaven doesn't have paparazzi.