娱乐英语新闻:Thousands pay respect to Jackson on first anniversary of death

According to voicePlate, a portion of the proceeds from Saturday 's event will be presented to some of Jackson's favorite charities.

"I know that Michael would be very honored and very pleased that his fans all over the world are coming together to celebrate his life," Katherine said in a video posted on YouTube.

"And I'd also like to thank friends all over the world for the love and support that they have given me and my family this last year," she said. "Thank you very much, we all love you. And if Michael was here, he would say, I love you more."

Michael Jackson died June 25, 2009. He was found unconscious at his rented Holmby Hills estate in Los Angeles, where he was staying while preparing for a series of concerts in London. He was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The coroner's office determined that the 50-year-old singer died of propofol intoxication, a powerful sedative, prescribed by his personal physician, Conrad Murray, who has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and is awaiting trial.

Jackson's death shocked the world and prompted a media frenzy. Thousands of fans swarmed his memorial service at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. Weeks later, he was laid to rest at the Glendale cemetery.

As the first anniversary of Jackson's death was marked, Jackson' s father, Joe, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Murray, who admitted giving the singer the powerful sedative propofol.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleges that Murray "began a course of medication treatments for Michael Jackson which was below the standard of care and ultimately resulted in Jackson's over-medication and death."

According to the lawsuit, Murray withheld information from paramedics that may have helped them revive the unconscious singer, who used propofol to sleep. It also alleges Murray tried to clean up or hide evidence relevant to the death.

Joe did not name AEG, the entertainment company of the singer's comeback tour in London. However, the patriarch of the Jackson family, is reportedly wanting to hold the firm partially liable for his son's death, because it was paying Murray to take care of the star.