Thaindian News

New York, June 28 (ANI): Hundreds of Michael Jackson’s fans paid tribute to the late legend at the Apollo Theater in New York, say reports.

Locals, tourists and fans celebrated Jackson’s life and music with makeshift memorials and shrines.

Georgia Weekes, 71, recalled being at the Jackson 5’s first performance at the Harlem theater 40 years ago, when Michael was 9 and the group won on Amateur Night.

“It was a sold-out show and he had this big Afro. You just knew he was going to be a star,” the New York Post quoted Weekes, of Brooklyn, as saying.

“I remember the choreography, they were so precise. Then the intonation of his voice, he was so unique,” added Khalil Mustafa, 65, of Queens, who also saw the 1969 show.

Fans wrote tributes and remembrances on cardboard, shared memories, listened to Jackson’s music, and even performed moonwalks.

“I came out here to be with people who would respectfully show their sentiments to Michael Jackson and his family,” Annette Thomas, 53, wearing a brown T-shirt emblazoned with images of the Gloved One.

Tour buses and private cars slowed down as they passed the theatre-where the marquee read “In Memory of Michael Jackson. A True Apollo Legend”-so that passengers could listen one more time to his music.

Young Jackson aficionados converged on the renowned Harlem theater on West 125th Street to mark the ‘Thriller’ star’s death as a historic moment.

“The passing of a legend only happens every once in a while. I wanted to come when James Brown died, but I couldn’t make it. I felt I couldn’t miss Michael Jackson,” said Nick Rumaczyk, 24, of upstate New York.

Dozens of Detroit mourners placed stuffed animals and other mementos at a makeshift memorial at the Hitsville USA building, the original home of Motown Records, where Jackson’s career was launched. (ANI)