The Jackson family has finally agreed to plans for a public memorial service at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, CA on Tuesday July 7. In a statement issued by the family late Thursday, the Jacksons announced that 11,000 tickets would be made available to the public free of charge (which seems contrary to a report from RadarOnline that tickets for the service would cost $25). Here is the newly updated info on Michael Jackson‘s public funeral service as it stands right now:

Michael Jackson’s family has agreed to hold a memorial for the singer at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The decision, announced by family spokesman Ken Sunshine, caps days of discussions about how to honor Jackson. Few details were immediately available. But in a statement, Sunshine said that 11,000 tickets will be distributed to the general public free of charge. There will be a registration system to get tickets. More details will be announced Friday.] At a news conference this afternoon, AEG Live’s chief executive, Randy Phillips, said he had been conferring with the family and that its desire was to hold a memorial service at Staples Center, the scene of the singer’s final rehearsal. Phillips said the ultimate decision about the timing and format of such a program lay with Jackson’s mother, Katherine. “It’s all up to Katherine,” Phillips said.

It is of MUCH comfort to know that there will NOT be a cost to attend Michael Jackson‘s public memorial service after all. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if news of the $25 charge was leaked in order to gauge public sentiment on the matter … clearly, giving away the majority of tickets is the right way to go. It should be noted that the Staples Center holds an estimated 20,000 people so it’s possible that the other 9,000 available tickets could be sold for the reported $25 fee (which would equal $225,000). Whatever the case may be and however the tickets are distributed, I have no doubt that MJ‘s service on Tuesday will be a major spectacle … and I understand it will be only the first of many public memorials to the late King of Pop. While MJ is surely to be buried here in SoCal very soon, the schedule of public memorials around the country and world is sure to continue for some time. It appears that Michael Jackson will get one final world tour, as it were, after all.

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