Britney Spears, Madonna, Justin Timberlake, and Beyonce are among the stars who didn’t show up Michael Jackson’s memorial service yesterday. MTV reported ahead of the event that Timberlake would be there although he didn’t attend. Elizabeth Taylor and Diana Ross, who were close to Jackson, didn’t attend due to personal reasons and both said they didn’t want to make their grief public. Was it a snub that many music industry stars, most of whom issued statements after Jackson’s death, stayed away? Were they afraid of overshadowing the family or the event, or did they stay home for some other reason?

It was expected to be the who’s who of everyone in the entertainment industry, bigger than President Obama’s inauguration, more star-studded than Princess Diana’s funeral.

A number of them came, like Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson and Lionel Richie. But many of the most famous people in the music world didn’t show up to Michael Jackson’s memorial Tuesday.

Among the stars expected to attend who did not: Quincy Jones, who produced some of Jackson’s biggest hits, Beyonce Knowles, who paid tribute to Jackson at June 28’s BET awards, and Macaulay Culkin, who spent time at Jackson’s Neverland ranch as a boy.

Some of Jackson’s closest friends also shunned the service. Diana Ross, the soul legend Jackson emulated and the potential guardian of his three children, declined to attend and instead issued a statement to the media as the memorial began.

“I am trying to find closure,” Ross said in her statement. “I want you to know that even though I am not there at the Staples Center, I am there in my heart. I have decided to pause and be silent. This feels right for me. Michael was a personal love of mine, a treasured part of my world, part of the fabric of my life in a way that I can’t seem to find words to express….”

Screen and stage legend Liza Minnelli and her ex-husband, David Gest, both longtime pals of Jackson’s, were also no-shows.

Then there’s the bevy of successful musicians who count Jackson as their contemporary and/or inspiration (if not their personal friend) who were notably absent from the proceedings: fellow legends Madonna, Prince and Elton John, pop stars Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, and Sheryl Crow, who began her career as a back-up singer for Jackson in the 1980s. They all sang Jackson’s praises to the press in the days following his death — why not show up to the main event?

[From ABC News]

The article goes on to point out that Britney and Madonna are both touring and it’s likely they couldn’t get away. It’s also possible that they wanted to perform but didn’t have the time and didn’t want to show up without doing some kind of tribute to Jackson. The celebrities might have felt that the day was about the family and Jackson’s legacy and they weren’t going to come and make it about them. It was about the fans and the gift that Jackson left us with his music. Until I read about the celebrity no-shows today I didn’t notice who wasn’t there because I was focused on the message and the music. The service really moved me, and that’s what matters, not who showed up.

Here is Britney in Paris yesterday taking her sons to The Eiffel Tower. Credit: Fame Pictures