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July 14, 2009
Posted: 326 GMT
LONDON, England – This should have been it. The night Michael Jackson returned triumphantly to the stage in London for the opening night of an epic farewell residency and his first concerts in a decade. 
Michael Jackson fans write messages to the star on a whiteboard erected outside the O2 Arena.
 The tragic pop star may not have made it back to the O2 Arena, the scene of his final public appearance to announce the “This Is It” dates back in February, but plenty of his fans turned up all the same to mark the moment, celebrate their hero and seek solace and comfort in the company of their fellow devotees. During his life, Jackson's fans were notorious for - and took a certain pride in - their cultish loyalty to the performer. Perhaps it is no surprise therefore that to some Jackson has now become a kind of quasi-religious figure: martyred, misunderstood and mercilessly hounded to his sudden, shocking death. “To me, because this was where he did the press conference, it was almost like his final performance was here,” said Morganna Bramah. “His final public speech was in this area, so it's a very spiritual place for us to come and pay our respects to the man.” The 29-year-old Bramah had just returned to London from Los Angeles where she had hoped to attend last week's official memorial to Jackson at the Staples Center. Tearfully, she said the past two weeks had been a “spiritual pilgrimage.” “I felt like I needed to do it because he has given to us so much and it's the least we can do to show the world how much he was loved, how much he was respected and how much we are going to miss him.” Gemma White and Terry Shaw, from Kent in southern England, admitted they were both “still in denial” about Jackson's death. “You can't explain the feeling of seeing Michael Jackson in person, even if it was for one brief second of him walking out of a building,” said Shaw, also just back from Los Angeles. “We came down here for Michael. It was the last thing we could do for him. It had to be done.” 
Among the crowds leaving flowers, memorabilia and messages at a makeshift shrine outside the venue were many fans who, with tickets, flights and hotels already booked, had decided to come to London anyway. “It's like coming to a family reunion where you meet your long lost relatives,” said Jessica Prater, 28, of Harlem, New York. “I'm really feeling the love and I know Michael is here in spirit. I can feel it.” Italian pair Martin Russo and Enrico Ardifo said they had decided to come at the last minute when they heard about plans for a London tribute via Facebook. “He had a special bond with his fans. Michael cared truly for his fans,” Ardifo said. Holding a handmade banner saying, “You will never be forgotten,” Sophie Bradley, 25, said she came to say thank you to Jackson. “I've flown in from the Middle East but I had to be here,” she said. A Jackson fan since she was eight, Bradley said she collapsed when she heard the news of the performer's death. “He was a father figure and a role model,” she said. “To some fans, it's just about the songs - but to the real fans he was about so much more than the music.” Posted by: CNN digital news producer, Simon Hooper
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