MashGet

NEW YORK - On Tuesday (June 30), the Reverend Al Sharpton led a memorial for Michael Jackson at Harlem's Apollo Theater. Thousands of fans lined up as early as 5 a.m., according to reports. The theater opened its doors at 2 p.m., admitting Jackson's fans 600 at a time. MTV News went to the world-famous venue, where it looked as if more than 1,000 people were lined up waiting.

"The Apollo has always been the symbol for black music and later on popular music because as black music expanded, American popular music became greatly grounded in the black music tradition," Sharpton explained from his office. "No one was responsible for that more than Michael Jackson.