Michael Jackson this time, wrote hits such as "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" (1979), "This Place Hotel" (1980), and "Can You Feel It" (1980). Jackson's work in film began in 1978, when he moved to New York City to star as the Scarecrow in "The Wiz", a musical directed by Sidney Lumet. It costarred Diana Ross, Nipsey Russell, and Ted Ross. The film was a box-office failure. Its score was arranged by Quincy Jones, whom Jackson had previously met when he was 12 at Sammy Davis Jr.'s house. Jones agreed to produce Jackson's next solo album. During his time in
Michael Jackson memorial service Usher. In, addition to the above persons, ABC News reported, Lionel Richie's daughter Nicole, who was Michael's goddaughter, and singers Akon and Sean Combs would attend the services. Debbie Rowe, Jackson's ex-wife and mother of two of his three children, hoping not to be a distraction, did not attend the funeral. Elizabeth Taylor and Diana Ross, two of Jackson's closest friends, as well as Eliza Jackson Duphrey, Quincy Jones, Ivonne Ester Duphrey (Michael Jackson's cousins) also did not attend. Jackson was presented in a gold-plated solid bronze Promethean casket furnished by the Batesville Casket Company, which cost roughly $25,000. It