Chapter 1: Death and Memorial In March 2009, Michael announced that he would perform in a series of comeback concerts titled This Is It. The shows were to be his first major series of concerts since the HIStory World Tour finished in 1997. Initially, 10 concerts were planned but that number grew to 50 due to record-breaking ticket sales. Of this, Michael said, "I only agreed to so many shows, and the next thing I knew, they'd planned many more. I was so upset, but we were so very much in debt that I knew we had to do more shows to cover the debt." When asked what was going on with him on the inside during all the panic, Michael replied: "I was very confused. I didn't know what was going on. The children were running around very upset, and that upset me. They should have been taken to another room. I was looking down at my body but I felt fine. My back no longer hurt, and I didn't know what was going on." A private family service was held at Forest Lawn. When asked how he felt about that, Michael said, "I was there and when I looked at my body in the casket, I was very upset at my make-up and how they'd done my hair. At least I had my slippers on, thank God. Then I laughed because I couldn't believe it was my body. It looked so unlike me."

"Death and Memorial" is excerpted from
"I Can See Clearly Now" by Lary Glen Anderson.

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