CCMP Music Program

The BET Awards 2009 paid tribute to her brother, King of Pop Michael Jackson whose passed away at age 50 on June, 2009 was just days before the annual wards ceremony. Live telecast, singer Jamie Foxx, the Oscar winning actor and Grammy winning R&B singer said as the start,

”No need to be sad — we want to celebrate this black man. He belongs to us and we shared him with everybody else. … It didn’t make a difference what he looked like. It matters what he sounded like.”

The Janet Jackson BET Awards 2009 video reveals the singer telling the audience: “My entire family wanted to be here tonight, but it was just too painful. To you, Michael is an icon. To us, Michael is family and he will forever live in all of our hearts…Thank you for all of your support. We miss him so much.” Joe Jackson, the father of Michael Jackson also sat in the audience and previously had walked the red carpet where he gave a brief interview saying “I don’t like what happened.” The video can be seen here. The Daily News quotes from his CNN interview in which he stated, regarding the tributes worldwide: “I wish the world had recognized him when he was living. I wish he was here to see all this.”

There were number of performances that cover the music of Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5, including a Jaime Foxx Moonwalk and a rendition of signature hits ABC, The Love You Save, and I Want You Back performed by New Edition. There are also Beyonce, Ne-Yo, Kanye West, Queen Latifah, and Keri Hilson, Maxwell, Fabolous, Soulja Boy, Keyshia Cole and Mary Mary among others, as the various performers and presenters and winners offered words about the legendary King of Pop and how he had inspired them.