A 'Thriller' jacket that belonged to Michael Jackson is
shown at Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills, California.
(AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
A famed black-and-red calfskin jacket that Michael
Jackson wore in the classic "Thriller" video has sold at
auction for $US1.8 million ($NZ2.23m).
Darren Julien, president and CEO of Julien's Auctions in
Beverly Hills, says the jacket was purchased by Milton
Verret, a commodities trader from Austin, Texas.
The jacket is one of two Jackson wore during the filming of
the 1983 "Thriller" video. Jackson wears the jacket in a
scene with a troupe of zombies who rise from their graves and
break into a dance routine.
Verret says the jacket will be sent on tour and used as a
fundraising tool for children's charities.
A portion of the sale price will go to the Shambala Preserve,
a big cat sanctuary caring for two tigers Jackson one owned.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Jackson fans have marked the two-year
anniversary of the singer's death by gathering for a memorial
outside the Gary home where Jackson grew up.
The Times of Munster reports that revellers swayed to
Jackson's songs during Saturday night's (local time) tribute.
Poets, local singers and dancers also entertained the crowd.
Mayor Rudy Clay welcomed visitors to the event and proclaimed
the city will not stop celebrating Jackson's memory.
Jackson died on June 25, 2009, of an overdose of sedatives at
the age of 50, just before he was to begin a comeback tour.
Thirty-year-old Marshall Bingaman of Kansas City, Missouri,
says he made a nine-hour drive to Gary to pay tribute to
Jackson's life. Bingaman says events like Saturday's memorial
help keep Jackson's memory alive.
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