Spike Lee to Throw Brooklyn Block Party Celebrating Michael Jackson’s Birthday

Spike Lee will throw a Brooklyn block party to celebrate Michael Jackson’s birthday, according to published reports. The event will held on August 29, the day Jackson would have turned 51.

Lee, whose film version of Stew’s Passing Strange will be released commercially in New York and other cities on August 21, will host the event in Fort Greene Park. DJ Spinna will spin music from all stages of the singer/songwriter’s career including hits from the Jackson 5 as well as the Jacksons. Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz will reportedly be on hand to declare August 29 “Michael Jackson Day.” In related news, Jackson’s funeral will not be held on the 29th as previously announced. According to published reports, he will be buried on September 3 in a private ceremony at Holly Terrace in the Grand Mausoleum at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Jackson was in discussions with producers about creating a Broadway musical at the time of his death in June. The musical Thriller – Live, which features some of Jackson’s biggest hits, continues to run in London.