Stevie Wonder and Kobe Bryant will take part in Michael Jackson’s memorial

Michael Jackson’s public memorial service is set to be visited by a number of music celebrities. Stevie Wonder and Mariah Carey were announced to take part in it, as well as Jennifer Hudson and Usher. Basketball stars Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson will also participate in the ceremony.

Earlier it was announced that memorial service would be visited only by Jackson’s family and close friends, such as Elizabeth Taylor and Diana Ross.

The ceremony itself will take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles today, on July 7. 11,000 free tickets for the memorial service were raffled through the Web, as well as an additional 6,500 tickets to Nokia Theatre, where the service will be shown on video screens. The ceremony will be also broadcasted live all over the world.

The event was staged by Grammy Awards producer Ken Ehrlich and Kenny Ortega, the director of the Michael Jackson’s series of concerts in London.