“I just wish he could be here to celebrate himself,” he said on the red carpet. Joe Jackson, the singer’s father, also represented the grief-stricken family, though he did not appear on stage. Host Jamie Foxx kicked off the show with a re-enactment of the choreography from Jackson’s iconic “Beat It” video in front of the star-studded crowd, on its feet from the start of the show.

“He’s the man who made it possible for me to be on the stage I love you and I miss you,” said Ne-Yo, who sang one of Jackson’s most sensual songs, “Lady In My Life.” It was a stirring emotional climax for a telecast that was completely revamped to recognize the legacy of Jackson, who died Thursday at age 50. “To us, Michael is family and he will forever live in all of our hearts.” “To you, Michael is an icon,” a somber Janet Jackson told the crowd at the end of Sunday’s Black Entertainment Television Awards show. In her first public appearance since her brother Michael’s shocking death, Janet Jackson memorialized him as her beloved sibling and vowed his memory would live forever. Some of the biggest stars on the planet turned back into gushing Michael Jackson fans at the BET Awards, donning single gloves, swapping stories about their idol and singing The King of Pop’s standards.