LOS ANGELES: Janet Jackson joins stars to honour her brother

Tearful Janet Jackson paid tribute to her dead brother at a music awards ceremony in Los Angeles, honouring the King of Pop

The 43-year-old sister of Michael Jackson appeared at the Black Entertainment Television awards in the Shrine auditorium in Hollywood.

"My entire family wanted to be here tonight but it was just too painful, so they elected me to speak for all of us," she said.

"To you, Michael is an icon. To us, Michael is family and he will forever live in all of our hearts.

"On behalf of my family and myself, thank you for all of your love, thank you for all of your support. We miss him so much, thank you so much."

The BET awards became a tribute to Jackson in a sign that black America — and particularly its leading showbusiness figures — wanted to embrace him as one of their own in death.

Host Jamie Foxx started the show by performing the dance from the video of Beat It and said: "No need to be sad. We want to celebrate this black man."

Beyoncé called the singer "my hero" as she received her best female R&B artist award and said: "This is for you, Michael Jackson."

Sean "Diddy" Combs said: "He is one of our heroes. As African-Americans, we are not going to let everybody beat him up."

The BET awards will be screened in high-definition on Freesat (Channel 142) from 8pm on July 4.