Chris Brown joins Jackson tribute line-up

Shamed US pop star Chris Brown will be among 13 singers leading the bill at Vienna’s Michael Jackson tribute contest later this month.

Brown, who was given community service after admitting beating up former girlfriend Rihanna in February, will be joined by Mary J. Blige, Natalie Cole and Sister Sledge at the September 26 show, organisers said.

Jackson’s brother Jermaine said up to 25 performers are expected to perform outside a 17th-century palace in the Austrian capital and more names will be unveiled at news conferences later this week in London and Berlin.

The event is being billed as the main global tribute to Jackson, who died on June 25 in Los Angeles.

Jackson’s family and children will be in Vienna, and 65,000 fans are expected to attend.

All the artists will play some of Jackson's greatest hits at the concert, including 'Thriller', 'Billie Jean' and 'Black or White'.

The tribute will be held on a large crown-shaped stage to be built in front of Vienna’s former imperial Schoenbrunn Palace, one of the Austrian capital’s top tourist attractions.

Jermaine Jackson has said Vienna was chosen as the venue because his brother “loved castles,” and because Jermaine was impressed with how a smaller tribute held in July outside a mothballed nuclear power plant was organised.

Negotiations are continuing to select a broadcaster to show the event live to an estimated one billion fans worldwide, Jackson said.