John Mayer stayed silent at memorial

JOHN MAYER said he didn't sing during Michael Jackson's memorial because he was scared he
wouldn't manage the high notes.

He took to the stage and played an instrumental rendition of Jackson's song Human Nature in front of the late star's family and fans at the Staples Center in Los Angeles yesterday.

And the rocker insists he felt spiritually connected to Jackson as he strummed his guitar - even though he'd never met the icon.

He tells U.S. talk show host Larry King, "In a way, it was sort of respectfully leaving an absence, you know, sort of the presence of his absence."

But he also chose not to sing - because he feared he'd be the worst performer on the stage: "I don't have a great vocal range... The decision not to sing was just out of knowing what's best for me."

But Mayer was thrilled to be a part of the service, adding, "All I could keep thinking was how humanising it was. You know, Michael Jackson wasn't super human. He was extra human. But nobody's super human.

"And I think everybody who watched the service, I think by the end of it, the best service of all was the service done to Michael Jackson - to sort of render him finally as being a human being."