Janet Jackson Janet Jackson has paid tribute to her brother, Michael Jackson.

Appearing in front of crowds at the BET awards in Los Angeles, the singer welled up as she hailed her "icon" relative.

"My entire family wanted to be here tonight, but it was just too painful so they elected me to speak with all of you," Janet told the crowd at the Shrine Auditorium in LA.

"I would just like to say that 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 your love; thank you for all your support," she went on.

With her voice trembling, she ended, "We miss him so much."

Michael's father, Joe Jackson, also attended the awards, which were hastily re-engineered in order to pay tribute to the superstar, following his shock death on Thursday 25th June.

Joe sat in the first row, as a string of musicians, from Beyonce to Lil' Wayne, paid their respects.

"I wish the world had recognised him when he was living," he earlier told CNN when asked about his late son. "Right now, he's bigger than ever. But I wish he was here to see all this, to hear all this."

Jamie Foxx, Stevie Wonder and Ne-Yo performed The Jackson 5 hit I'll Be There at the ceremony, and Jamie also attempted a version of Jacko's infamous moonwalk on stage.