The Iconic Women Who Loved Michael Jackson

July 7, 2009— -- From the legendary queen of Motown, Diana Ross, to the beloved Princess Diana to Dame Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson has danced and performed with, serenaded and even married some of the world's biggest leading ladies.

In death, Jackson gave the greatest honor to Diana Ross, naming her to care for his three children if his mother, Katherine Jackson, was unable to do so.

The two first met 40 years ago, when Jackson was just 10 years old.

She, 24, was at the top of her game. He was the breakout star of the Jackson 5. And in 1971, when Jackson embarked on his solo career, he made his debut on Ross' television special.

In 1978, they would star together in "The Wiz," an urban take on the "Wizard of Oz." She was Dorothy. He was the scarecrow.

In Ross, Jackson had a mentor and role model. Jackson even went to live with Ross at one time.

"He did see … Diana Ross, in a way, as a showbiz mother," said People magazine's J.D. Heyman.

If Ross was Jackson's showbiz mother, Hollywood royalty Elizabeth Taylor told Barbara Walters that she was his best friend.

"So many people have robbed him, black and blind," Taylor said. "Why should he trust people? I think I'm the only person in his life that has not betrayed him."

For Taylor's 65th birthday, Jackson performed a song he'd written for her, called "Elizabeth, I Love You."

She stood by Jackson and supported him completely during his 2005 trial for molestation, even encouraging him to wear a red string as protection from the evil eye.

And Jackson hosted Taylor's eighth and last wedding at Neverland Ranch.

"Elizabeth Taylor, one of his closest friends, knows firsthand what it was like not to have a typical childhood," Heyman said. "She was a child star very, very young, and they had that in common."

Taylor will not be in attendance at today's memorial service for Jackson at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, saying she didn't think he would want her to share her grief in public.