The king of pop is set to receive the Diamond Award at the World Music Awards in London next month, honoring his career album sales in excess of 100 million.

Jackson will make a rare public appearance at the Nov. 15 ceremony to collect his hardware.

Upping the spectacle ante: Lindsay Lohan has been tapped to host the to-do, taking place in the U.K. for the first time in its 18-year history.

According to the organizers, Jackson was chosen to receive the Diamond Award due solely to his impressive sales, despite the fact that he hit the 100 million milestone years ago. He joins of select list of winners that includes Rod Stewart, Mariah Carey, Bon Jovi and Celine Dion.

The World Music Awards does not dole out the prestigious honor every year, and not only because of a dearth of qualified recipients. According to the awards show, the honor is presented only when there is “a very special reason for it, and there can be no doubt that Michael Jackson is the most special reason.”

Jackson, of course, has been attempting to raise his musical profile—while keeping his personal travails on the down low—as he strives toward a comeback.

The timing of the award also happens to coincide with the 25th anniversary of Thriller, Jackson’s ground- and record-breaking album that has sold more than 40 million copies since its 1982 release.

The choice of venue for Jackson’s U.K. coming-out party—he hasn’t publicly appeared in Britain since 1997—is something of an odd one.

In any event, Jackson and Lohan aren’t the only VIP RSVPs. Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige and Andrea Bocelli will all perform at the ceremony.

Aside from preparing his acceptance speech, Jackson is also said to be working on his long-coming follow-up album to the critically panned 2001 release, Invincible, despite having recently split with the Bahrain-based record label Two Seas.

Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Times reported that Jackson had enlisted the help of several prominent hip-hop producers and was working his way to a more urban sound.

When Jackson was partnered with Two Seas, his camp proclaimed that a new album would be out in 2007.

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After seven years of marriage Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe have formally separated.

This information was confirmed by several news channels. Their publicists stated: “We are saddened to announce that Reese & Ryan have decided to formally separate,” read a statement from the couple’s camp. “They remain committed to their family and we ask that you please respect their privacy and the safety of their children at this time.”

No divorce papers have been filed, though TMZ.com reports that Witherspoon has contacted Hollywood wives’ go-to attorney, Robert Kaufman. The split specialist has previously represented Jennifer Aniston, Roseanne and Lisa Marie Presley in their high-profile uncouplings.

Although Monday’s announcement was unexpected, particularly for believers in the Hollywood happy ending, rumors of marital strife have dogged the twosome for years.

Just last week the camera-ready couple hit the red carpet at a special New York screening of Phillippe’s newest film, the Clint Eastwood-directed Flags of Our Fathers, for which they were all smiles. But some tabloids and gossip Websites reported the two had a public spat that precipitated an early exit from the event.

Word of trouble in paradise first began circulating in 2002, when Witherspoon admitted that she and Phillippe dealt with problems in the marriage by attending couple’s therapy, an admission that sparked rumors of infidelity and career jealousy and headlines touting an impending split.

In an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show last year, Witherspoon, 30, again defended the strength of her marriage and their decision to work their problems out with a counselor.

Phillippe echoed the sentiment to the new issue of Interview magazine, out this month.

The 32-year-old actor admitted to actively distancing himself from his wife and family while filming on location.

According to TMZ.com, which first reported on the separation, no one event sparked the break-up, rather the decision to split was well thought out and based on cumulative events.

As far as Hollywood folklore is concerned, however, a tipping point may have come in February, when Witherspoon took home the Best Actress Oscar for Walk the Line.

 

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