Late legendary musician, Michael Jackson’s father, Joseph Jackson is dead. The patriarch of Jackson dynasty died on Wednesday June 27th, 2018 at the age of 89.
Reports revealed that the father of talented 11 children had been battling terminal pancreatic cancer and as a result was not doing well until he eventually kicked the bucket.
His grandsons; Randy Jackson Jr. and Taj Jackson confirmed his death via tweets on Wednesday afternoon…“RIP to the king that made everything possible! I love you grandpa. Joe was loved by the entire family and our hearts are in pain. Let us grieve.”
For those who don’t know, Joseph Walter Jackson was born in July 26, 1928. He was an American talent manager and patriarch of the Jackson family of entertainers which included his children Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. He was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2014.
He was born to Samuel Jackson, a university professor, and Crystal Lee King, in Fountain Hill, Arkansas, on July 26, 1928. Joe Jackson was the eldest of five children. He was of African and Native American Ancestry.
After his parents separated when he was twelve, his mother, two brothers, and sister moved to East Chicago, Indiana, a suburb outside Chicago in Northwest Indiana, and he moved with his father to Oakland, California. When he was 18, after his father remarried, he moved to East Chicago to live with his mother, two brothers, and sister. He soon got a job in East Chicago at Inland Steel Company, but did not finish high school.
While in East Chicago, he began to pursue his dreams of becoming a boxer and found success with the Golden Gloves program. While he was preparing for a professional boxing career, he met 17-year-old Katherine Scruse, who also lived in East Chicago and attended Washington High School; he married another woman and in less than a year he was divorced before he started dating Katherine.
Joseph and Katherine were married on November 5, 1949. In January 1950, they purchased a small two-bedroom home on 2300 Jackson Street near East Chicago in Gary, Indiana. Joe Jackson had eleven children, ten with his wife Katherine Jackson née Scruse: Maureen Reillette “Rebbie“ Jackson, born in May 29, 1950; Sigmund Esco “Jackie” Jackson, born in May 4, 1951; Toriano Adaryll “Tito” Jackson, born in October 15, 1953; Jermaine La Jaune Jackson, born in December 11, 1954; La Toya Yvonne Jackson, born in May 29, 1956; Marlon David Jackson, born in March 12, 1957; Brandon Jackson, March 12, 1957 – March 12, 1957; Michael Joseph Jackson, August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009; Steven Randall “Randy” Jackson, born October 29, 1961 and Janet Damita Jo Jackson, born in May 16, 1966. Joe also had a daughter, Joh’Vonnie Jackson, who was born on August 30, 1974, during Jackson’s 25-year-long affair with Cheryl Terrell.
While he was still employed at Inland Steel, Joseph Jackson left his hopes of becoming a professional boxer in order to support his family, and began working there as a full-time crane operator.
He later took a second part-time job at American Foundries in East Chicago. In the meantime, his wife Katherine tended to their growing family. Eventually in the late 1950’s she started working part-time at Sears in Gary. The Jacksons would go on to have ten children (their son Brandon Jackson died just after he was born).
During the early 1950s, Jackson briefly performed with his own blues band The Falcons, playing guitar. Despite their efforts, The Falcons did not get a recording deal and subsequently broke up after one of their members, Thornton “Pookie” Hudson, founded his own band in 1952. That band would go on to become a successful doo-wop group named The Spaniels.
He began working with his sons’ musical group in the early 1960s, first working with his three eldest sons, Jackie, Tito and Jermaine. Younger sons Marlon and Michael eventually joined the backing band. Joseph began enforcing long and intense rehearsals for his sons. At first, the group went under The Jackson Brothers.
Following the inclusions of Marlon and Michael in the group and Michael’s increased vocal presence within the group, their name was changed to The Jackson 5. After a couple years performing in talent contests and high school functions, Joseph booked them in more and more respectable venues until they landed a spot at the renowned Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City.
On November 21, 1967, The Jackson 5 were signed by Jackson to their first professional contract with Gordon Keith, an owner and the first president of Steeltown Records in Gary, Indiana. The group’s first single “Big Boy,” with Michael as the lead singer, was released by Keith on January 31, 1968 on the Steeltown label. “Big Boy” became a local hit and Michael and his brothers became local celebrities when and after it was played on radio stations in the Chicago-Gary area. Within the year, He helped to land his sons an audition for Motown Records in Detroit. The Jackson 5 were signed with Motown in March 1969.
He later relocated his family to California and supervised every recording session the group made for Motown. The group began to receive nationwide fame after their first single for Motown, “I Want You Back”, hit No.1 following its release on October 7, 1969, followed by their first album, Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5 in December 1969. After The Jackson 5’s first four singles, “I Want You Back” (The Jackson 5, 1969), “ABC” (The Jackson 5, 1970), “The Love You Save” (The Jackson 5, 1970), and “I’ll Be There” (The Jackson 5, 1970) sold 10 million copies in 10 months, setting a world record for sales, it became clear to Jackson that his dream to make his sons the first African-American teenagers to become internationally known recording stars had come true.
In 1973, wanting to reassert his role of control, he had his family, including youngest son Randy, and daughters Rebbie, La Toya and Janet perform at casinos and resorts in Las Vegas, inspired by the success of fellow family act, The Osmonds.
He had also opened his own record label, Ivory Tower International Records and signed artists under his management in which they toured internationally with The Jackson 5 as opening acts in 1974. In 1975, The Jackson 5, with the exception of Jermaine, left Motown and signed a lucrative deal with Epic Records after Michael Jackson had brokered a deal where they could eventually produce their own songs, leading to Motown retaining The Jackson 5 name, so they renamed themselves The Jacksons in 1976.
In 1978, his youngest son, Randy, released his solo single “How Can I Be Sure” under his record label. In 1982, He established his daughter, Janet Jackson’s career at age 16 as a recording artist while managing her. He financed the recording of his daughter’s first demo then, arranged her a recording contract with A&M Records and began recording her debut album, overseen by him.