Joseph Jackson

Infobox musical artist
Name = Joseph Walter Jackson
Background = non_performing_personnel
Born = birth date and age|1929|7|26
Origin = Fountain Hill, Arkansas
Instrument = Guitar
Genre = R&B
Occupation = Manager, record executive
Years_active = 1964 - present
Associated_acts = The Jackson 5
Michael Jackson
Janet Jackson

Joseph Walter Jackson (a.k.a Joe Jackson, born July 26, 1929) is a manager, former boxer, former musician best known as the father of American entertainers Michael and Janet Jackson. He is also notable for forming The Jackson 5, who became a popular Motown group in the early 1970s.

Biography

Early life

Jackson was born in Fountain Hill, Arkansas to Samuel Jackson and Crystal Lee King. [ [http://www.wargs.com/other/jacksonm.html Ancestry of Michael Jackson ] ] Born the eldest of four, Joseph's parents split when he was twelve, moving with his father to Oakland, California, he lived there until after turning eighteen when he moved to Chicago to live near his mother. While there, he met his future wife Katherine Scruse. After a brief marriage and annulment, the two began a courtship resulting in their November 5, 1949 marriage. Settling in Gary, Indiana, Joseph, a former boxer, worked full-time as a crane operator at Gary's U.S. Steel company, while Katherine tended to their growing brood of children, which led to nine. In the mid-1950s, Joseph started a music career with his brother Luther playing guitar in a band called the Falcons. The group split up a couple of years later after the group failed to get a recording deal. Joe returned full time to his job at the U.S. Steel company. He became one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

The Jackson 5

By 1964, Joe had begun to discover that his three eldest sons, Jackie, Tito and Jermaine, had talent after Tito was busted for playing his guitar after a string broke. After Tito played for him and Jackie and Jermaine backed him up vocally, he helped form an early incarnation of The Jackson 5 with two neighborhood youths though eventually younger brothers Marlon and Michael joined.

Within a few years, the Jackson 5 polished their talents under Joseph's strict leadership. In 1966, the Jackson brothers turned professional and began performing in paying gigs, which paid off after the group got signed to Motown in 1968, and shortly afterwards the brothers became international recording stars. Joseph's role as manager dwindled however as Motown CEO Berry Gordy began to take more charge on his act, a role that reversed back to Joseph's when he began managing the entire family for performances in Las Vegas. Joseph also helped his sons seal a deal with CBS after leaving Motown distraught that the label didn't allow the boys creative freedom in the studio.

Within a few years, however, Joseph's sons each left his management company to sign with outside managers, starting with Jermaine. In 1982, Joseph also managed the careers of his two daughters La Toya and Janet until they both also left his company for solo ventures, which afterwards saw only just Michael and Janet as the family's ultimate breadwinners.

Controversies

Joseph has often been accused by members of his family of strict parenting, especially by Michael, who has said in the past that Joseph never showed any of his children the kind of love that fathers are supposed to show their children and that his presence used to cause him to regurgitate and/or faint. Michael did, however, credit his father for starting his long career, saying in a recent interview that Joseph was "a genius". Other family members share that sentiment with Jermaine and Janet saying that Joseph was able to bring his family out of their rough Gary neighborhood using his children's talents, and that unlike other singers of the time, they never got into drugs under Joseph's watchful eye.

In other instances, Joseph has been confirmed to have committed infidelity on his wife Katherine during their long marriage at least twice. In 1974, Joseph fathered a baby with a Jackson 5 groupie, and in 1979 he was accused of having relations with a former Motown secretary. In both instances, Katherine called for a divorce but she later reversed the decision because Joseph wouldn't leave their gated mansion.

Joseph was called worse things by daughter La Toya, who wrote in her 1991 book, "", that not only was Joseph a physically abusive parent but he also sexually abused her and older sister Rebbie - charges that Rebbie denies. In spite of the rumors, however, many in the Jackson family still remain loyal to Joseph, including Michael, who says he gets along with his father now, saying "he's mellowed out a lot".

In 2003, in an interview for BBC TV, Joseph admitted to using physical punishment on his children and also voiced his disapproval of homosexuality. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3268133.stm BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Music | Singer Jackson whipped by father ] ]

LaToya later recanted her story about her father and stated that her ex-husband (now deceased) Jack Gordan made her tell lies about her family for money. LaToya now resides in Las Vegas and remains close to her father.

Current work

In late 2005, Joseph announced he would host a boot camp for aspiring hip-hop artists, both to move his career to the next stage and to change what he sees as distasteful about the genre. "Everybody is liking rap now. I'm gonna have to clean it up a little bit, all that vulgar language out there. I'm gonna have to keep that clean, with nice singing in it, and great music behind it".

Joseph currently lives in Las Vegas.

Children

Joe and Katherine had ten children, nine of whom lived to adulthood:

# Daughter Rebbie Jackson, born Birth date and age|1950|5|29
# Son Jackie Jackson, born Birth date and age|1951|5|4
# Son Tito Jackson, born Birth date and age|1953|10|15
# Son Jermaine Jackson, born Birth date and age|1954|12|11
# Daughter La Toya Jackson, born Birth date and age|1956|5|29
# Son Marlon Jackson, born Birth date and age|1957|3|12"(Son Brandon Jackson, twin of Marlon Jackson, born March 12, 1957. Died shortly after birth.)"
# Son Michael Jackson, born Birth date and age|1958|8|29
# Son Randy Jackson, born Birth date and age|1961|10|29
# Daughter Janet Jackson, born Birth date and age|1966|5|16

Joe had a child with Cheryl Terrell in 1974.

# Daughter Joh'Vonnie Jackson, born Birth date and age|1974|8|30

Grandchildren

Joseph has 27 grandchildren:

Daughter Rebbie has 3 children:

*Stacee Brown (b. 1971)
*Yashi Brown (b. 1977)
*Austin Brown (b. November 22, 1985)

Son Jackie has 2 children:
*Sigmund Jackson, Jr. (b. June 29, 1977)
*Brandi Jackson (b. February 6, 1982)

Son Tito has 3 sons (who form the R&B group 3T):

*Toriano Adaryll Jackson "Taj" II (b. August 4, 1973)
*Taryll Adren Jackson (b. August 8, 1975)
*Tito Joseph "TJ" Jackson (b. July 16, 1978)

Son Jermaine has 9 children:

Jermaine has 9 children:
*Jermaine Lajaune "Jay" Jackson Jr. (b. January 27, 1977) with Hazel
*Autumn Jackson (b. 1978) with Hazel
*Dawn Jackson (b. 1985) A sponser child for Jermaine
*Jeremy Jackson (b. 1986) with Margaret
*Jaimy Jackson (b. 1987) with Hazel
**Jourdyn Jackson (b. 1989) with Margaret
*Donte Jackson (adopted) (1991) to Jermaine and Alejandra
*Jaffar Jackson (b. 1996) with Alejandra
*Jermajesty Jackson (b. 2000) with Alejandra

Daughter La Toya has no children

Son Marlon has 3 children:
*Valencia Jackson (b. 1977)
*Brittany Jackson (b. 1979)
*Marlon David Jackson Jr. (b. 1985)

Son Michael has 3 children:

*Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. (b. February 13, 1997)
*Paris Katherine Jackson (b. April 3, 1998)
*Prince Michael Jackson (b. February 2002)

Son Randy has 3 children
*Genevieve Jackson (December 3, 1989) with Alejandra
*Stevanna Jackson (June 17, 1990) with Eliza
*Steven Randall Jackson, Jr. (October 2, 1991) with Alejandra

Daughter Janet Jackson has no children

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.randomhouse.de/author/author.jsp?per=109013 Profile at German branch of Random House]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3268133.stm BBC Interview 2003]