Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesJoe Jackson, patriarch of the Jackson family, including Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson, has died, ABC News has confirmed. He was 89. He had been been hospitalized with cancer earlier this month. Over the last few years, he’d also suffered a stroke and a number of heart attacks.
Joe Jackson was one of the most prolific talent managers in the entertainment business. At one time or another, he managed the careers of all of his 10 children and took the reins in launching others too, most notably R&B vocalist Miki Howard.
On of Joe’s many grandchildren, Randy Jackson Jr., tweeted, “RIP to the king that made everything possible!!! I love you grandpa.”
Joseph Jackson groomed his sons, The Jackson 5, to become one of Motown Records’ biggest hit acts, followed by the later success of The Jacksons and Jermaine Jackson‘s solo career.. And of course, he played a major hand Michael Jackson’s solo career at Motown Records and, later, at Epic Records.
Jackson was also instrumental in molding his daughters — Rebbie, LaToya and Janet – into household names. But the title track of Janet’s breakthrough album Control — the first her father didn’t oversee as her manager — referenced the heavy hand her father played in her early career.
Born in Fountain Hill, Arkansas on July 26, 1928, Jackson was the eldest of five children of a schoolteacher father. After his parents divorced when he was twelve, he lived with his father in Oakland, California for a few years before settling in East Chicago, Illinois with his mother and other siblings.
He pursued a boxing career and was already married when he meet 17-year Katherine Scruse, whom he married in 1949. Within the next year, the young couple settled into a two-bedroom home in Gary, Indiana where they started their family.
Joe Jackson gained the reputation of being tough on his kids, which is believed to be what brought out the best of them. There have been allegations from some from his children — especially LaToya — that he was abusive. He was notoriously known for making his children call him “Joseph.”
Jackson also reportedly had a rocky marriage to Katherine Jackson, to whom he was still married at the time of his death. While Joe allegedly had extramarital affairs and other offspring, it’s thought that Katherine remained married to him because of their Jehovah’s Witness faith.
In his later years, the couple lived separate lives; Joseph Jackson settled in Las Vegas and served at times as an official Jackson family spokesperson.
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