BY DAMOLA EMMANUEL
Nine years after Michael Jackson, one of the greatest entertainers the world has ever known, died, his father, Joseph “Joe” Jackson, has died, aged 89. His death came two days short of the ninth anniversary of the demise of the King of Pop.
According to the Cable News Network, CNN, the patriarch of the Jackson Musical Dynasty died on Wednesday in a Las Vegas hospital. He would be remembered for giving the world the greatest musical dynasty humanity has ever known.
Joseph “Joe” Jackson was at various times manager to his superstar children, Michael and Janet Jackson, as well as their sibling-singing group, The Jackson 5.
The late Jackson and his wife, Katherine, who got married in 1949, were blessed with 10 children, the first of whom was born a year after they tied the knots. They had their first, Maureen “Rebbie” Jackson, a year after their wedding, 1950.
Maureen’s siblings are: Sigmund “Jackie” Jackson (1951), Toriano “Tito” Jackson (1953), Jermaine Jackson (1954), La Toya Jackson (1956), Marlon Jackson (1957), Michael Jackson (1958), Steven Randall “Randy” Jackson (1961) and Janet Jackson (1966). Marlon’s twin, Brandon, died shortly after birth.
With such a large family to feed, the late Joseph Jackson gave up his ambition to become a professional boxer and, instead, got employed as a crane operator at U.S. Steel.
In the mid-1950s, however, he and his brother, Luther, formed a band called The Falcons, performing at gigs to make extra income. Following the collapse of the band, few years later, the late Jackson, who had developed good ear for music, found succour in his talented children. He organised sons Tito, Jackie and Jermaine into a musical group called The Jackson Brothers in 1963.
Three years later, 1966 to be precise, sons Marlon and Michael joined the group and The Jackson 5 was born. In 1968, The Jackson 5 signed with Motown Records and became one of the most successful R&B groups in history, selling millions of records at the peak of the stardom.