Jacko patriarch dies
JOE Jackson, the fearsome e stage dad who took singers Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and their talented siblings from poverty and launched a musical dynasty, has died.
Mr Jackson, 89, died at a hospice in Las Vegas, two days after the nine-year anniversary y of Michael’s death.
Mr Jackson put his own musical ambitions aside to work in steel mills to support his wife and nine children in Gary, Indiana. But he surpassed his own dreams via his children, particularly his gifted seventh child Michael.
The Jackson 5, fronted by pint-sized wonder Michael and brothers Jermaine, Marlon, Tito and Jackie, was an instant sensation in 1969.
Over following decades, millions would listen to recordings by the group (later known as The Jacksons) and Michael would become a superstar.
The executors of the King of Pop’s estate expressed their condolences.
“We are deeply saddened by Mr Jackson’s passing and extend our heartfelt condolences to Mrs Katherine Jackson and the family,” John Branca and John McClain said.
The stern, intimidating and unflinching presence of “Papa Joe” became so indelible it was referenced in song and on TV.
Michael and other siblings would allege physical abuse at their father’s hands.
“We’d perform for him and he’d critique us. If you messed up, you got hit, sometimes with a belt, sometimes with a switch,” Michael wrote in his 1985 autobiography Moonwalk.