GOODBYE, JOE JACKSON
WITHOUT him a generation of musicians and fans would’ve missed out on the magic of Michael, Janet and the Jackson 5. Yet his legacy is anything but great – for years his children accused him of bullying, beating and berating them.
His third-eldest son, Jermaine, famously described his father – who lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on 27 June at the age of 89 – as a cold and distant parent.
In his book, You Are Not Alone: Michael through a Brother’s Eyes, he recalled their father beating them with a belt buckle or the cord of an electric kettle.
Years later Michael said he’d forgiven Joe for the abuse. “I’ve begun to see that even my father’s harshness was a kind of love, an imperfect love to be sure, but love nonetheless.”
While Janet has rarely spoken about her father, in her memoir she wrote she “didn’t have much of a relationship with him”. But less than a week before his death she paid tribute to him at the 2018 Radio Disney Music Awards, saying he “drove me to be the best that I can [be]”.
Fortunately, Joe had a better relationship with his grandchildren.
After Joe’s death Tito’s son, TAJ, lashed out on Twitter at critics. “Please don’t just regurgitate what you were spoon-fed by the press. Joe was loved by our ENTIRE family and our hearts are in pain,” he wrote.
PRINCE, Michael Jackson’s eldest son, shared a photo of himself and his grandfather on Instagram and wrote, “This man is and always will be an example of sheer willpower and dedication.”
Michael’s daughter, PARIS, posted an Instagram picture of herself holding her grandfather’s hand shortly before he died. “Proud of you, proud to be your children, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren, proud to have your strength and share the dynasty you spent your life creating, and proud to be a Jackson,” she wrote.