Joseph “Papa Joe” Jackson,
the patriarch of the musical Jackson family, has died at 89.
NEW YORK — Joseph Jackson, the strong, fearsome patriarch of the musical Jackson family, has died, according to a person close to the family.
The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not allowed to discuss the topic publicly, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Jackson had died but had no additional information. He was 89.
Jackson was a guitarist who put his own musical ambitions aside to work in the steel mills to support his wife and nine children in Gary, Ind. But he far surpassed his own dreams through his children, particularly his exceptionally gifted seventh child, Michael. Fronted by the then-pint-sized wonder and brothers Jermaine, Marlon, Tito and Jackie, the Jackson 5 was an instant sensation in 1969 and became the first phase of superstardom for the Jackson family.
“Papa Joe,” as he would become known, ruled through his stern, intimidating and unflinching presence, which became so indelible it was part of black popular culture, even referenced in song and on TV.
“This is bad, real bad Michael Jackson, Now I’m mad, real mad Joe Jackson,” Kanye West rhymed in Keri Hilson’s 2009 hit, “Knock You Down.”
Michael and other siblings would allege physical abuse at their father’s hands.
LaToya Jackson would go as far as to accuse him of sexual abuse in the early 1990s, when she was estranged from her entire family, but she later recanted, saying her former husband had coerced her to make such claims. She and her father later reconciled.
By the time they were adults, most of the Jackson siblings had dismissed him as their manager; Michael and Joseph’s relationship was famously fractured; Michael Jackson revered his mother Katherine but kept his distance from Joseph.
Joseph Walter Jackson was born in Fountain Hill, Ark., on July 26, 1928, the eldest of four children. His father, Samuel Jackson, was a high school teacher, and his mother, Crystal Lee King, was a housewife.
The couple split up when Jackson was 12. He moved with his father to Oakland, Calif., while his mother moved to East Chicago, Ind. When he turned 18, he moved to Indiana to live near his mother. It was there that he met and married Katherine Scruse.
In the 1950s, he had tried to launch his own music career as a guitarist, but he came to realize the truly gifted musicians in his family were his children.
He launched a group in 1962 that featured his three eldest sons — Jackie, Tito and Jermaine — and two neighbors.
He eventually replaced the neighbors with brothers Michael and Marlon, and the Jackson Five went professional in 1966.
Michael, who joined the group at age 8, was its showstopper from the beginning. Joe Jackson literally drove his kids to success, taking them around the country looking for singing engagements and recording opportunities.
Randy, the youngest Jackson brother, replaced Jermaine in the mid-1970s when the group left Motown and became The Jacksons.
While Michael’s success as a solo performer would eventually dwarf that of the rest of his family, Janet would become another multiplatinum superstar; Joe Jackson initially managed her career too. But after she put out “Control,” her breakthrough album at 19, she too would sever managerial ties with her father.
By 2005, no longer involved in his children’s careers, Joseph Jackson had launched a boot camp for aspiring hiphop artists, promoting lyrics without vulgarity and sponsoring competitions for young artists from across the country. He spent most of his time at a home in Las Vegas and traveled the country auditioning talent for the competition.
Joe Jackson is survived by his wife, his children and more than two dozen grandchildren.