Joseph Jackson lifted his family from poverty, launched a musicial dynasty.
NEW YORK — Joseph Jackson, the fearsome stage dad of Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and their talented siblings, who took his family from poverty and launched a musical dynasty, has died. He was 89.
Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg told the Associated Press that Joe Jackson died at 2:55 a.m. on Wednesday at Nathan Adelson Hospice in Las Vegas. “We are reviewing the circumstances surrounding the death, but there is no reason to believe it's anything other than a natural death,” the coroner said.
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. Over the following decades, millions would listen to both group and solo recordings by the Jackson 5 and Michael would become one of the most popular entertainers in history.
In his autobiography, Jackson acknowledged having been a stern parent, but “Papa Joe,” as he was known, always denied physically abusing his children.
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.
Jackson, a dandy who wore a pencil-thin mustache and huge diamond pinky ring, faced allegations of infidelity. His wife, Katherine, filed for divorce twice but never followed through.