How unconventional family life shaped Michael Jackson

By Stevens Muendo

Michael Jackson, the greatest pop icon the world has ever known, will have his incalculable music legacy live on. And the controversies, myths and mysteries that at times seemed to overshadow his amazing musical talent for over 25 years might be part of that legacy. Some of these controversies surround his relationship with his father, siblings and his failed marriages.

Besides being the best known and most accomplished live performer, Michael was also the least understood and most often misrepresented public figure to ever grace the planet.

Born in 1958, the seventh of nine children of Joseph and Katherine Jackson in Gary, Indiana, USA, Michael is said to have been at loggerheads with his father for most of his life.

Katherine worked part-time as a sales clerk. She was a highly devout, practicing member of the Jehovah’s Witness faith.

Joseph began to book his sons into some of the same strip joints and burlesque houses throughout the Gary and Chicagoland area that The Falcons had played and the young Jacksons, fronted by then six-year-old Michael, became professional entertainers.

They rehearsed daily (after school) under the watchful eye of their strict, tyrannical father. They spent their weekends travelling to clubs to perform, often arriving home very early on Monday morning to resume their school schedules a couple of hours later.

Michael claimed his father belted him and his brothers during Jackson Five rehearsals, but a family lawyer says family discipline is what drove the children to success. Michael once spoke wistfully of missing out on part of his childhood.

"He would tear you up if you missed. So not only were we practising, we were nervous rehearsing because he sat in the chair and he had this belt in his hand, and if you didn’t do it the right way he would tear you up, really get you," Michael once said.

Even though the family attorney, Brian Oxman, said the family stood behind Michael Jackson and supported him 100 per cent, Michael drifted from his father to become his own man.

"The accusations (by Michael) against the Jackson family patriarch are not entirely true. Joseph was a severe disciplinarian, he wanted his children to be a success," Oxman said.

"He was keeping his children off the streets and away from drugs. He took them to perform. When they refused, he disciplined them."

Make music history

Michael’s birth was preceded by his older sisters, Maureen (nicknamed Rebbie) and LaToya and his brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon.

Brother Randy and sister Janet followed him. Together, the Jackson brothers would make music history, first as the Jackson Five and then as The Jacksons, but Michael would surpass them all in his solo career.

The Jackson home in Gary, Indiana, was a small four-room house consisting of a living room, kitchen and two bedrooms. Katherine and Joseph shared one bedroom, the five brothers shared the second bedroom and the two oldest girls slept on a hideaway bed in the living room.

The young Jacksons attended a school within walking distance of their house and were required to return directly from school to their small home. They were not allowed to visit their friends’ homes or to participate in after-school activities, such as baseball or basketball. But, with their father’s love of music and their mother’s wonderful voice, they were allowed an abundance of music as a pasttime.

As the children grew older, the four oldest boys began to imitate their mother, harmonising with her on country and western favourites in their home. Tito discovered Joseph’s guitar in the closet and began tinkering with it, finally learning to play well enough to accompany his siblings as they sang. Eventually, the inevitable happened — a string broke while Tito was playing Joseph’s guitar and, after being punished severely by Joseph, Tito was asked to show Joseph what he could do with it. Joseph was impressed with his young sons’ abilities and began to train them rigorously.

At a very early age, Michael began to show signs of the turn his life would take. Katherine recalled that at one year and a half, he would hold his bottle and dance to the rhythm of the washing machine. His grandmother reminisced that he began to sing at the age of three, "And what a beautiful voice he had. Even back then, he was a joy to listen to."

According to brother Tito, Michael’s lightning moves originated in ducking and swaying to avoid his parent’s punishing blows. "He was so quick that if my mother or father used to swing at him, he’d be out of their way. They’d be swinging at the air."

Climb every mountain

Michael was always impressed with his older brothers’ musical rehearsals and began to imitate them at an early age. He sang his first solo, Climb Every Mountain from the Sound of Music for a school programme at age six. He joined his brothers shortly after, singing harmony with them on songs made famous by the Temptations, the O’Jays and James Brown.

After performing in club circuits and talent shows throughout the Midwest, the young brothers won a talent show and got signed to Motown. Motown’s marketing team began preparing press kits and other promotion material to launch The Jackson Five’s entrance into the mainstream music industry. Motown’s publicity strategy significantly altered the group’s history, reducing the ages of most of its band mates — Michael’s age changed from 11 to eight to make him appear cuter. Soon, ‘Jacksonmania’ swept the nation, and within a year of their debut, The Jackson Five were among the biggest names in popular music. The group essentially replaced The Supremes as Motown’s main marketing focus, and, capitalising upon the youth-oriented appeal of the Jackson brothers, Motown licensed dozens of Jackson Five-related juvenile products, including stickers, sewable patches, posters and colouring books.

Michael began his solo career in 1971, while he was still part of the group. After he went solo, it emerged that his personal life was in fact a well-hidden pyramid of lies, deception and completely mind-boggling decisions and relationships. But it was not until 1994 that Michael got married to Lisa Marie Presley, his first wife when all came to public limelight.

Pop icon

Many still believe that their marriage was a publicity stunt to cast Michael in a better light after allegations of sexual molestation charges involving a 13-year-old boy. Lisa had two children from her six-year marriage to musician Danny Keough. A year after Michael and Lisa tied the knot, the couple separated.

Irreconcilable differences were cited as the reason for their divorce.

In 1996, the pop icon’s marriage to Debbie Rowe, a former nurse, then aged 37, took place at a hotel suite in Sydney, Australia. She knew the star for 15 years before they were married, and was apparently six months pregnant at the time of their marriage.

Although she also cited irreconcilable differences as reason for their divorce in 1999, in 2005 she testified at the Michael Jackson trial that "[we] never shared a home; we never shared an apartment."

She also stated that she had not seen her children in more than two years. Debbie had been limited to seeing her children only every 45 days, and then for only eight hours under the supervision of a nanny. After her divorce, she received a $1million (Sh 80 million) home in Beverly Hills, but had to sign a confidentiality agreement stating that she couldn’t speak to the press or anyone in the public about "Michael, the children or our lives together."

Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr (born in 1997), Paris Michael Katherine Jackson (born in 1998) both mothered by Debbie Rowe and Prince Michael Jackson II nicknamed Blanket (born in 2002) of a surrogate mother remain Michael’s officially declared children.

Michael insisted Paris was conceived the old-fashioned way — not by artificial insemination. However, Rowe disagreed.

"Of course it was artificial insemination. Paris was conceived in Paris, that’s how she got her name. Michael wanted to call her Princess, but I thought that was stupid" she states when asked about the way her two children were conceived. "I had so many problems when I was pregnant with Paris. After that I couldn’t have any more children. Michael was upset about that; he couldn’t understand it. He wanted more babies."