Joseph Walter Jackson was an American talent manager and patriarch of the Jackson family of entertainers. He was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2014.
๐ Early Life and Family
Joseph Walter Jackson was born on July 26, 1928, in Fountain Hill, Arkansas, the eldest of five children. His father was a teacher and his great-grandfather was a U.S. Army scout.
Jackson recalled that his father was domineering and strict. After his parents separated when he was 12, he moved with his father to Oakland, California.
๐ธ Musical Beginnings
In the early 1950s, Jackson briefly performed with his younger brother Luther in their blues band the Falcons. The Falcons did not secure a recording contract and disbanded.
While preparing to become a professional boxer, Jackson met 17-year-old Katherine Scruse. The couple married on November 5, 1949, and had 10 children together.
๐จโ๐ฆ Managing The Jackson 5
In the early 1960s, Jackson began pushing his sons in a musical direction. He first started working with his three eldest sons Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine.
Joseph began enforcing long and intense rehearsals for his sons. The group went under the name The Jackson Brothers before changing to The Jackson 5.
๐ Career Achievements
In 2011, Jackson was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. In 2014, he accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of his son Michael at the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame.
In June 2015, he appeared at the BET Awards with his daughter Janet as she accepted the Ultimate Icon Award. On July 27, 2015, Jackson was rushed to a hospital after suffering a stroke and heart arrhythmia.
โฐ๏ธ Death and Burial
On June 22, 2018, TMZ reported that Jackson had been hospitalized in Las Vegas in the final stages of terminal pancreatic cancer. He died at a hospice in Las Vegas on June 27, 2018.
On July 2, Jackson was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, near Los Angeles, the same cemetery as his son Michael.
| Category | Detail | Year | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birth | Born in Fountain Hill, Arkansas | 1928 | Arkansas |
| Marriage | Married Katherine Scruse | 1949 | Indiana |
| Induction | Arkansas Black Hall of Fame | 2011 | Arkansas |
| Death | Died of pancreatic cancer | 2018 | Las Vegas |