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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be in the music business, from birth? This is the life of the Jackson family. The Family consists of nine children, Joe, and Katherine.
Father, Joeseph Jackson was born in Arkansas in 1929 and raised in Tennessee. His own father, a Lutheran, was a stern schoolteacher, and had strict discipline. Joseph was a teenager when his parents divorced. Katherine Jackson was her husband's complete opposite in temperament. Katherine was born in 1930 and grew up in Alabama. A very loving parent, she played the clarinet and piano, and she influenced her children with her own love of music.
As a very young child, Katherine had been stricken with polio, a disease that killed many children and left many others severely handicapped. Yet she survived, she had to use a crutch until she was a teenager. Joseph met Katherine at a party. She fell in love with him at first sight, but Joseph's feelings for her took longer to develop. He had already been married and divorced before he married Katherine in 1949, when she was 18 and he was 21. The newlyweds settled in Gary, Indiana, a town just outside of Chicago. In 1950 Katherine gave birth to their first child, a girl whom they named Maureen (Rebbie). The following year, Sigmund Esco (Jackie) was born. Two years later, another boy, Tariano (Tito) arrived. In 1954 the Jacksons had a third son named Jermaine. LaToya, their second daughter, was born in 1956, and was followed by 3 brothers: Marlon in 1957, Michael in 1958, and Randall (Randy) in 1961. And on May 16, 1966, Janet Dameta was born. Katherine recalls " Janet was the most beautiful baby in the hospital."
When the children began to play dad's guitar and mom's piano, they soon let the oldest 5 enter talent competitions. The talent shows they entered were all competitive and they soon began winning! Michael sang lead, Tito on guitar, Jermaine on Bass, and others sang and dance. They were learning stage crafts from James Brown, The Chi-Lites, Temptations, Gladys Knight, and the Pips.