1964–1969: Early years The five Jackson brothers' interest in music was bolstered by their father
Joe Jackson. In 1964, Joe found Tito playing with his guitar after a string broke, and he was impressed enough to buy him his own guitar. Tito, Jermaine, and Jackie later formed their own group, with Michael (age 5) playing congas and childhood friends Reynaud Jones and Milford Hite playing keyboards and drums in 1965. Marlon joined on tambourine in August 1965, when Evelyn LaHaie suggested that the group name themselves the Jackson Five. In 1966, the group won their first talent show at
Theodore Roosevelt High School in Gary. Jermaine performed
the Temptations' "
My Girl", and Michael performed
Robert Parker's "
Barefootin'".
Johnny Jackson and
Ronnie Rancifer eventually replaced Hite and Jones. During their early performing years, the Jackson 5 would perform at other talent showcases at several other Gary schools and halls and theaters in Gary and the Chicago area. In August 1967, the boys were eventually booked into venues such as Chicago's
Regal Theater and Harlem's
Apollo Theater, winning the talent competitions on both shows that year, winning the Apollo competition on August 13. According to Jermaine Jackson,
Gladys Knight was the first established artist to support the group, sending a demo tape to
Motown. However, the label rejected it and returned the tape. In July 1967, the group recorded an early version of a song that would later be their first single, "
Big Boy", for
One-derful Records, however, the group was also rejected by that label. In November 1967, Joe Jackson signed the group into
Steeltown Records, a label founded and owned by record producer
Gordon Keith. With Keith at the helm, they recorded "Big Boy" again that same month. The song would later be released as a single in January 1968. By March, Keith booked the boys to perform for their first paying gig at the Apollo Theater where they opened for
Etta James. That month, Keith had "Big Boy" distributed through Atlantic and was working on a record contract for the boys on that label when he learned that Joe Jackson had tried to get in touch with Motown through his attorney Richard Arons. During July 1968, the boys opened for
Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers at the Regal Theater. After being blown away by Michael's performance, Taylor sent the boys to Detroit where he set up a recorded Motown audition, which took place at Motown's official headquarters on Detroit's Woodward Avenue on July 23, 1968. Motown chief
Berry Gordy, who had initially rejected their tape, refusing to sign any more "kid acts" after
Stevie Wonder, changed his mind once he viewed Taylor's tape. On July 26, Gordy returned to Detroit where he had Joe Jackson and the boys sign their first year-long Motown contract. The recording of their first album was delayed due to a contract dispute with Keith. While negotiations were continuing to get the Jacksons out of Steeltown, the group performed at strip clubs to make extra income. Finally on March 11, 1969, a day before Marlon's 12th birthday, the Jackson Five signed an exclusive seven-year contract with the label. By September, Gordy had set up the new songwriting and producing team,
The Corporation, to write exclusively for the Jackson Five. After recording "
I Want You Back" that same month, the single was released in early October and the Jacksons promoted the song on programs such as the
Hollywood Palace and the
Ed Sullivan Show. Their debut album,
Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5, was released in December 1969.
1970–1971: Jacksonmania The
Jackson family represents a colossus in music history. They defined black American music as a commercial entity for longer than anyone. With an average age of 12 when they turned professional,
Michael,
Marlon,
Jackie,
Jermaine and
Tito were arguably the original boy band. Thousands of fans waited for the Jackson 5 wherever they went, and they had to be escorted by the police. During the height of Jacksonmania, crowds would pile up on top of each other to get closer to the stage. Early footage shows girls climbing over seats to get closer, with police officers trying to control the situation. When the Jackson 5 performed at
The Forum, in
Inglewood, California in 1970, they attracted nearly 19,000 fans. Thousands of more fans were turned away due to the Forum's capacity limits. The concert grossed more than $105,000, a record at that time. The Forum concert is featured on
Live at the Forum. Veteran singer
Jerry Butler and the
Rare Earth (one of Motown's most popular white groups) were also opening acts for them. The tours got bigger as they evolved. The Jackson 5 performed to sold-out concerts with record-breaking attendance nationally and internationally, including Africa, Asia and Europe. The excitement of Jacksonmania was worldwide. Motown established a Jackson 5 brand. By the 70s, they were one of the world's most famous groups. Jacksonmania set the tone for the music industry for years to come. The black publication
Right On! began in 1971 and focused heavily on the Jackson 5, with members adorning covers between January 1972 and April 1974. The Jackson 5 was featured on the cover of
Rolling Stone magazine at a time when
Rolling Stone did not usually cover children acts. They also appeared on the covers of
Life and
Ebony. in September; their second was
The Jackson 5 Show which debuted in November of the following year. The group often joined
Bob Hope on USO-benefited performances to support military troops during the Vietnam War. The Jackson 5 single "
I Want You Back" topped the
Billboard Hot 100 in January 1970. They released two more number-one singles: "
ABC" and "
The Love You Save". The single "
I'll Be There" was co-written and produced by
Hal Davis and became the band's fourth number-one single, making them the first recording act to have their first four singles reach the top of the Hot 100. All four were almost as popular in other countries as they were in the United States. The Jackson 5 released a succession of four albums in one year and replaced
The Supremes as
Motown's best-selling group. They continued their success with singles such as "
Mama's Pearl", "
Never Can Say Goodbye", and "
Sugar Daddy", giving them a total of seven top-ten singles within a two-year period. In order to continue increasing sales, Motown launched Michael Jackson's solo career in 1971 with the hit single "
Got to Be There", became his first to top the charts. Jermaine was the second to release a solo project; his most successful hit of the period was a cover of the doo-wop song "
Daddy's Home".
1972–1976: Decline The Jackson 5's records began falling on the charts by 1972, despite Michael and Jermaine's solo successes. The Corporation had produced most of their hit singles, but they split up in 1973. Despite those successes, most of the Jackson 5's follow-ups were not as successful, and Joe Jackson grew tired of Motown's uneasiness to continue producing hits for the brothers by 1973. He began producing a nightclub act around
his sons and daughters, starting in Las Vegas and expanding to other states. By 1975, the Jackson 5 had sold over 60 million records and most of the group opted out of recording any more music for Motown, desiring creative control and royalties after learning that they were earning only 2.8% of royalties from Motown. The Jacksons announced their decision to depart from Motown at a press conference at the
Rainbow Grill in
Manhattan, New York City. Absent from the deal was Jermaine Jackson, who decided to stay with Motown following his marriage to Hazel Gordy, and
Randy Jackson replaced him. Even though the group announced their departure from the label, they still remained under contract to Motown until March 1976.
1976–1989: CBS/Epic Records In November 1976, following the debut of the family's
weekly variety series, the Jacksons released their
self-titled CBS debut under the
Philadelphia International subsidiary, produced by
Gamble & Huff. Featuring "
Enjoy Yourself" and "
Show You the Way to Go", the album went gold but failed to generate the sales the brothers had enjoyed while at Motown. A follow-up, ''
Goin' Places, fizzled. Renewing their contract with Epic, the Jacksons were allowed full creative control on their next recording, Destiny'', released in December 1978. By 1979, the Jacksons had sold 90 million records. Featuring their best-selling Epic single to date, "
Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)", written by Michael and Randy, the album sold over a million copies. Its follow-up, 1980's
Triumph, also sold a million copies, spawning hits such as "
Lovely One", "
This Place Hotel" and "
Can You Feel It". In 1981, they released their fifth album, a
live album that eventually sold half a million copies. The live album was culled from recordings of performances on their
Triumph Tour. (pictured in 1984) left the group after becoming a global superstar. In between the releases of
Destiny and
Triumph, Michael released his first solo effort under Epic,
Off the Wall. Its success led to rumors of Michael's alleged split from his brothers. After
Triumph, Michael worked on his second Epic solo release, which was released in November 1982 as
Thriller, which later went on to become the
best-selling album of all time, winning eight Grammy Awards including Album of the Year, plus producing two number-one hit singles, "Billie Jean" and "Beat It", and three breakthrough MTV music videos, "Billie Jean", "Beat It", and the 14-minute zombie-themed music video "Thriller". In March 1983, with Jermaine, the Jacksons performed on
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, the same show where Michael debuted the
moonwalk during a solo performance of "
Billie Jean". Following the success of the reunion, all six brothers agreed to record a sixth album for Epic, later released as
Victory in 1984. Their biggest-selling album to date, it included their final top ten single, "
State of Shock". The song was actually a duet between Michael and
Mick Jagger and did not feature participation from any other Jackson besides Marlon and Jackie, who were credited as background vocalists. Most of the album was produced in this way, with each brother essentially recording solo songs. Another hit was the top 20 single "
Torture", a duet between Michael and Jermaine, with Jackie singing several parts. In July 1984, the Jacksons launched their
Victory Tour, which was overshadowed by Jackie's leg injury, ticket issues, friction between the brothers, and a shakeup in the promotion and marketing team, initially headed by
Don King, who was later fired. Michael announced he was leaving the group after their final performance at
Dodger Stadium that December to continue his solo career. The following January, Marlon Jackson also announced he was leaving the group to pursue a solo career. At the time of their breakup the Jackson 5 had sold more than 100 million records worldwide. In 1987, the Jacksons released the single "Time Out for the Burglar", which was included on the soundtrack of the
Whoopi Goldberg comedy film
Burglar (1987). In 1989, the remaining quartet of Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Randy released the album
2300 Jackson Street. After a brief promotional tour, the group went into hiatus and never recorded another album together. Following the release of one solo album, Marlon quit the music business in 1989 and invested in real estate. Randy has not been active in the industry since he disbanded the group Randy & the Gypsys in 1991. During the middle of the project, Michael had announced his
concert comeback in London was scheduled on July 13, 2009.
Michael died that same year on June 25, putting efforts on hold. Later in 2009, the surviving Jacksons recorded background vocals to add to Michael's 1980 demo of "
This Is It", which became the theme song to the concert film ''
Michael Jackson's This Is It. The radio-only single was released in October of that same year. The song returned the Jacksons to the Billboard
charts, not on the Hot 100, but at number nineteen on Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks. The surviving members of the Jacksons were in talks of planning a reunion concert tour (which was to serve as a tribute to Michael) for 2010, and were in talks in working on their first new studio album in over 20 years. Neither plan was put into action. In September 2010, Jermaine Jackson held his own tribute concert to Michael in Las Vegas. In 2011, Jackie Jackson released a solo single to iTunes. Jermaine released his first solo album in 21 years, I Wish U Love''. In August 2011, there was a discord between the brothers concerning a tribute concert dedicated to Michael. While Jackie, Tito, and Marlon were present with mother
Katherine and sister
La Toya for a tribute concert in
Cardiff at the
Millennium Stadium for a press conference concerning the tour, a couple of days later, both Randy and Jermaine issued a statement denouncing the tribute tour as the date of it occurred around Conrad Murray's
manslaughter trial in relation to Michael's death. The show carried on with Jackie, Tito and Marlon performing without Jermaine. In October 2011, the Jacksons were featured artists on Japanese-American singer
Ai's single, "
Letter in the Sky". The song was a tribute to Michael and was the group's first single in 22 years. The song served as the theme song for the
Michael Jackson Tribute: Live in Tokyo concert that took place December 13 and 14, 2011 at
Yoyogi National Stadium in Japan. The single was a modest hit in Japan, charting at number 14 on the Japan
Oricon Singles Chart and number 36 on the
Billboard Japan Hot 100.
2012–present: Continued activities In April 2012, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon announced that they would reunite for several United States concerts for their
Unity Tour. 38 dates were announced; the eleven shows in the U.S. were canceled. The tour started at
Casino Rama in
Orillia, Ontario, Canada on June 20, 2012. 32 additional dates were eventually added, and the tour ended on July 27, 2013, in
Atlantic City, United States. On January 7, 2016, the Jacksons performed at
Planet Hollywood Las Vegas, at a concert event, naming it "Heal the World: A Tribute to Michael Jackson". A big-name roster of music stars performed the music of Michael Jackson at the concert. On June 15, 2018, the four Jacksons;
Tito,
Jackie,
Marlon and
Jermaine accepted plaques bearing the Detroit city keys during a high-ticket private party that launched the second Detroit Music Weekend festival. Detroit police chief James Craig, who presented the honors, declared the
Motown group "truly Detroiters". The Jacksons headlined and performed at Detroit Music Weekend Festival on the 16th. They were also honored with a 90-minute tribute concert featuring Jackson 5, the Jacksons, Michael Jackson,
Janet Jackson and
Rebbie Jackson hits, with guest appearances by Blue Note saxophonist David McMurray and Herschel Boone for
Kid Rock's
Twisted Brown Trucker Band. The concert finale was Michael Jackson's "
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" with
Greg Phillinganes, a Detroit native who worked with the Jacksons as a session player and tour musical director. In January 2020, the Jacksons visited Chicago, Illinois and
Gary, Indiana for the groundbreaking of a new
Hard Rock Casino in Gary which played repository to Jacksons memorabilia while bringing 2,000 jobs. They were interviewed by the
Chicago Sun-Times and
Windy City Live. They also visited their old school in Gary where they donated their appearance fee to provide 170 bicycles to the
Boys & Girls Clubs of America youth. They also got $61,000 donated to the club by
Walmart, Hard Rock and Spectacle whose plan is to have a Jackson family museum and restaurant at the casino. Tito died on September 15, 2024. ==Legacy==