Read Online Remember the Time: Protecting Michael Jackson in His Final Days by Tanner Colby, Bill Whitfield, Javon Beard - Free Book Online Page A
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black families in a newly desegregated America.
This neatly packaged story had the benefit of being at least partially true. Joe Jackson, a crane operator at Inland Steel in East Chicago, channeled his love of music into his children, and his relentless ambition bootstrapped his family from seemingly impossible circumstances into Southern California’s land of opportunity. His sons—handsome, wholesome, and well mannered—had shared a triple bunk bed in a single bedroom and rehearsed hours every day after school, staying out of trouble. The Jackson daughters, Rebbie, La Toya, and baby Janet, were cute and precocious and promised to be stars one day in their own right. Katherine, the family’s steadfast matriarch, was a devout member of the Jehovah’s Witness faith who had raised all her children to be good and decent and God-fearing.
Behind that image, as with all families, lay a more complicated reality. Years later, it would be revealed that Joe didn’t just push his children but was physically abusive to them, beating them with belts and electrical cords for the slightest infraction. Joe was also a serial philanderer who used his newfound success to bed a steady stream of willing admirers. In 1974, he fathered a daughter outside of marriage and kept his second family a secret for years.
On more than one occasion, encouraged by her children, Katherine Jackson filed for divorce but later rescinded the petitions at the urging of her church, which frowned on the practice. Katherine and Joe remained legally married but led de facto separated lives. Most of the Jackson children embarked on ill-fated early marriages, some before the age of eighteen, in large part to get out of the house and away from their father. Despite the success that the family had achieved under Joe’s direction, one by one, each of the Jackson siblings severed their professional relationship with him as well.
Inevitably, this personal strife tore the Jackson 5 apart. In 1975, the family split from Motown to pursue a more lucrative record deal with CBS/Epic Records. Jermaine, who had married Berry Gordy’s daughter Hazel, stayed behind to pursue a solo career. The other brothers, with Randy now added to the lineup, re-formed as The Jacksons (Motown owned the Jackson 5 name). In making the move, Michael insisted that CBS back his solo efforts as well. Starting with 1979’s Off the Wall —which sold 7 million copies and was the best-selling album ever by a black artist until topped by Thriller three years later—he minted a whole new generation of fans for whom his identity as a solo artist eclipsed any association he’d ever had with his brothers.
When Motown’s twenty-fifth anniversary special aired on television in May 1983, Michael topped off a medley of classic hits with a show-stopping performance of “Billie Jean,” introducing his iconic moonwalk to audiences for the first time. In that moment, the Jackson 5 became a nostalgia act. Michael Jackson was his own man. A year later, he was pressured by the family to stick with his brothers for theJacksons’ Victory tour. On the last night of the tour, playing to a sold-out crowd in Los Angeles, Michael announced to the audience that this performance would be the group’s “last and final show.” Five years later, in June 1989, CBS decided not to renew the Jacksons’ contract. Without Michael involved, the label no longer had any interest.
For the debut single on his 1995 HIStory album, “Scream,” Michael performed a duet with his younger sister Janet, by then a major superstar in her own right. In September 2001, he rejoined his brothers for a brief reunion during two concerts at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Beyond that, in the public eye at least, Michael had very little to do with his famous brothers and sisters. That changed in 2005. When the case against Michael went to trial, his family sat behind him in the courtroom, loudly and publicly supporting him throughout
This neatly packaged story had the benefit of being at least partially true. Joe Jackson, a crane operator at Inland Steel in East Chicago, channeled his love of music into his children, and his relentless ambition bootstrapped his family from seemingly impossible circumstances into Southern California’s land of opportunity. His sons—handsome, wholesome, and well mannered—had shared a triple bunk bed in a single bedroom and rehearsed hours every day after school, staying out of trouble. The Jackson daughters, Rebbie, La Toya, and baby Janet, were cute and precocious and promised to be stars one day in their own right. Katherine, the family’s steadfast matriarch, was a devout member of the Jehovah’s Witness faith who had raised all her children to be good and decent and God-fearing.
Behind that image, as with all families, lay a more complicated reality. Years later, it would be revealed that Joe didn’t just push his children but was physically abusive to them, beating them with belts and electrical cords for the slightest infraction. Joe was also a serial philanderer who used his newfound success to bed a steady stream of willing admirers. In 1974, he fathered a daughter outside of marriage and kept his second family a secret for years.
On more than one occasion, encouraged by her children, Katherine Jackson filed for divorce but later rescinded the petitions at the urging of her church, which frowned on the practice. Katherine and Joe remained legally married but led de facto separated lives. Most of the Jackson children embarked on ill-fated early marriages, some before the age of eighteen, in large part to get out of the house and away from their father. Despite the success that the family had achieved under Joe’s direction, one by one, each of the Jackson siblings severed their professional relationship with him as well.
Inevitably, this personal strife tore the Jackson 5 apart. In 1975, the family split from Motown to pursue a more lucrative record deal with CBS/Epic Records. Jermaine, who had married Berry Gordy’s daughter Hazel, stayed behind to pursue a solo career. The other brothers, with Randy now added to the lineup, re-formed as The Jacksons (Motown owned the Jackson 5 name). In making the move, Michael insisted that CBS back his solo efforts as well. Starting with 1979’s Off the Wall —which sold 7 million copies and was the best-selling album ever by a black artist until topped by Thriller three years later—he minted a whole new generation of fans for whom his identity as a solo artist eclipsed any association he’d ever had with his brothers.
When Motown’s twenty-fifth anniversary special aired on television in May 1983, Michael topped off a medley of classic hits with a show-stopping performance of “Billie Jean,” introducing his iconic moonwalk to audiences for the first time. In that moment, the Jackson 5 became a nostalgia act. Michael Jackson was his own man. A year later, he was pressured by the family to stick with his brothers for theJacksons’ Victory tour. On the last night of the tour, playing to a sold-out crowd in Los Angeles, Michael announced to the audience that this performance would be the group’s “last and final show.” Five years later, in June 1989, CBS decided not to renew the Jacksons’ contract. Without Michael involved, the label no longer had any interest.
For the debut single on his 1995 HIStory album, “Scream,” Michael performed a duet with his younger sister Janet, by then a major superstar in her own right. In September 2001, he rejoined his brothers for a brief reunion during two concerts at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Beyond that, in the public eye at least, Michael had very little to do with his famous brothers and sisters. That changed in 2005. When the case against Michael went to trial, his family sat behind him in the courtroom, loudly and publicly supporting him throughout
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