Joe Jackson, the father of pop stars Michael and Janet Jackson and the manager of the Jackson 5, has died. He was 89.
Jackson was battling terminal cancer and died early Wednesday morning in Los Angeles, family sources told TMZ. He had been hospitalized earlier this month, the outlet previously reported.
He also founded his own record label, Ivory Tower International Records.
The relationship with his children wasn’t perfect, however. He was accused by son Michael of abuse growing up and admitted that he hit his kids with a strap in a 2010 interview with Oprah Winfrey. “It kept them out of jail and kept them right,” he said.
Jackson told Piers Morgan in 2013 that he was glad he was “tough” on his kids. “I came out with some kids that everybody loved all over the world. And they treated everybody right,” he said.
“We are deeply saddened by Mr. Jackson’s passing and extend our heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Katherine Jackson and the family. Joe was a strong man who acknowledged his own imperfections and heroically delivered his sons and daughters from the steel mills of Gary, Indiana to worldwide pop superstardom,” John Branca and John McClain, the co-executors of the Estate of Michael Jackson, told TheWrap in a statement.
“Mr. Jackson’s contributions to the history of music are enormous,” the statement continued. “They were acknowledged by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 in a proclamation naming him as Best Entertainment Manager of All Time; he was inducted into Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2014 and his son Michael acknowledged him with a Joe Jackson Day at Neverland. We had developed a warm relationship with Joe in recent years and will miss him tremendously.”
The Jackson family patriarch was born July 26, 1928 in Arkansas, and married wife Katherine in 1949. The couple had 10 children: Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Brandon, Michael, Randy, Rebbie, La Toya and Janet.
He is survived by Katherine, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Randy, Rebbie, La Toya and Janet. Michael died in 2009 and Brandon died shortly after birth.
TMZ was the first to report Jackson’s death.