June 27, 2018
Joe Jackson, patriarch of the Jackson family of entertainers, which included pop icons Michael and Janet Jackson, has died at the age of 89.
According to multiple sources, Jackson was suffering from terminal pancreatic cancer, and succumbed to the illness early Wednesday morning at a hospital in Las Vegas, Nev.
Grandsons Randy Jackson Jr. and Taj Jaskson confirmed the news on Wednesday afternoon on Twitter, writing, “RIP to the king that made everything possible!!! I love you grandpa,” and “Joe was loved by our ENTIRE family and our hearts are in pain. Let us grieve without the nastiness. #ripthehawk.”
RIP to the king that made everything possible!!! I love you grandpa 🖤🖤 pic.twitter.com/SI1C7lUuG6
— RANDY JACKSON (@randyjacksonjr) June 27, 2018
It was Michael, the eighth of 11 sired by Joe Jackson, who eventually went on to become the King of Pop.
Joe Jackson, though credited by many for giving the Jackson kids the springboard to become famous, had a bad reputation for pressuring them to perform, administering stern discipline and allegedly abusing them with a switch and a belt, which he once told Oprah Winfrey: “kept them out of jail and kept them right.”
In the days leading up to Joe Jackson’s death, on June 24, he Tweeted, “I have seen more sunsets that I have left to see. The sun rises when the time comes and whether you like it or not the sun sets when the time comes.”
It features a photograph of him on what appears to be a boardwalk overlooking a beautiful sunset, as if hinting at his worsening health struggles.
Joe Jackson is survived by his wife, Katherine, and their children, Maureen, 68, Jackie, 67, Tito, 64, Jermaine, 63, La Toya, 62, Marlon, 61, Randy, 56, Janet, 52, and Joh'Vonnie, 43.
