Unfortunately, I never got to see The Jacksons live myself. On the other hand, I have stood in the crowd twice at Michael Jackson. An unforgettable experience. Without any doubt The King of Pop!
The Jacksons
The Jackson 5 (also written as The Jackson Five or The Jackson 5ive, abbreviated as J5, and later known as The Jacksons due to a change of record label) was a successful American pop group from Gary, Indiana. The group's repertoire, active from 1964 to 1990, mainly consisted of R&B, soul, funk and later disco.
It all started in Gary, Indiana. Joe Jackson, father of all nine Jackson children, formed the group "The Jackson Brothers" around 1963, whose members were his sons Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael. Michael was then six years old and played the congas. His one-year-older brother Marlon played the tambourine and Reynaud Jones and Milford Hite, boys from the neighbourhood, accompanied the brothers on keyboard and drums. In 1966, The Jackson Five (the name had meanwhile changed and was also written as The Jackson 5) won a talent contest at a school in Gary. Jermaine sang a few songs from the Motown record label and Michael sang songs by James Brown. The group did not yet have their own songs. Milford Hite and Reynaud Jones were replaced after this talent contest by Johnny Jackson (no relation) on drums and Ronnie Rancifer on keyboard. After winning several talent contests, father Joe Jackson signed his sons up for a talent contest at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. They also won this talent contest and partly due to winning many talent contests, The Jackson Five signed a record contract with Steeltown Records in November 1967. There they recorded their first singles: I'm a Big Boy and We Don't Have to Be Over 21.
The young Michael soon proved to be the greatest talent of the group. Initially, it was intended that his older brother Jermaine would be the lead singer, but Joe Jackson chose to put Michael at the front. Jermaine played bass guitar.
Michael's solo career was very successful. In September 2001, almost seventeen years after their last performance, all six brothers of The Jacksons reunited for two shows at Madison Square Garden in New York, to celebrate Michael's 30 years in the business. The performances showed that The Jacksons still had what it takes to perform, but after these shows the brothers retreated again.
After the death of their younger brother Michael, The Jacksons received many emails and letters from fans all over the world, repeatedly asking if the brothers wanted to go on tour again. In April 2012, the news came out that Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon would go on tour in the United States. The Unity Tour includes some songs by Michael, Jermaine, and The Jackson 5/The Jacksons. The tour was hugely successful!
Motown 25
Look up the performance of The Jacksons and Michael Jackson during Motown 25 (25 March 1983). Michael performed his famous Moonwalk for the first time there and the show he gave together with his 5 brothers is one to write home about.
source: Wikipedia photo: public domain (Wikimedia)
#top2000 #motown25
