1976-1989, 2012-Michael JacksonLead vocals, percussion1976-1984
Jackie JacksonLead vocals, percussion1976-1989, 2012-
Tito JacksonVocals, guitar1976-1989, 2012-2024
Marlon JacksonVocals, percussion1976-1985, 2012-
Randy JacksonVocals, keyboards1976-1989
Jermaine JacksonLead vocals, bass1983-1989, 2012-2020
Previously known as The Jackson 5, the singing brothers changed their name to The Jacksons after leaving Motown for Epic Records in 1976. They'd been with Berry Gordy's famed Detroit label since 1969 and caused a worldwide frenzy with what they called bubblegum soul - a radio-friendly sound somewhere between rock and pop that appealed to both Black and white audiences. They achieved a landmark feat when their first four singles - "
I Want You Back," "
ABC", "
The Love You Save", and "
I'll Be There" - went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. When Jacksonmania died down, Motown tried to reinvent the group as a funky progressive-soul act, but the brothers wanted more creative control and more money, so they sought out a deal with Epic. During the transition, Motown sued them for breach of contract and claimed the label owned the Jackson 5 name, which forced their rebranding as The Jacksons.
The original lineup of the Jackson 5 consisted of Jackie, Tito, Marlon, Jermaine, and Michael. Jermaine and Michael both sang lead vocals, but Michael was already the primary lead by the time the Jackson 5 became famous. They both started their solo careers while at Motown, but when the rest of the band left for Epic, Jermaine found himself in an awkward position. Berry Gordy wasn't just his boss at Motown, he was also his father-in-law - the singer married Gordy's daughter Hazel in 1973. Jermaine decided to stay and continue his solo career at the label, and the Jacksons' youngest brother, Randy, took his place in the group. Jermaine officially rejoined the family band in 1983 for their Victory album.
The move to Epic Records was also fruitful for Michael. He started working with producer Quincy Jones and issued a trio of solo albums that launched him to even greater heights of fame. When Thriller (1982) became a worldwide phenomenon, he wanted to embark on his first solo tour but was pressured to join his brothers on the Victory Tour instead. Their final concert on the 1984 tour was at Dodger Stadium, where Michael announced he was leaving the group for good.
The Jacksons' first few albums at Epic were produced by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff at their studios in Philadelphia. The renowned songwriting/production duo were pioneers of the Philadelphia soul sound of the '70s, but they struggled to find the right sound for the grown-up Jacksons, who were trying to break free from the teenybopper image that made them famous. Their self-titled Epic debut was a mature, soul-funk affair that gave them their first Top 10 hit single in two years: "Enjoy Yourself." But they truly found their footing at the label once they were given freedom to produce their own material. Unlike Motown, where their image was carefully cultivated and controlled, they were promised artistic control at Epic and finally got it with
Destiny in 1978, which paid off with the international hits "
Blame It On The Boogie" and "
Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)."
Since their inception as The Jackson 5 in 1964, the brothers were managed by their domineering father, Joe Jackson, who projected his own dreams of musical stardom onto his sons and used abusive tactics to keep them in line. Michael finally broke free in 1979 after he turned 21 and took control of his own career. The rest of The Jacksons collectively fired him in 1983.
The Jacksons' mother, Katherine Jackson, was a Jehovah's Witness and raised her children in the faith, which is known for its door-to-door evangelism. Rumor has it that Michael donned a disguise and knocked on doors handing out Jehovah's Witness literature during the Victory Tour. He had a complicated relationship with the religion and famously added a disclaimer to his zombified "
Thriller" video where he denied any belief in the occult to avoid the church's ire. Despite reports in the late '80s that claimed Jackson left the faith, he stated in a 2001 interview that he was still a Jehovah's Witness.
Jermaine converted to Islam in 1989 and changed his name to Muhammad Abdul‑Aziz Sharif, though he still used his birth name professionally. In 2013, he legally went back to Jermaine but changed the spelling of his last name to Jacksun.
The Jacksons' story was dramatized in the 1992 TV miniseries
The Jacksons: An American Dream. Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs of
Welcome Back, Kotter fame played Joe Jackson and Angela Bassett, who went on to portray Tina Turner in
What's Love Got To Do With It the following year, played Katherine Jackson. Wylie Draper, an actor who appeared in Michael Jackson's "
Remember The Time" music video, portrayed the adult Michael in the movie. In 2026, the biopic
Michael, focusing on his rise to fame from the Jackson 5 through his solo career, hit theaters with Jermaine's son Jafaar playing the title role.
The Jacksons are a band of brothers, but they also have three sisters: Janet, LaToya, and Rebbie. The girls sometimes performed with them on stage and also acted in their self-titled variety show, which launched in 1976 and lasted for 12 episodes. Janet Jackson, of course, became a big star in her own right, graduating from child actor on sitcoms like Good Times and Diff'rent Strokes to an R&B/pop icon with her breakthrough Control album in 1986.
Despite their rocky history with Berry Gordy, The Jacksons agreed to perform at the
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever TV special in 1983. The event marked Jermaine's return to the lineup but is mostly remembered for Michael's solo performance of "
Billie Jean," where he debuted his signature moonwalk for the ecstatic crowd.
Marlon left the group shortly after Michael to pursue a solo career. He released one album, Baby Tonight, in 1987, which landed in the top 30 of the R&B Albums chart and spawned the #2 R&B single "Don't Go." Despite the success, he decided to leave the music business for a while to work in real estate. In 1999, he co-founded The Major Broadcasting Corporation, a religious TV network based in Atlanta.
After releasing their final album, 2300 Jackson Street, The Jacksons disbanded in 1989. They briefly reunited in 2001 for the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration concert at Madison Square Garden. In 2012, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon officially got the group back together for a series of concerts in the US. As of 2026, Jackie and Marlon are the only original members left in the group, with Jackie as the lead singer. Tito died of a heart attack at the age of 70 in 2024; Jermaine quit in 2020 but occasionally appears as a guest performer.
Sometime in the early 1980s, Tina Turner fired a shotgun at Randy Jackson after he broke into her house to locate his then-girlfriend, Bernadette Swann, who was hiding from him due to his alleged abuse. Turner didn't want to attract bad publicity so she didn't press charges against him, but the story came out in the 1998 book The Real T: My 22 years with Tina Turner by her former personal assistant Eddy Hampton Armani. The account doesn't claim the bullet hit Jackson - Turner fired a warning shot in the ceiling and another towards the doorway - but he claims to have a scar from the incident.
