The Jackson 5

The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as Jackson 5ive; later known as the The Jacksons) are an American popular music family group from Gary, Indiana. Formed in 1964 under the name The Jackson Brothers, the founding members were Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael. After participating in talent shows and the chitlin' circuit, they entered the professional music scene in 1967 signing with Steeltown Records, releasing two singles, before signing with Motown in 1969.

Among the first groups of black American performers to attain a crossover following, preceded only by The Supremes, The Four Tops and The Temptations, they made history in 1970 as the first recording act whose first four singles reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, with the songs: "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There". Scoring 17 top forty singles on the Hot 100, after continuing with further hits such as "Never Can Say Goodbye" and "Dancing Machine", most of the group with the exception of Jermaine, left Motown for Epic Records in 1975, where with brother Randy taking Jermaine's place, they released five albums between1976 and 1981, including the hit albums, Destiny (1978) and Triumph (1980) and the hit singles, "Enjoy Yourself", "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" and "Can You Feel It". In 1983, Jermaine reunited with the band to perform on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever and subsequently released the Victory album the following year. Following the end of their tour to promote the album, Michael Jackson and Marlon Jackson promptly left the group. The remaining four released the poorly received2300 Jackson Street album in 1989 before being dropped from their label.

Inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999, the Jacksons reunited in 2001 on Michael's 30th anniversary television special. Following Michael's death in 2009, the four eldest of the brothers embarked on their Unity Tour in 2012.[1][2]

Contents
[hide]
 * 1 History
 * 1.1 Early years
 * 1.2 Jacksonmania
 * 1.3 Decline and exit
 * 1.4 The Jacksons CBS/Epic Records
 * 1.5 Later years
 * 1.6 The Jacksons: Unity Tour
 * 2 Legacy
 * 3 Band members
 * 4 Discography
 * 5 Tours
 * 6 See also
 * 7 Notes
 * 8 References
 * 9 External links

Early years[edit]
The Jacksons' childhood home inGary, Indiana surrounded by gifts, flowers, and stuffed animals after Michael Jackson's death in 2009

The five Jackson brothers' interest in music took place in Gary, Indiana, bolstered by their father Joe Jackson. In 1964, Joe caught son Tito playing with his guitar after a string broke. Upon fixing the string, threatening punishment, Tito's father had him play, and was impressed enough to buy the boy his own guitar. Tito, Jermaine and Jackie showed an interest in singing and formed their own group with their father naming them as The Jackson Brothers, with six-year-old Michael playing congas and childhood buddies Reynaud Jones and Milford Hite playing keyboards and drums. Marlon, then seven, eventually joined playing the tambourine. In August 1965, before a show at Gary's Tiny Tots Jamboree held on Michael's seventh birthday, Evelyn LaHaie suggested the group rename themselves to The Jackson Five Singing Group, later shortened to simply The Jackson Five.

In 1966, the group won a talent show at Gary's Theodore Roosevelt High School, where Jermaine performed several Motown numbers, including The Temptations' "My Girl" and Michael performed two James Brown numbers, including, "I Got You (I Feel Good)", winning the talent show instantly. Johnny Jackson and Ronnie Rancifer eventually replaced Milford Hite and Reynaud Jones. After several more talent show wins, Joe Jackson booked his sons to perform at several respected music venues of the chitlin' circuit, including Chicago's Regal Theater and Harlem's Apollo Theater, winning the talent competitions on both shows in 1967. After they won the Apollo contest on August 13, 1967, singer Gladys Knight sent a tape of the boys' demo to Motown Records, hoping to get them to sign, only to have their tape rejected and sent back to Gary. In November of 1967, the brothers signed a deal with Gordon Keith's Steeltown Records, where they recorded and released two singles, "(I'm A) Big Boy" and "We Don't Have to Be Over 21". During early 1968, the brothers also performed at strip clubs on Joe's behest to earn extra income.

While performing a week-long run of shows at the Regal Theater as the opening act for Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers, an impressed Taylor sent the Jacksons to Detroit to help with their Motown audition, which was set for July 23 at Motown's headquarters located at Woodward Avenue. Following the taped audition, which was sent to CEO Berry Gordy's office in Hollywood, Gordy requested the group to be signed, with final negotiations completed by early 1969, leading to the group to be signed on March 11. Following initial recordings at Detroit's Hitsville USA studio, Berry Gordy sent the Jacksons to Hollywood in July, hiring Suzanne de Passe to become a mentor of the brothers.

Starting in August, they performed as the opening act for The Supremes, whose lead singer Diana Ross was planning to leave for a solo career at the end of the year. After performing at the Daisy in Los Angeles and at the Miss Black America Pageant in New York, the group recorded their first single, "I Want You Back", written by a newly assembled Motown team called The Corporation, which consisted of three composers and songwriters Freddie Perren, Deke Richards and Alphonzo Mizell with Gordy as a fourth partner. In October, the song was released and the group promoted it while performing at the Hollywood Palace with Ross hosting. In December, the brothers made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Afterwards, their debut album, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5, was released that same month.

Jacksonmania[edit]
In January 1970, "I Want You Back" topped the Billboard Hot 100. Led by the Corporation, the Jackson 5 released two more number-one singles, "ABC" and "The Love You Save". A fourth single, "I'll Be There", co-written and produced by Willie Hutch, became the band's fourth number-one single, making them the first recording act to have their first four singles reach the top of the Hot 100. All four singles were almost as popular in other countries as they were in the United States. Releasing a succession of four albums in one year, the Jackson 5 replaced The Supremes as Motown's best-selling group. They continued their success with singles such as "Mama's Pearl", "Never Can Say Goodbye" and "Sugar Daddy", giving them a total of seven top ten singles within a two-year period.

As the Jackson Five became Motown's main marketing focus, the label capitalized on the group's youth appeal, licensing dozens of products, including the J5 heart logo located on Johnny Jackson's drum set, the group's album covers, stickers, posters and coloring books, as well as a board game and a Saturday morning cartoon series produced by Rankin/Bass. In view of their lack of covers on otherwise predominantly whiteteen-oriented magazines including Tiger Beat and Seventeen, a black publication, Right On!, began in 1971 and initially focused heavily on the Jackson 5, with at least one of the five members adorning a single cover between January 1972 and April 1974. In addition, the Jackson 5 appeared in several television specials including Diana Ross' 1971 special, Diana!. Later that September, they starred on their first of two Motown-oriented television specials, Goin' Back to Indiana; their second, The Jackson 5 Show, debuted in November of the following year. During the Vietnam War period, the group was often joined by Bob Hope onUSO-benefited performances to support military troops.

In order to continue increasing sales, Motown launched Michael Jackson's solo career in 1971, with the single, "Got to Be There," released in November of that year. Following several top 40 follow-ups, Jackson's 1972 song, "Ben", became his first to top the charts. Jermaine Jackson was the second to release a solo project; his most successful hit of the period was a cover of the doo-wop song, "Daddy's Home".

Decline and exit[edit]
By 1972, despite Michael and Jermaine's solo successes, the Jackson 5's own records began plummeting on the charts. Partially credited to the changing musical landscape, The Corporation, which had produced most of their hit singles, split up in 1973. Focusing their attention on the emerging disco scene, the brothers recorded the charted song, "Get It Together", followed immediately afterwards by their hit, "Dancing Machine", their first to crack the top ten since "Sugar Daddy" nearly three years before. Despite those successes, most of the Jackson 5's follow-ups were not as successful and by 1973, Joe Jackson had grown tired of Motown's uneasiness to continue producing hits for the brothers. Jackson began producing a nightclub act around his sons and daughters, first starting in Las Vegas and spreading throughout the states.

By 1975, most of the Jacksons opted out of recording any more music for Motown desiring creative control and royalties. Learning that they were earning only 2.8% of royalties from Motown, Joe Jackson began negotiating to have his boys sign a lucrative contract with another company, settling for Epic Records, which had offered a royalty rate of 20% per record, signing with the company in June of 1975. Absent from the deal was Jermaine Jackson, who decided to stay in Motown. Randy Jackson formally replaced him. After initially suing them for breach of contract, Motown allowed the group to record for Epic, as long as they change their name, since The Jackson 5 moniker was in ownership of Motown. The brothers settled as simply The Jacksons.

The Jacksons CBS/Epic Records[edit]
In November of 1976, following the debut of the family's weekly variety series, the Jacksons released their self-titled Epic debut under the Philadelphia International subsidiary, produced by Gamble & Huff. Featuring "Enjoy Yourself" and "Show You the Way to Go", the album went gold but failed to generate the sales the brothers had enjoyed while at Motown. A follow-up, Goin' Places, fizzled. Renewing their contract with Epic, the Jacksons were allowed full creative control on their next recording, Destiny, released in December 1978. Featuring their best-selling Epic single to date, "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)", written by Michael and Randy, the album sold over a million copies. Its follow-up, 1980's Triumph, also sold a million copies, spawning hits such as "Lovely One" and "Can You Feel It". In 1981, they released their fifth album, alive album that eventually sold half a million copies. The live album was culled from recordings of performances on their Triumph Tour. In the middle of Destiny and Triumph, Michael Jackson released the best-selling solo effort, Off the Wall. Its success led to rumors of Jackson's alleged split from his brothers. After Triumph, Jackson worked on his second Epic solo release, which was released in November 1982 as Thriller, which later went on to become the best-selling album of all time.

In March of 1983, with Jermaine, the Jacksons performed on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, the same show where Michael debuted the moonwalk during a solo performance of "Billie Jean". Following the success of the reunion, all six brothers agreed to record a sixth album for Epic, later released as Victory in 1984. Their biggest-selling album to date, it included their final top ten single, "State of Shock", which was actually a duet between Michael and Mick Jagger and didn't feature any other Jackson in participation, as did most of the songs on the album, with some exceptions, including the top 20 single, "Torture", which was performed as a duet between Michael and Jermaine, with Jackie singing several parts. In July of 1984, the Jacksons launched their Victory Tour, but the tour was overshadowed by Jackie's leg injury, ticket issues, friction between the brothers, and shakeup in the promotion and marketing team, initially headed by Don King, who was later fired. Michael announced he was leaving the group after their final performance atDodger Stadium that December. The following January, Marlon Jackson also announced he was leaving the group to pursue a solo career. In 1989, five years after their last album, the remaining quartet of Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Randy released the ill-fated 2300 Jackson Street, which performed badly on the charts. After a brief promotional tour, the band went into hiatus.

Later years[edit]
In September 2001, nearly 17 years after their last performance together, all six Jackson brothers reunited for two performances at Madison Square Garden for a 30th anniversary special commemorating Michael's solo career, which aired in November. In early 2009, the four elder brothers began filming a reality show to make their attempt on reuniting the band, later debuting in December 2009 as The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty.[3] During the middle of the project, Michael had announced his concert comeback in London. Michael would later die that same year in June, putting efforts on halt. Later in 2009, following the death of brother Michael, the surviving Jacksons recorded background vocals for a previously unreleased song, "This Is It" (the theme for the movie of the same name), which had originally been a demo.[4] The radio-only single was released in October of that same year. The song did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100, but charted at number nineteen on Billboards Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks.[5] "This Is It" returned The Jacksons to the chart for the first time since 1970, when, billed as the Jackson 5, the group marked its sole previous entry, "I'll Be There", which went on to peak on the chart at number twenty-four.[6] The surviving members of the Jacksons were in talks of planning a reunion concert tour (which was to be served as a tribute to Michael) for 2010, and were in talks in working on their first new studio album in over 20 years.[3][7] However, neither plan was put into action.

The Jacksons: Unity Tour[edit]
In September 2010, Jermaine Jackson held his own "tribute" concert to Michael in Las Vegas. In 2011, Jackie Jackson released a solo single to iTunes, while Jermaine released his first solo album in 21 years, I Wish U Love. Following the release of one solo album, Marlon Jackson quit the music business in 1989 and invested in real estate. Randy Jackson hasn't been active in the industry since he disbanded the group Randy & The Gypsys in 1991.

In August 2011, there appeared to be a discord between the brothers concerning a tribute concert dedicated to Michael. While Jackie, Tito and Marlon were present alongside mother Katherine and sister La Toyafor a tribute concert in Cardiff at the Millennium Stadium for a press conference concerning the tour, a couple days after the press conference, both Randy and Jermaine issued a statement denouncing the tribute tour as the date of it occurring around the same time of Conrad Murray's manslaughter trial in relation to Michael's death. The show carried on with Jackie, Tito and Marlon performing without Jermaine. In April 2012, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon announced that they would reunite for several US concerts for their Unity Tour. 38 dates were announced, however, 11 shows in the United States were cancelled. The tour started at Casino Rama in Rama, Canada on June 20 and ended on December 9 in Osaka, Japan.[8]

Legacy[edit]
In 1980, the brothers, under their Jacksons moniker, were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. As The Jackson 5, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.[9][10] Two of the band's recordings ("ABC" and "I Want You Back") are among The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll", with the latter track also included in the Grammy Hall of Fame.[9][11] On September 8, 2008, The Jacksons were honored as BMI Icons at the annual BMI Urban Awards.[12]

In 1992, Suzanne de Passe, Jermaine Jackson, and Jermaine's then common-law wife Margaret Maldonado, worked with Motown to produce The Jacksons: An American Dream, a five-hour television miniseriesbroadcast based on the history of The Jackson family in a two-part special on ABC.

Influenced by The Temptations, The Supremes, James Brown, Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers and Sly & The Family Stone, the group eventually served as the inspiration for several generations of boy bands, including New Edition, Menudo, New Kids on the Block, N*SYNC, the Jonas Brothers, Backstreet Boys, One Direction, and many more. The rise of the Jackson 5 in the 1960s and 1970s coincided with the rise of a very similar band of brothers, the Osmond Brothers. Some considered the Osmonds, who were white, an imitation of the Jacksons. However, the Osmonds actually started a few years before the Jacksons, and were considered an inspiration to them. Joseph Jackson was impressed by the Osmond Brothers' early TV appearances and instructed his own sons to study them closely. Eventually, the members of the two families became friends. "Michael had a unique sense of humor about him, and told us he was so tired of watching The Osmonds on The Andy Williams Show. He explained this was something their father had them do, and Michael joked he became really tired of it!"[13]

Band members[edit]
Main article: List of The Jackson 5 band members

Discography[edit]
Main article: Jackson 5 discography

Tours[edit]
Main article: List of concert tours by Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5
 * The Jacksons Tour (1977) (May 19, – May 24, 1977) [14]
 * Goin' Places Tour (1978) (January 22 – May 13, 1978) [15]
 * Destiny Tour (1979–1980) (January 22, 1979 – September 26, 1980) [16]
 * Triumph Tour (1981) (July 8 – September 26, 1981) [17]
 * Victory Tour (1984) (July 6 – December 9, 1984) [18]
 * Unity Tour (2012)