The Story of Jermaine Jackson
The Story of Jermaine Jackson
Jermaine LaJuane Jackson was born
on December 11, 1954 in Gary, Indiana. He was the fourth child amongst with
siblings Maureen (Rebbie), Sigmond, Toriano (Tito), Latoya, Marlon, Michael,
Steven Randall (Randy) and Janet. His father Joseph was a steel-mill crane
operator, and his mother Katherine worked for Sears but spent most of her time
being a stay-at-home mother. At an early age, the family got interested in
music with the boys playing with Joseph’s guitar (against his will). But one
day, Joe discovered one of the strings being broke and disciplined Tito. After
Joseph fixed the string, he ordered Tito to play in front of him. Jermaine and
Jackie accompanied him with the vocals. The next day, Joseph bought Tito his
own guitar and formed the Jackson brothers. Overtime, younger brothers Marlon
and Michael joined as well. To balance the group sound, Joseph bought Jermaine
a bass guitar. Jermaine was the original lead singer of the group, but once
Michael joined in he was bumped down to co-lead while Michael became the main
lead.
The boys, known as the Jackson 5,
would perform at talent shows, malls, strip joints and anyhere else they could
perform. They would eventually land a spot-on Amateur Night at the Apollo and
won. In attendance where the vocal band Bobby Knight and the Vancouvers, who were
signed to Motown Records at the time. They talked to Berry Gordy to have the
Jackson 5 audition for the label. After rejecting them three times and constant
begging from everyone, Berry Gordy signed the Jackson 5 to Motown.
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In 1969-1970, the Jackson’s first
four singles went to #1. Those include “I Want You Back”, “ABC”, “The Love You
Save” & “I’ll Be There”. On the B-Side of “The Love You Save”, Jermaine got
an opportunity to shine on the song “I Found That Girl”. In 1971, his younger
brother Michael launched his solo debut Got to Be There where he and his
brothers provided background vocals. They did this to capitalize on the
Jacksons marketability. They would do the same for Jermaine. In 1972, he
released his debut album Jermaine with background vocals from his brothers. On
the album, it featured a cover of the Shep and the Limelites song “Daddy’s
Home”. The cover would reach #9 on the Hot 100 and land him a Gold record.
Throughout the Jacksons career, Jermaine would get acquainted with Berry
Gordy’s daughter Hazel. They would marry in a lavish wedding in 1973. The next
couple years the Jacksons were starting to see their success wane. Not only
that they weren’t getting properly paid royalties from Motown. So the Jackson 5
decided it would be best to leave Motown and go to Epic/CBS for bigger royalty
rate and creative control. Not part of the deal was Jermaine. He opted to stay
with Motown and most media pundits state that his marriage and loyalty to the
Gordy family lead him to stay. What also stayed was the name Jackson 5 which
Motown had owned. To avoid a lawsuit, the boys just settled with the Jacksons
and was replaced with younger brother Randy.
Let’s talk about Jermaine and
Michaels relationship up to this point. According to Michael, he was very close
to Jermaine and looked up to him. Michael got all of Jermaine’s hand-me-downs
and when traveling, he and Jermaine would always room together. So, when
Jermaine left the Jacksons, Michael was devastated because for 11 years he
looked to his left and find Jermaine and now there was a void. Jermaine was
also looked at as a traitor. He would still be around his brother during his
exile but when fans ask for autographs, they wouldn’t ask for his as fans
thought he betrayed the family.
Jermaine released a few albums for
Motown with minimal to no success. But he would still make contributions to the
label. He helped discovered the funk group Switch and later help get the
spinoff group DeBarge on the label. During the late 70s, he developed a
special relationship with Stevie Wonder, whom he covered two songs on his 1977
Frontier album. He requested Stevie Wonder to help him with his next album.
That album would be called Let’s Get Serious. The title track gave Jermaine his
first top ten single since Daddy’s Home going #9 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the
R&B charts. The song also gave Jermaine a nomination for Best Male R&B
Vocal Performance as the album went Gold.
In 1983, Motown was holding a
television special to commemorate 25 years of Motown. Longtime collaborator
Suzanne de Passe wanted the original Jackson 5 lineup to perform. Michael
initially declined to perform but after some begging by Berry Gordy, he agreed
on the condition he gets a solo spot. The Motown 25 performance was the first
time Jermaine has performed with his brothers since his departure. Jermaine
would officially rejoin the Jacksons. However, Jermaine wanted to work on a
solo album after seeing the monumental success his younger brother was
experiencing during the year. He finally was ready to take control and prove to
every on that he doesn’t need Berry Gordy or his brother’s backing. So, he
signed with Arista.
In 1984, Jermaine Jackson released
his self-titled album (or Dynamite in International Versions). The album
spawned two successful singles which included Dynamite going #15 on the Hot 100
& #8 on the R&B. The second one was Do What You Do which went #13 on
the Hot 100. The album also featured collabs from his brother Michael, Randy
& Tito and an unknown at the time Whitney Houston as the album was another
gold seller.
That same year the Jacksons
released their first album as a six-piece called Victory. What was suppose to
be a group collective, turned into a showcase on every member’s solo attempt.
Jermaine didn’t get a solo, instead did a song with Jackie and Michael on the
song Torture. It was the only song Jermaine recorded for the album. Even in the
music videos for Torture & Body, Jermaine nor Michael appeared in the
videos. Michael was busy being Michael, Jermaine turned out he wanted to
promote his solo album during that time. The group went on tour and that’s when
things went left for the Jacksons. Michael would often fly alone in his private
jet, while the brothers flew commercial. There was conflict with the tickets
which led Michael did all the shows for free and threatened to quit a number of
times. But for Jermaine, he was happy as he got to showcase his solo works. One
song that was getting traction was “Tell Me I’m Not Dreaming”, the duet with
brother Michael. Arista saw how well the song was received by the fans and
wanted to push it as a single. But it was Epic/CBS that bared it from
happening, despite Michael’s approval. Had they not blocked the single, many
stated that Jermaine would’ve had a #1 hit on Billboard. But at least the song
was nominated at the 1985 Grammys for Best R&B Performance by Duo/Group
with Vocals. Back with the Victory Tour, an international leg was planned but
onstage Michael announced that this would be final concert of the Jacksons to
the surprise of everyone (including his brothers).
After the Victory Tour wrapped,
Jermaine thought about going on tour solo but that idea failed through. Instead,
Jermaine continued to promote his solo works. He recorded a song with Pia
Zadora called “When the Rain Begins to Fall”. The song reached #1 in various
countries despite not being a runaway success in America. Then in 1986, he
released another solo album (his eleventh) called Precious Moments. It had one
hit called I Think It’s Love. Written by Stevie Wonder, the song reached #16 on
the Hot 100. But his marriage with Hazel fell apart. In 1988, the couple filed
for divorce after he allegedly cheated on her and had two kids outside of their
marriage. In 1989, he released his twelfth album Don’t Take It Personal. The
title track went to #1 on the R&B charts.
That year, Jermaine took a trip to
Bahrain talked to local children there and after one of them said they were
Islam. He was impressed and enthused and not long after convert from Jehovah’s
Witness to Muslim faith. In 1991, he joined LaFace Records to record his
thirteenth album You Said. On the album, there was a song called “Word to the
Badd” and featured rising girl group TLC. The song subliminally took aim at his
superstar younger brother after he failed to return his calls for eight months
(Michael called after he found out about the song). The song peaked at #78 on
the Hot 100 off the controversy alone, but the album itself wasn’t successful.
In 1992, a Jacksons American Dream
was released. Portraying Jermaine was his son Jermaine Jackson Jr. In 1994, Jermaine
set up a TV special called the Jackson Family Honors with the goal of that show
was to donate money to random charities. The show was a disaster after Michael
promised to performed but only pulled back for a cameo appearance. The show
lost more than it gained and a lawsuit accusing fraud commenced. Fortunately,
the suit ended in mistrial. Jermaine married a second time to Alejandra Loaiza,
who was the ex-girlfriend of younger brother Randy. In 1997, Jermaine alongside
his brothers were inducted into the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame. In 2000, he
divorced with Randy’s ex-girlfriend.
In 2001, Michael was holding a 30th
Anniversary Special to commemorate 30 years since Got to Be There and to build
up hype for his upcoming album Invincible. Jermaine initially planned to pull
out of the shows but settled on as promised. This would be the final time the
group would perform together. In the mid-2000s Michael was facing a CM charge
and Jermaine, alongside the rest of his family, spoke out in favor of Michael.
Michael was cleared off all charges against him. After the trial, Jermaine
suggested that he move to Bahrain for rest and relaxation (fun fact: since
Bahrain didn’t have an extradite law at the time, the family planned on flying
him there anyway if he was charged). In 2007 Jermaine decided to get involved
in Reality TV appearing on Celebrity Big Brother UK, in which he placed 2nd.
The next CMT came calling to place him on their reality show Gone Country.
On June 25, 2009, Michael Jackson,
the greatest entertainer of all time, passed away after going into cardiac
arrest. It would be Jermaine to announce the public about his passing. At his
funeral Jermaine performed the Charlie Chaplin song “Smile”, which was
Michael’s favorite song. After all of this, Jermaine took part on a reality
show Jackson: A Family Dynasty. This show showcased the brothers plan for a
reunion concert and eventually tour after the sudden death of Michael. In 2012,
Jermaine released a cover album I Wish You L.O.V.E. In 2022, a biopic called
Michael was in the works. Casted as the titular character was his son, Jaafar
Jackson. The film is set for release in 2025 and that’s where Jermaine is at
today. Although he did not have the same music success as his famous brother
and sister, but he’s still one of talent Jacksons in the family.
SOURCES
https://www.biography.com/musicians/jermaine-jackson
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-11-07-ca-1387-story.html
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