The Jackson 5

 
The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, later known as the Jacksons) is an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1965 in Gary, Indiana, by Joe Jackson, as well as by brothers Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine, with younger brothers Marlon and Michael joining soon after.
The Jackson 5 performed in talent shows and clubs on the Chitlin' Circuit, then signed with Steeltown Records in 1967 and released two singles. In 1968, they left Steeltown Records and signed with Motown, where they were the first group to debut with four consecutive number one hits on the "Billboard" Hot 100 with the songs "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save", and "I'll Be There". They also achieved 16 top-40 singles on the "chart". The group left Motown for Epic Records in early 1976, with the exception of Jermaine, who was replaced by Randy. At Epic, they released four studio albums and one live album between 1976 and 1981, including the successful albums "Destiny" (1978) and "Triumph" (1980) and the singles "Enjoy Yourself", "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)", and "Can You Feel It".
The brothers also released solo albums, most successfully Michael. In 1983, Jermaine reunited with the band to perform on the "" TV special. They released the "Victory" album the following year, followed by an extensive tour which also featured songs from Michael's solo albums. After the "Victory" tour, Michael and Marlon Jackson left the group. The remaining four released the poorly received "2300 Jackson Street" album in 1989 before being dropped from their label. In 2001, the Jacksons reunited on Michael's TV special. The four eldest of the brothers embarked on their Unity Tour in 2012 following Michael's death, and they planned several major performances for 2017.
According to some sources, The Jackson 5 have sold more than 100 million records worldwide. In 1980, the brothers were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as the Jacksons. They were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. 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 and, alongside "I'll Be There", were also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
History.
Early years.
The five Jackson brothers' interest in music was bolstered by their father Joe Jackson. In 1964, Joe found Tito playing with his guitar after a string broke, and he was impressed enough to buy him his own guitar. Tito, Jermaine, and Jackie later formed their own group, with Michael (age 5) playing congas and childhood friends Reynaud Jones and Milford Hite playing keyboards and drums in 1965. Marlon joined on tambourine in August 1965, when Evelyn LaHaie suggested that the group name themselves the Jackson Five Singing Group.
In 1966, the group won their first talent show at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Gary. Jermaine performed the Temptations' "My Girl", and Michael performed Robert Parker's "Barefootin'". Johnny Jackson and Ronnie Rancifer eventually replaced Hite and Jones. During their early performing years, the Jackson 5 would perform at other talent showcases at several other Gary schools and halls and theaters in Gary and the Chicago area. In August 1967, the boys were eventually booked into venues such as Chicago's Regal Theater and Harlem's Apollo Theater, winning the talent competitions on both shows that year, winning the Apollo competition on August 13. Afterwards, it's claimed Gladys Knight sent a tape of the boys' demo to Motown Records, hoping to get them to sign, but their tape was rejected and sent back. In July 1967, the group recorded an early version of a song that would later be their first single, "Big Boy", for One-derful Records, however, the group was also rejected by that label.
In November 1967, Joe Jackson signed the group into Steeltown Records, a label founded and owned by record producer Gordon Keith. With Keith at the helm, they recorded "Big Boy" again that same month, the song would later be released as a single in January 1968. By March, Keith had managed to sign the Jackson 5 into a distribution deal with Atlantic Records, where "Big Boy" and another single, "We Don't Have to Be Over 21 (To Fall in Love)", were distributed. "Big Boy" eventually moved 10,000 copies. By March, Keith booked the boys to perform for their first paying gig at the Apollo Theater where they opened for Etta James. That month, Keith had "Big Boy" distributed through Atlantic Records and was working out on a record contract for the boys on that label when he learned that Joe Jackson had tried to get in touch with Motown through his attorney Richard Arons.
During July 1968, the boys opened for Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers, at the Regal Theater. After being blown away by Michael's performance, Taylor sent the boys to Detroit where he set up a recorded Motown audition, which took place at Motown's official headquarters on Detroit's Woodward Avenue on July 23, 1968. Gordy, who had initially rejected their tape, refusing to sign any more "kid acts" after Stevie Wonder, changed his mind once he viewed Taylor's tape. On July 26, Gordy returned to Detroit where he had Joe Jackson and the boys sign their first year-long Motown contract. However, recording on their first album was delayed due to a contract dispute with Keith. While negotiations were continuing to get the Jacksons out of Steeltown, the group performed at strip clubs such as Guys + Dolls to make extra income.
Finally on March 11, 1969, a day before Marlon's 12th birthday, the Jackson Five signed an exclusive seven-year contract with the label. After initial recordings at Detroit's Hitsville U.S.A. failed to impress Gordy, he sent the Jacksons to Hollywood. In August, Motown's PR machine, led by Suzanne de Passe, started to pass off the group as having been discovered by Supremes lead singer Diana Ross. When the group opened for record industry insiders at the Los Angeles club, the Daisy, Michael was billed as an "eight-year-old sensation", though he was several days shy of his 11th birthday. Shortly after the Daisy performance, the Jackson Five performed a cover of "It's Your Thing" at the Miss Black America Pageant in New York. By September, Gordy had set up the new songwriting and producing team, The Corporation, to write exclusively for the Jackson Five. After recording "I Want You Back" that same month, the single was released in early October and the Jacksons promoted the song on such programs such as the "Hollywood Palace" and the "Ed Sullivan Show". Their debut album, "Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5", was released in December 1969.
Jacksonmania.
"I Want You Back" topped the "Billboard" Hot 100 in January 1970. The Jackson 5 released two more number-one singles led by the Corporation: "ABC" and "The Love You Save". The single "I'll Be There" was co-written and produced by Hal Davis and 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, and all four were almost as popular in other countries as they were in the United States. The group released a succession of four albums in one year and 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.
The Jackson Five became Motown's main marketing focus and the label capitalized on the group's youth appeal, licensing dozens of products, including the J5 heart logo 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 produced by Rankin/Bass. The black publication "Right On!" began in 1971 and focused heavily on the Jackson 5, with members adorning covers between January 1972 and April 1974. In addition, the group appeared in several television specials including Diana Ross' 1971 special, "Diana!". They starred on their first of two Motown-oriented television specials "Goin' Back to Indiana" in September; their second was "The Jackson 5 Show" which debuted in November of the following year. The group often joined Bob Hope on USO-benefited performances to support military troops during the Vietnam War.
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. His 1972 song "Ben" became his first to top the charts. Jermaine 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.
The Jackson 5's records began plummeting on the charts by 1972, despite Michael and Jermaine's solo successes. The Corporation had produced most of their hit singles, but they split up in 1973. The brothers focused on the emerging disco craze and recorded the song "Get It Together", followed 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 Joe Jackson grew tired of Motown's uneasiness to continue producing hits for the brothers by 1973. He began producing a nightclub act around his sons and daughters, starting in Las Vegas and expanding to other states.
By 1975, most of the Jacksons opted out of recording any more music for Motown, desiring creative control and royalties after learning that they were earning only 2.8% of royalties from Motown. The Jacksons announced their conclusion to depart from Motown at a press conference at the Rainbow Grill in Manhattan, New York City. Joe Jackson then began negotiating to have the group sign a lucrative contract with another company, settling for Epic Records, which had offered a royalty rate of 20% per record; he signed with the company in June 1975. Absent from the deal was Jermaine Jackson, who decided to stay with Motown following his marriage to Hazel Gordy, and Randy Jackson replaced him. Even though the group announced their departure from the label, they still remained under contract to Motown until March 1976. Motown sued them for breach of contract but allowed the group to record for Epic, as long as they changed their name because Motown owned the name Jackson 5. The brothers thus renamed themselves the Jacksons.
The Jacksons CBS/Epic Records.
In November 1976, following the debut of the family's weekly variety series, the Jacksons released their self-titled CBS 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, a live album that eventually sold half a million copies. The live album was culled from recordings of performances on their Triumph Tour. 
In between the releases of "Destiny" and "Triumph", Michael released the best-selling solo effort, "Off the Wall". Its success led to rumors of Michael's alleged split from his brothers. After "Triumph", Michael 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, winning eight Grammy Awards including Album of the Year, plus producing two number one hit singles, "Billie Jean" and "Beat It", and three breakthrough MTV music videos, "Billie Jean", "Beat It", and the 14-minute zombie-themed music video "Thriller". In March 1983, with Jermaine, the Jacksons performed on "", 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". The song was actually a duet between Michael and Mick Jagger and did not feature participation from any other Jackson besides Marlon and Jackie, who were credited as background vocalists. Most of the album was produced in this way, with each brother essentially recording solo songs. Another hit was the top 20 single "Torture", a duet between Michael and Jermaine, with Jackie singing several parts. In the same year, the brothers participated in filming a Pepsi commercial where Michael suffered burns to his scalp due to a pyrotechnic fault. In July 1984, the Jacksons launched their Victory Tour, which was overshadowed by Jackie's leg injury, ticket issues, friction between the brothers, and a 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 at Dodger Stadium that December to continue his solo career. The following January, Marlon Jackson also announced he was leaving the group to pursue a solo career.
In 1987, The Jacksons released the single "Time Out for the Burglar", which was included on the soundtrack of the Whoopi Goldberg comedy film "Burglar". In 1989, the remaining quartet of Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Randy released "2300 Jackson Street", which performed poorly on the charts by the band's standards. After a brief promotional tour, the group went into hiatus and never recorded another album together.
Later years.
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 , 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 "". During the middle of the project, Michael had announced his concert comeback in London was scheduled on July 13, 2009. Michael died that same year on June 25, 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. 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. "This Is It" returned the Jacksons to the chart. The surviving members of the Jacksons were in talks of planning a reunion concert tour (which was to serve as a tribute to Michael) for 2010, and were in talks in working on their first new studio album in over 20 years. However, neither plan was put into action.
The Jacksons: Unity Tour.
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 quit the music business in 1989 and invested in real estate. Randy has not 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 Toya for a tribute concert in Cardiff at the Millennium Stadium for a press conference concerning the tour, a couple of days after the press conference, both Randy and Jermaine issued a statement denouncing the tribute tour as the date of it occurred around the 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 United States concerts for their Unity Tour. Thirty-eight dates were announced, however, eleven shows in the U.S. were canceled. The tour started at Casino Rama in Orillia, Ontario, Canada on June 20, 2012. Thirty-two additional dates were eventually added, and the tour ended on July 27, 2013 in Atlantic City, United States.
Legacy.
In 1977, the Jackson 5 were among a small group of artists eligible to receive the newly minted Madison Square Garden Gold Ticket Award for selling over 100,000 tickets to their concerts there. They received the award from Madison Square Garden when they played there as The Jacksons in 1981. On September 3, 1980, the brothers were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as The Jacksons. 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. 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, while the latter track also included in the Grammy Hall of Fame. On September 8, 2008, the Jacksons were honored as BMI Icons at the annual BMI Urban Awards.
In 1992, Suzanne de Passe, Jermaine Jackson, and Jermaine's then common-law wife Margaret Maldonado, worked with Motown to produce "", a five-hour television miniseries broadcast based on the history of the Jackson family in a two-part special on ABC.
Influenced by the Temptations, the Supremes, James Brown, 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, NSYNC, 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 musical family, the Osmonds. The Osmonds had risen to fame as regular performers on "The Andy Williams Show"; Jay Osmond would later note: "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!" The song "One Bad Apple", written by George Jackson, who had the Jackson Five in mind when he wrote it, was originally presented to Motown Record's Chairman of the Board Berry Gordy for the group to record, but he turned it down. It was then presented to MGM Records for the Osmonds. "One Bad Apple", which the Osmonds recorded in a similar style to the songs of the Jackson 5 at the time, reached number one and began a string of several hits for the Osmonds. Both bands followed a similar career trajectory: a string of several hits as a group, which eventually led to a breakout star (Michael for the Jacksons, Donny for the Osmonds) becoming a solo artist, a little sister not originally part of the group also rising to fame (Janet Jackson and Marie Osmond respectively), and eventual decline as a smaller group in the 1980s. The two groups' members eventually became friends, despite public perception of a rivalry between the two and allegations that the Osmonds, white Mormon brothers from Utah, were an imitation of the black Jackson 5.
Awards and nominations.
Grammy Awards.
The Jackson 5/Jacksons were nominated for a total of three Grammy Awards throughout their career.
Grammy Hall of Fame.
Three of the Jackson 5's songs were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
NAACP Image Awards.
The Jackson 5 has won four NAACP Image Awards throughout their career.
United States Congress.
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. They awarded The Jackson 5 with a "Special Commendation" for positive role models in 1972.
BMI Awards.
Broadcast Music, Incorporated (BMI) is one of two major United States performing rights organization, along with ASCAP. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to members whose works have been performed.
The Jacksons were honored with the BMI Icons award in 2008 and two of their songs, "Never Can Say Goodbye", and "Dancing Machine", were awarded to songwriters Clifton Davis in 1972 and Hal Davis, Dean Parks and Don Fletcher in 1975 respectively at the BMI Pop Awards; those awards weren't received by the Jackson 5.
Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, California, United States, that serves as an entertainment hall of fame. It is embedded with more than 2,000 five-pointed stars featuring the names of celebrities honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for their contributions to the entertainment industry.
The Jacksons received their star in 1980.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a museum located on the shores of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, dedicated to recording the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, and other people who have in some major way influenced the music industry.
All of the original members of the Jackson 5 was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Only Randy Jackson was not inducted alongside his brothers. They were subsequently inducted by Diana Ross and Berry Gordy.
Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
The Vocal Group Hall of Fame (VGHF) was organized by Tony Butala, also the founder (and now only surviving original member) of the Lettermen, to honor outstanding vocal groups throughout the world. Headquartered in Sharon, Pennsylvania, it includes a theater and a museum.
The Jackson 5 were inducted in 1999.
Discography.
Motown releases (as Jackson 5)
CBS/Epic releases (as The Jacksons)