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Jermaine Jackson
Jermaine Jackson, 2007
Background information
Birth name	Jermaine La Jaune Jackson
Born	December 11, 1954 (1954-12-11) (age 55) Gary, Indiana, United States
Genres	R&B, soul, dance
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, dancer, producer
Instruments	Vocals, Electric Bass, Guitar, Keyboards
Years active	1964–present
Labels	Motown, Epic,Arista, LaFace
Associated acts	The Jackson 5

Jermaine La Jaune Jackson (born December 11, 1954) is an American singer, bassist, composer, former member of The Jackson 5, older brother of American pop stars Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson and occasional film director.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Jermaine Jackson is the fourth child of Joseph and Katherine Jackson, born in Gary, Indiana after his brother Tito Jackson.^[1] He was raised as a Jehovah's Witness by his devout mother (though he later converted to Islam in 1989 after a trip to the Middle East and has been staunch supporter of peace in the region). Jermaine was the original lead singer of the Jackson Brothers—an earlier incarnation of The Jackson Five—until 1968, when younger brother Michael began assisting with lead vocals. He remained the co-lead singer with Michael for many years. Jackson graduated from Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California in 1973,^[2] where he was described in the yearbook as the "most talented" and "best dressed."

[edit] The Jackson 5

Jackson and his brothers signed with Motown Records in 1968. As the co-lead singer of The Jackson 5 after his brother Michael, Jackson sang notable parts of "I Want You Back", "I'll Be There", "I Am Love", "Dancing Machine", "Standing in the shadow of love", "Stand", "Born to love you", "Chained", "Touch", "Ask for the lonely", "Ain't nothing like the real thing", "Don't want to see you tomorrow", "Ooh, I'd love to be with you", "Breezy", "Through thick and thin," "Body Language," and many other Jackson 5 songs. In 1975, after six years performing with his brothers, Jermaine split from the Jackson 5 to continue his solo career at Motown Records while the other Jackson brothers left to sign with Epic Records.

[edit] Solo career

Like Michael, Jermaine began a solo career while still a member of The Jackson 5, and had a hit with the 1972 Shep and the Limelites cover "Daddy's Home". When The Jackson 5 left Motown, Jermaine left the group and stayed at Motown. Some thought it was because he was married to Hazel Gordy, the daughter of Motown founder Berry Gordy, but on the reality TV series starring him and the other members of the group, minus Michael, he said it was because "CBS was gonna make us like the Beatles. We were the Jackson 5 and that's all I wanted."

Jermaine was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his 1980 album Let's Get Serious. He had numerous Hot 100 Top 30 hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including "Daddy's Home" (#9), "That's How Love Goes", "Let's Be Young Tonight", "Bass Odyssey", "Feel the Fire", "Let Me Tickle Your Fancy" (featuring Devo on backing vocals) (#18), "Let's Get Serious" (#9, also one of his only two UK hits, peaking at #8), "Dynamite" (#15), "Do What You Do" (#13), and "I Think It's Love" (#16). A duet with his brother Michael, "Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' (Too Good to Be True)", hit #1 on the dance chart in 1984. He and Michael also collaborated with Rockwell, both providing guest vocals on his 1984 hit single, "Somebody's Watching Me". In 1985, his duet with Pia Zadora, When the Rain Begins to Fall, topped several singles charts in Europe. His final chart success, 1989's "Don't Take It Personal", hit #1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart. Some of Jermaine's finest moments as a singer can be heard in the soulful "Castle of Sand" and the Earth Wind & Fire inspired "You Need To Be Loved".

Jackson is proficient on the electric guitar and is a talented bass guitar player. Already at an early age he performed the parts of legendary bass player James Jamerson etc when J5 performed live. Jermaine also composed and produced for other artists like Switch. He also produced and sang a couple of duets on Whitney Houston's debut album on Arista Records. In 1992, he produced The Jacksons: An American Dream, an award-winning and highly-rated miniseries about the history of The Jackson 5. Jermaine Jr. portrayed his father as a young teenager in the miniseries.

[edit] Death of Michael Jackson

On June 25, 2009, Jermaine's younger brother Michael died as a result of cardiac arrest at age 50. A public memorial service was held on July 7, 2009. At the Michael Jackson memorial, Jermaine performed Michael's favorite song "Smile" as a tribute to his late brother.

[edit] Reality TV: Big Brother UK

Jackson was the first housemate to enter the Celebrity Big Brother UK house in 2007. He steered clear of the controversy caused by the series, avoiding confrontation and offering moral support to fellow housemate Shilpa Shetty against bullying from fellow housemates Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd, and Jo O'Meara. He was often considered to be the most stable minded in the house. During a task in the Big Brother house, the housemates had to create a tribute band for The Jackson 5. The performance of "I Want You Back" helped put The Jackson 5 back in the UK charts at #53. The final three consisted of Dirk Benedict, Jermaine Jackson, and Shilpa Shetty. After leaving Big Brother,^[3] Jackson did several interviews on UK television, stating why and how he took his peaceful and mediating stance in the Big Brother house. He also spoke about the Jackson 5 reuniting for a performance. Jackson was part of the second season of the CMT reality show Gone Country. On one episode, he admitted that he needs to sleep with the lights on in an exchange with roomie Sebastian Bach. When Bach probed Jackson further, Jackson said that he "sees people" from the 1800s if he sleeps with the lights off.

[edit] Later works

He is planning a stage show based on his family to be released in the UK. He has said that The Jacksons are recording an album and planning a family tour. Jackson returned to the UK in March 2007 to take part in the Channel 4 show Musicool as a mentor.

He is also currently involved in several charity projects and has been working on projects to help orphaned children around the world. Among other countries, he has visited Bangladesh as part of his work to raise funds and help children. He has also figured heavily on the Islam Channel in the UK where he talked about his Islamic faith as well as announcing several charity projects that he plans to undertake.

In April 2007, Jackson returned to the UK to take part in a one-off special of ITV's Challenge Anneka. On the same trip he appeared in Glasgow with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking in support of Searchlight magazine's anti-racism campaign, the Daily Mirror "Hope Not Hate bus".^[4]

On November 23, 2007, Jackson appeared on Katie & Peter: Unleashed and again talked of a reunion with his brothers on a tour the following year. In 2008, Jackson flew to Australia to be a guest judge and mentor for the top 5 Michael Jackson night on Australian Idol. In March 2008, Jackson was the guest of honour at the Muslim Writers Awards in Birmingham.

He currently appears on the new A&E Tv series The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty documenting the return of him and his brothers to music and preparing for a 40th anniversary tour and album.

[edit] Personal life

On December 15, 1973, Jackson married Hazel Gordy, who is the daughter of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy.^[5][6] Their first child was Jermaine La Jaune Jackson, Jr. aka Jay, born on January 27, 1977, their daughter Autumn Jackson was born the following year on July 10, 1978, Jaimy Jackson born on March 17, 1987.^[7] Jackson also had a relationship with Margaret Maldonado^[8] while still married to Hazel. After his divorce from Gordy, Jackson started living with Maldonado. The couple had two children: Jeremy Maldonado Jackson, born on December 26, 1986 and Jourdynn Michael Jackson, born on January 5, 1989.^[9]

Jackson converted to Islam in 1989 after a trip to Bahrain^[9][10] and publically expressed his religious beliefs during his appearance on Big Brother; while filming the program, Jackson prayed and fasted. He has also publicly said he had hoped to convert his brother Michael Jackson to Islam, saying it would have provided him with 'peace' and 'heal' his problems.^[11][12][13]

Shortly after separating from Maldonado on March 18, 1991, Jackson started a relationship with younger-brother Randy Jackson's ex-girlfriend, Alejandra Genevieve Oaziaza. Their relationship produced two sons: Jaafar, born July 25, 1996, and Jermajesty, born October 7, 2000.^[9] Jermaine separated from Oaziaza in November of 2004.

Halima Rashid, who is Afghani , became Jackson's second wife, marrying in 2004.^[14] They currently live in Los Angeles, but frequently travel to London and Bahrain.

During his brother Michael Jackson's 2005 child-abuse trial, he was a staunch supporter of his brother, coming to Michael's defense on CNN's Larry King Live and appearing with him in court on numerous occasions. On June 25, 2009, Jermaine held a press conference at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and broke the news to international media, that at 2:26 pm (PDT) his younger brother Michael Jackson, had died at age 50.

Jackson attended with his family to the memorial service for his brother Michael Jackson on July 7, 2009 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. He helped carry the casket of Michael, and performed the song Smile by Charlie Chaplin, in tribute to Michael, which was believed to be his brother's favorite song.^[15] Jermaine recalls that his daughter took the death of Michael very badly.

Jermaine Jackson is also an avid Los Angeles Dodgers fan. In 2009, while wearing a Manny Ramirez jersey, he made a one-handed catch of a foul ball while seated behind the Dodgers dugout.

[edit] In popular culture

Jackson was portrayed by Jason Griffith in the 2004 film Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story, while his son, Jermaine Jackson Jr., portrayed him in the 1992 miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Main albums

[edit] Compilations

[edit] Singles

[edit] Motown releases

[edit] Arista releases

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Video interview about his Islamic beliefs
• VH1 Profile
• Jermaine Jackson Complete Motown Discography
• Jermaine Jackson at the Internet Movie Database