the Jackson 5

the Jackson 5, American pop-soul vocal group featuring members of the Jackson family. The group was massively popular in the 1970s, launching the career of singer, songwriter, and dancer Michael Jackson, who was the most popular entertainer in the world in the early to mid-1980s.

The Jackson 5 sprang from a family of nine children reared in Gary, Indiana, by their father, Joseph Jackson, a onetime professional guitarist who worked as a crane operator for a steel company, and their mother, Katherine (née Scruse) Jackson, a devout Jehovah’s Witness who frequently led the children in song. After his three eldest sons—Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine—took an interest in his guitar, Joseph began shaping them and a pair of their cousins into a musical group. In about 1964 the cousins were replaced by Joseph’s sons Marlon and Michael (the latter of whom was five years old). Having attained local popularity and recorded a single for the Gary-based Steeltown label, the group, now called the Jackson 5, came to the attention of at least two performers affiliated with Motown Records, Bobby Taylor (a member of the Vancouvers) and Gladys Knight. Motown president Berry Gordy, Jr., was so impressed with the dazzling youngsters that he signed them to his label in 1969.

Sporting the loudest fashions, the largest Afros, the snappiest choreography, and a youthful soulful exuberance, the Jackson 5 became an immediate success. They scored four consecutive number one pop hits with “I Want You Back,” “ABC,” “The Love You Save,” and “I’ll Be There” in 1970, and throughout the early 1970s they churned out hits for Motown, many of which were written by a team of songwriters known as “the Corporation” (Freddie Perren, Fonce Mizell, Deke Richards, and Gordy). In the meantime, Michael and Jermaine undertook solo careers, Michael topping the pop charts in 1972 with “Ben,” having earlier reached number two with “Rockin’ Robin.” The Jackson 5’s string of hits for Motown—including “Dancing Machine,” which peaked at number two in 1974—lasted through 1975.

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Michael Jackson: The Jackson 5

Soon afterward family tensions arose, and a contract standoff ensued. Moreover, the group was frustrated by Motown’s refusal to allow it to write and produce. Finally, the Jackson 5 broke with the label and moved to Epic Records as the Jacksons. However, Jermaine, who had married Gordy’s daughter Hazel Joy Gordy, remained at Motown as a solo performer and was replaced in the Jacksons by his youngest brother, Randy.

The Jacksons’ first recordings for Epic were a pair of albums produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, The Jacksons (1976), featuring “Enjoy Yourself,” and Goin’ Places (1977). The highly regarded and mostly self-written and self-produced Destiny (1978) and Triumph (1980) followed. For his part, Michael Jackson gained ever more acclaim with his solo album Off the Wall (1979). His next album, the hit-laden Thriller (1982), sent his solo career into the stratosphere. After the lucrative, hugely successful tour in support of the Jacksons’ album Victory (1984), Michael (soon to be dubbed the “King of Pop”), and Marlon left the group. In 1989 the Jacksons—now made up of Jermaine (who had returned to the group for Victory), Jackie, Tito, and Randy—released 2300 Jackson Street, named for the address of the family’s home in Gary. Over the years, the sisters La Toya and Rebbie Jackson had taken stabs at solo recording careers, as had most of their brothers, but it was the youngest sister, Janet, who became a mega pop star. In 1997 the Jackson 5 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.