The Jacksons Biography: Members, Age, Net Worth, Albums, Songs, Heights, Real Names

September 2, 2026 • 9:03 pm 0 Posted By Kaptain Kush

The Jackson 5, later known as The Jacksons, is an American pop and R&B vocal group formed by brothers from the Jackson family in Gary, Indiana.

Composed originally of Jackie Jackson, Tito Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, Marlon Jackson, and Michael Jackson, the group became one of the most commercially successful acts of the Motown era and launched the solo career of Michael Jackson, who went on to become the best-selling music artist in history.

Managed in their early years by their father, Joe Jackson, the group is credited with a string of consecutive number-one singles in 1970 and remains a foundational act in American pop music.

Quick Facts

Members: Jackie Jackson, Tito Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Michael Jackson
Stage Name: The Jacksons
Origin: Gary, Indiana, United States
Active: 1964–1975 (as The Jackson 5); continued from 1976 to present as The Jacksons
Nationality: American
Occupation: Singers, Musicians, Songwriters
Net Worth: $9 million-$10 million

Early Life and Members

Jackie Jackson

Jackie Jackson is the eldest of the five original members and the group’s sole constant presence across every era of the band.

Real Name: Sigmund Esco Jackson
Date of Birth: May 4, 1951
Age: 75 years old
Place of Birth: Gary, Indiana, United States
Ethnicity: African American
Religion: Christianity
Parents: Joe Jackson, Katherine Jackson
Siblings: Rebbie Jackson, Tito Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, La Toya Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Michael Jackson, Randy Jackson, Janet Jackson
Education: Theodore Roosevelt High School, Gary, Indiana

Born into a musically inclined household in a two-bedroom home in Gary, Indiana, Jackie Jackson grew up under the strict rehearsal discipline enforced by his father, Joe Jackson, a steel mill worker who moonlighted in an R&B band called the Falcons. He was part of the earliest incarnation of the group, the Jackson Brothers, alongside Tito Jackson and Jermaine Jackson, before the addition of Marlon Jackson and Michael Jackson turned the act into the Jackson 5.

Tito Jackson

Tito Jackson was the group’s lead guitarist and one of its most consistently present members until his death in 2024.

1 La Toya Jackson Businesswoman

2 Meshell Ndegeocello Musician

3 Jesse Moss Actor

4 Wolfiez Social Media Personality

Jermaine Jackson

Jermaine Jackson was the group’s original lead singer before Michael Jackson took over that role, and he remained the group’s bassist through its Motown years.

Real Name: Jermaine La Jaune Jackson
Date of Birth: December 11, 1954
Age: 71 years old
Place of Birth: Gary, Indiana, United States
Ethnicity: African American
Religion: Christianity (raised as a Jehovah’s Witness)
Parents: Joe Jackson, Katherine Jackson
Siblings: Rebbie Jackson, Jackie Jackson, Tito Jackson, La Toya Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Michael Jackson, Randy Jackson, Janet Jackson
Education: Theodore Roosevelt High School, Gary, Indiana

Jermaine Jackson and his brothers secretly practiced songs on their father’s guitar while he worked long shifts as a crane operator. He fronted the group as the Jackson Brothers’ original lead vocalist until 1966, when the family recognized six-year-old Michael Jackson’s talent and shifted him to lead vocals, a decision that reshaped the group’s sound heading into its Motown signing.

Marlon Jackson

Marlon Jackson joined the group on tambourine and later took on a more prominent vocal role as the lineup evolved.

Real Name: Marlon David Jackson
Date of Birth: March 12, 1957
Age: 69 years old
Place of Birth: Gary, Indiana, United States
Ethnicity: African American
Religion: Christianity
Parents: Joe Jackson, Katherine Jackson
Siblings: Rebbie Jackson, Jackie Jackson, Tito Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, La Toya Jackson, Michael Jackson, Randy Jackson, Janet Jackson, Brandon Jackson
Education: Theodore Roosevelt High School, Gary, Indiana

Marlon Jackson was the group’s sixth-born sibling and joined the lineup in August 1965, playing conga and tambourine before contributing background vocals on many of the group’s biggest hits. It was family friend Evelyn LaHaie who suggested the brothers adopt the name the Jackson Five that same month.

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson became the group’s lead singer as a child and its breakout star, later becoming the best-selling solo artist in music history.

Real Name: Michael Joseph Jackson
Date of Birth: August 29, 1958
Died: June 25, 2009 (age 50), Los Angeles, California, United States
Place of Birth: Gary, Indiana, United States
Ethnicity: African American
Religion: Christianity (raised as a Jehovah’s Witness)
Parents: Joe Jackson, Katherine Jackson
Siblings: Rebbie Jackson, Jackie Jackson, Tito Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, La Toya Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Randy Jackson, Janet Jackson
Education: Theodore Roosevelt High School, Gary, Indiana

Michael Jackson was the eighth child of the Jackson family and joined the group as a five-year-old, playing congas before his mother, Katherine Jackson, discovered his singing ability and his father made him the group’s lead vocalist. That decision, made when he was still a child in Gary, set him on a path toward becoming the most celebrated pop star of the 20th century.

Formation

The group’s roots trace back to 1964, when Joe Jackson discovered his son Tito Jackson’s talent for guitar and began organizing his sons into a singing act. Tito Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, and Jackie Jackson first performed together as the Jackson Brothers, with young Michael Jackson playing congas alongside childhood friends Reynaud Jones and Milford Hite on keyboards and drums.

Marlon Jackson joined on tambourine in August 1965, and family friend Evelyn LaHaie suggested the group take the name the Jackson Five. Katherine Jackson, who played piano, cello, and clarinet, sang harmonies with her sons during rehearsals, while Joe Jackson drilled the boys daily after school, determined to use their talent as a way out of Gary’s steel-mill economy.

In 1966, the brothers won their first talent show at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Gary, a victory that led to a run of local competitions across Indiana and eventually New York. The group signed with the small Gary-based label Steeltown Records in 1967 before Motown Records signed them in 1969, promoting them with a narrative crediting Diana Ross with their discovery.

By then, Michael Jackson had been installed as lead vocalist in place of Jermaine Jackson, a shift that would define the group’s commercial sound for the next decade.

Career

Motown launched the group with its 1969 debut single, I Want You Back, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 and set off an unprecedented run of consecutive number-one hits, including ABC, The Love You Save, and I’ll Be There, all released within a single year.

The group’s youthful energy and Michael Jackson’s precocious lead vocals made them a crossover sensation, spawning a Saturday morning cartoon, The Jackson 5ive, and a string of platinum-selling albums including ABC, Third Album, and Maybe Tomorrow. Their 1974 album Dancing Machine pushed the group toward a disco-inflected sound as the members matured out of their bubblegum-pop image.

Creative-control disputes and royalty disagreements with Motown led the brothers to depart the label in 1975. Jermaine Jackson, who had married Berry Gordy’s daughter Hazel Gordy, chose to remain at Motown as a solo artist, and youngest brother Randy Jackson stepped in to fill his spot.

The remaining brothers signed with Epic Records and rebranded as The Jacksons, releasing The Jacksons (1976), Goin’ Places (1977), Destiny (1978), and Triumph (1980), the latter two written and produced largely by the brothers themselves. Jermaine Jackson rejoined the lineup for the group’s 1984 reunion album, Victory, and its accompanying stadium tour, which reunited all six brothers, including Michael Jackson, for the last time as a full sextet.

Marlon Jackson and Michael Jackson departed the group following the Victory Tour to focus on solo careers, though Jackie Jackson, Tito Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, and Marlon Jackson would go on to reunite for occasional performances, including the 2001 Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration concert at Madison Square Garden.

The four brothers embarked on the Unity Tour between 2012 and 2013, performing the Jackson 5’s catalog to sold-out crowds decades after their Motown breakthrough. In 1997, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, cementing its status as one of the defining acts of American pop music.

Social Media

Official Website: thejacksons.live
Facebook: The Jacksons (@officialjackson5)