Jackson Family Father Joe Jackson Passes Away

According to Variety, Jackson family patriarch Joseph (Joe) Jackson has passed away. The news was confirmed by his grandchildren. This follows multiple reports in the past weeks of Jackson's declining health due to terminal cancer and a 2015 stroke. Jackson was 89 when he passed away in a Las Vegas hospital. The news comes two days after the ninth anniversary of the passing of his son, Michael Jackson.

In the 60s, Joe Jackson helped to launch the career of his children with The Jackson 5, later called Jacksons. Michael made his professional debut in the group in 1964 with his elder brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon as a member of the Jackson 5. Joe ?Jackson also served as their manager, and frequently managed the solo careers of his children Michael and Janet. Jackson has been the subject of much controversy over the years. In a 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey, his son Michael said in reference to his father, "He was very strict, He was very hard. Just a look would scare you...There's been times when he'd come to see me, and I would get sick. I'd start to regurgitate."

watch as Janet Jackson thanks her dad just last week at the 2018 Radio Disney Music Awards while accepting the first ever Impact Award:

Read more about the news from Variety here. Jackson is survived by his children and grandchildren.