Legendary performer Michael Jackson did not havea normal childhood by any stretch of the imagination. The “Kingof Pop” became famous when he was still a young child and was brought up ina family of other performers, too. His father and manager, Joe Jackson, wasnotoriously strict and pushed his children to achieve excellence.
Life at home consisted of endless practices plus late-night performances for the talented Jackson children. Ahead, check out some of the strangest rules the Jackson kids including Michael had to follow while they were growing up.
The Jacksons never got presents or celebrated birthdays
Growing up as practicing Jehovah’s Witnesses meant the nineJackson children never got Christmas presents or had birthday celebrations,which was part of that faith tradition. The family also never decorated theirhouse for Christmas, which Jermaine saidin his memoir made them all feel like “outsiders.”
Michael agreed with this assessment. “My childhood was taken away from me. There was no Christmas,there were no birthdays, it was not a normal childhood, nor the normalpleasures of childhood,” Michael said in 1993. “Those were exchanged for hardwork, struggle and pain and eventually material and professional success.”
They had no choice aboutjoining the music industry
Michael’s mother Katherine wasa singer and pianist and encouraged her children to explore their musical talentsfrom an early age. “We were a family that sang all the time,” Michael said ofhis early years, viaBiography.
“We would take the furnitureout of the living room and dance. We would have a songwriting competition whilewe washed the dishes… while we were cleaning. Music was our destiny.”
Legend holds that they becamean official performing group when Tito broke the rules and touched his fatherJoseph’s guitar. After that, they become a group.
They weren’t allowed to calltheir father ‘Dad’
Joe Jackson had a reputation for being extremely strict with his kids, and that carried over to the names they were allowed to use for him. The story goes that Janet Jackson was once scolded for calling her father “Dad.”
Instead, all nine Jacksonchildren were required to call him Joseph always.
The Jacksons had gruelingwork schedules
Forget early bedtimes forthe kids — instead, the Jacksons were forced to be out late at night performingat local clubs, where they often witnessed some disturbing scenes betweendrunken patrons.
“I grew up onstage. I grewup in nightclubs. When I was seven, eight years old I was in nightclubs,” Michaelsaid in a Gold magazine interview. “I saw striptease girls take off all their clothes. I sawfights break out. I saw people throw up on each other. I saw adults act likepigs.”
This is allegedly whyMichael was so turned off by nightclubs even as an adult.
Joe Jackson believed in physicalpunishments
According to the Jacksonchildren, Joe’s punishments were much harsher than just spankings. “He used a strap. Yes, hedid use a strap,” Katherine Jackson admitted during an interview withOprah.
“I just remember my hearingmy mother scream, ‘Joe, you’re gonna kill him, you’re gonna kill him, stopit,’” Michael recalled during a 2003 interview (via Biography). “I was so fasthe couldn’t catch me half the time, but when he would catch me, oh my God, itwas bad. It was really bad.”
But ultimately, Joe believedhis harsh punishments were justified. In an interview, he said his toughparenting style made his kids “treat everybody with respect.”
They had to rehearse for hoursevery day
Joe Jackson was a relentless perfectionist who demanded his kids rehearse daily, which cut into their leisure time. Instead of participating in sports and social activities, the Jackson kids were expected to study, practice, perform, and sleep, which left no time for any fun and playing.
That meant the Jackson kidsnever had friends or playdates — there just wasn’t any time. Instead, theylearned from private tutors for a few hours per day and spent the rest of theirtime practicing and performing.
Joe Jackson admitted hislove was conditional
Most parents tell theirchildren that they’ll love them no matter what. But Joe Jackson apparently toldhis kids that he only cared about them if they kept singing.
“I hateto repeat it,” Michael said during a 2009 interview, viaThe Daily Beast. “But one day he said—and God bless my father because hedid some wonderful things and he was brilliant, he was a genius—but one day hesaid, ‘If you guys ever stop singing, I will drop you like a hot potato.’ Ithurt me.”
Despiteall the rules, the Jacksons seem to unanimously agree that they wouldn’t changeanything about their childhood, weird rules and all. As Jermaine said in a 2011ABC News interview, the kids “wouldn’twant to be raised any other way.”
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