A biography of Jackson also claimed his great-grandfather was an Indigenous American and a medicine man, although no tribal affiliation was explicitly named.

[7] While he was preparing for a professional boxing career, he met 17-year-old Katherine Scruse, who also lived in East Chicago and attended Washington High School.

In January 1950, they purchased a small two-bedroom home on 2300 Jackson Street near East Chicago in Gary, Indiana.

[7] Still employed at Inland Steel, Jackson left his hopes of becoming a professional boxer in order to support his family, and began working there as a fulltime crane operator.

[7] Joseph and Katherine went on to raise ten children, as their son Brandon Jackson (Marlon's twin) died just after he was born.

[7][9] Despite their efforts, The Falcons did not get a recording deal and subsequently broke up after one of their members, Thornton "Pookie" Hudson, founded his own band in 1952.

[10] Younger sons Marlon and Michael were eventually put into the band; youngest brother Randy was too young to join at the time.

[10] After a couple of years performing in local talent contests and high school functions, The Jackson 5 got a color TV set after the judges awarded them second place.

Joseph booked them in more professional venues, including in Chicago, and they eventually landed a gig at the Apollo Theater in New York City.

[15] Shortly after, Joe Jackson moved his family to the Los Angeles area and sat in on every recording session the group made for Motown.

This came to light as the group was signing its new contract with Epic Records and Gordy refused to allow them to use the name The Jackson 5 with their new label.

[21] In his early 20s, while moonlighting in a blues band with his brother Luther, Joe met Katherine Scruse, whom he married in November 1949.

Joseph then moved to Las Vegas, with Katherine remaining at the Jackson family home Hayvenhurst in Encino, California.

[28] In the late 1980s, Joseph's image as a father became tarnished as the media reported stories told by his children that he was abusive toward them.

"[35] Joseph admitted to whipping his children with switches and belts as punishment, but said he did not do so at random, and claimed never to have used any hard object as he felt was implied by the word "beating.

[42] Despite the allegations, Michael honored his father with an annual "Joseph Jackson Day" at Neverland Ranch[43] and ultimately forgave him, noting that Joseph's difficult upbringing in the Great Depression and the Jim Crow South, along with his working-class adulthood, hardened him emotionally and made him push his children to succeed as entertainers.

Upon his arrival to Los Angeles on August 11, he was treated at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to correct his blurred vision following the stroke.

[50] On June 22, 2018, TMZ reported that Jackson was hospitalized in Las Vegas in the final stages of terminal pancreatic cancer.

On July 2, 2018, Jackson was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, near Los Angeles, the same Southern California cemetery as his son Michael, who was buried there in 2009.