Today, news broke that Joe Jackson, the patriarch of the iconic musical Jackson family, has died at the age of 89, per TMZ. Jackson had been battling pancreatic cancer and was hospitalized earlier in the week to attend to the final stages of his terminal illness.

Joe Jackson was a famed music manager and father to eleven children. Jackson noticed his children’s musical talents at a young age, first helping form and serve as the manager for The Jackson Brothers in 1963. In 1965, brothers Marlon and Michael joined The Jackson Brothers’ Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine, and rebranded as The Jackson 5 in 1966. He would continue to bring his children into the entertainment world, pushing them to succeed as the first African-American teenage recording stars.

 

[Video: DalekQueen]

After signing a contract that cost the Jackson family millions, Michael Jackson fired his father as his manager in 1973. Outside of business missteps, Joe Jackson was also plagued with accusations of physical and emotional abuse. While first exposed by daughter La Toya in a memoir, Michael went on to confirm that his father had beaten him during an Oprah special in 1993. The King of Pop later forgave his father, citing his Joe’s upbringing during the Great Depression and Jim Crow years as what caused him to push his children so hard.

While Michael Jackson was his most famous and successful child (though Janet Jackson is similarly a household name), Joe and Michael continued to have a strained relationship. Eventually, when Michael Jackson died in 2009, Joe Jackson was completely left out of Michael’s will. Other interfamily relationships also appeared strained up until the end, as certain family members (including Janet) were even barred from seeing Joe when he was initially hospitalized, reports The Daily Mail.

However, regardless of the controversy around Joe Jackson and his methods, he was successful in carving out a space in the music industry for his family. He reared two of the most iconic pop stars of our time, Michael and Janet Jackson, and won a number of awards in his own right, including proclamation by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the Best Entertainment Manager of All Time in 2002.

Joe Jackson is survived by his wife, Katherine, and their children Maureen (68), Jackie (67), Tito (64), Jermaine (63), La Toya (62), Marlon (61), Randy (56), and Janet (52).