Joe Jackson Has Reportedly Died at Age 89

Rest in peace, Joe Jackson. The Jackson family patriarch has reportedly died at age 89, TMZ revealed on Wednesday, June 27. Sources told the entertainment news outlet that Joe — the father of Janet Jackson and the late Michael Jackson — passed away at 3:30 a.m. in LA on Wednesday morning.

The news of Joe’s passing comes just days after TMZ reported that the music manager had been hospitalized amid his battle with terminal cancer. At the time, it was alleged that the Jackson family, including Joe’s wife Katherine Jackson, was flocking to his bedside and the patriarch had been battling illness “for some time.”

On Wednesday, June 20, the Daily Mail also reported that Joe was “on his deathbed” and was suffering from an “undisclosed terminal illness.” Sadly, it was also alleged that senior members of the Jackson family had been “barred” from visiting Joe in the hospital for days prior to his passing.

“No one knew what was going on — we shouldn’t have to beg, plead, and argue to see our own father, especially at a time like this. We have been hurting,” one of Joe’s 11 children, Jermaine Jackson, 63, told the Daily Mail last week. “We were not being told where he was and couldn’t get the full picture. Even from the doctor. My mother was worried sick.”

Joe with his late son Michael.

“He’s very very frail, he doesn’t have long. The family needs to be by his bedside — that’s our only intention in his final days. It’s what any family would want, but some people around him think they know better… and they don’t,” Jermaine said at the time.

Another Jackson family member told the Daily Mail that Joe himself allegedly gave “verbal instructions” for his wife and children to stay away from the hospital and did not want anyone to access his medical records. “He’s a proud man who is all about image — was he saying he doesn’t want anyone to see him like that, or was he saying he doesn’t want family near him? Something is not right about this, and the family wants to have guarantees that they will continue to have access. I can’t believe we’re even having to say that,” the source said.

Joe with his wife, Katherine.

Joe’s recent hospitalization was sadly not the first time he had been in ill-health in past years. Last summer, he was involved in a scary car crash and, in July 2015, Joe suffered a stroke and heart arrhythmia while celebrating his 87th birthday in Brazil. Our thoughts are with the Jackson family during this difficult time.