Which of Michael's siblings was he closest to?

[MJ1814]

We don't know that.

You can tell they had more of a relationship that with other members.

 

[Mahatma]

I believe it's Marlon, considering the fact that they're both in the same age. Though, I do have second thoughts. I believe Michael was very mature for his age so it could also be a possibility that Tito and Michael were quite close.

 

[HIStory]

I believe it's Marlon, considering the fact that they're both in the same age. Though, I do have second thoughts. I believe Michael was very mature for his age so it could also be a possibility that Tito and Michael were quite close.

Yeah, I'm surprised not too many people say Tito. Didn't Michael say he liked Tito because he was the sibling who never wanted anything from him besides brotherhood?

Probably there are different types of closeness. With Marlon they were playing mates, but maybe he trusted and respected Tito the most?

 

[johnlucas]

I agree with other posters said about different siblings at different times in his life.
It's really splitting hairs because all those siblings are close.

Janet obviously saw Michael as "Big Brother" especially with them sharing a lot personality traits in common. To this day I say that Janet's music career is linked to Michael's cosmically. Her rises echo his rises. And when he's absent, she doesn't have as much success. Take the 2000's for example. 2001's All For You came around the same period as Michael's Invincible of 2001. Then Michael got caught in all this drama for most of the decade & Janet's performance on the charts has been weaker compared to her earlier albums. Not taking away from her music just talking about her commercial success.

Randy probably always saw Michael as "Big Brother" too much like Michael saw Jermaine who was about the same age difference of 3 to 4 years. He even compared 1st son Prince's head to Randy's in that 2003 docutabloid that will not be mentioned outright. You also see him in the studio with Mike in scenes from that 2005 Geraldo interview on Fox "News".

Marlon and Michael as little children in Gary used to be running buddies to the point that some would confuse them as twins since they resembled so strongly back then. They were one year apart so you know they were close. You see the impact on Marlon at the memorial. I think that Michael served as emotional comfort for Marlon early on since twins often have unknown psychological bonds. Michael filled this unofficial twin role when Brandon passed on in stillbirth.

LaToya and Michael were close too as she probably saw him as "Little Brother" especially in his mischievious younger days. Anybody who saw that 1983 unauthorized interview see how they interact. She appeared in many of his videos. And Michael brought her to New York to live while he was filming The Wiz in 1977. Plus they followed their mother's religion heavily at least before LaToya started flipping out under Jack Gordon's influence. But Michael (or any of the other siblings) never said anything bad about LaToya even after all that slander. And in the end we see her shopping with Mike's family in some expensive store.

Jermaine calls himself Michael's backbone & it's no doubt to me that Michael saw him as "Big Brother". In fact, one of Michael's singing influences was none other than Jermaine himself! Jermaine has become the family spokesman & legacy keeper over the past decade-plus & you notice when those assholes put Michael in cuffs you heard Jermaine get brolic on CNN over the phone cusses & all. The two lead singers of the Jackson 5 were definitely close.

Tito has a connection with Michael too. In the Private Home Movies you hear him joke to Tito about the depression (referring to the 1982 recession) while they drive in the car. I've seen clips of Michael joking with Tito before. And it was Tito's sons, 3T, who were signed to Michael's record label. Perhaps Tito is Michael's "Super Big Brother". I notice him tearing up at the end of Marlon's speech at the memorial.

Jackie is the "Ultimate Big Brother" of them all & I think he especially shares Michael's sensitivity. I notice he gets really emotional when talking about his family & their difficulties. He did with LaToya in the past & Michael too. He's the one who changed Michael's diapers when he was little & Michael probably went to him to get a picture of what life in the family was like before the Jackson family started performing in Gary. He began tearing up at the memorial too after Marlon talked about Michael's see-through disguises. He was the protector of all the kids under him & in some ways was maybe like "Little Daddy" to Michael.

Rebbie like Jackie helped raise all the little ones under them so she being the very oldest is "Big Sister/Little Mama" to all of them. Michael helped her out on her albums (Centipede, Fly Away). I remember an early 90's interview with the family & Rebbie being asked about Michael's crotch-grab move. She disapproved of it just like a mother would. She was also the 1st to have children of the siblings so Michael probably connected even deeper with Rebbie being an uncle. Also, there's the Jehovah's Witness connection they shared with mama Katherine.

Splitting hairs like I said because each sibling had a special connection with another. You'd have to be there to understand the family dynamics.
John Lucas

 

[MJ1814]

I agree with other posters said about different siblings at different times in his life.
It's really splitting hairs because all those siblings are close.

Janet obviously saw Michael as "Big Brother" especially with them sharing a lot personality traits in common. To this day I say that Janet's music career is linked to Michael's cosmically. Her rises echo his rises. And when he's absent, she doesn't have as much success. Take the 2000's for example. 2001's All For You came around the same period as Michael's Invincible of 2001. Then Michael got caught in all this drama for most of the decade & Janet's performance on the charts has been weaker compared to her earlier albums. Not taking away from her music just talking about her commercial success.

What? :blink: :lmao:

If that's the case, how do you explain the Velvet Rope selling over 10mil records in 1998? And how do you explain the Top 10 hit in 1999, and a #1 the following year? And Mike isn't the reason why her album weren't selling in the 2000s. If you didn't notice a little thing called Super Bowl happened and that explains Janet's commercial decline. Not Michael's absence. And you can't possibly think people were buying her albums because Mike had just wrapped up with his solo efforts.:mello: I guarantee you half the ppl on this board don't even own a Janet album. So to say he's the reason why her albums were selling is completely false. Stop trying to give him all the credit for her career.

 

[dangerous_88]

Janet and Jermaine I'd say.

 

[johnlucas]

What? :blink: :lmao:

If that's the case, how do you explain the Velvet Rope selling over 10mil records in 1998? And how do you explain the Top 10 hit in 1999, and a #1 the following year? And Mike isn't the reason why her album weren't selling in the 2000s. If you didn't notice a little thing called Super Bowl happened and that explains Janet's commercial decline. Not Michael's absence. And you can't possibly think people were buying her albums because Mike had just wrapped up with his solo efforts.:mello: I guarantee you half the ppl on this board don't even own a Janet album. So to say he's the reason why her albums were selling is completely false. Stop trying to give him all the credit for her career.

HIStory was made in 1995. Velvet Rope was made in 1997.
I'm not saying Janet didn't have the talent to make things happen but it seemed that she was most successful when he was most successful commercially-speaking only (tastes are subjective as they should be & lots of great music doesn't always have the best commercial success). That's just my personal observation.

In general within 2 year spans around Michael's albums, Janet's albums would come out & do big business.

Thriller (November 1982) = Janet Jackson (September 1982) & Dream Street (October 1984)

Bad (August 1987) = Control (March 1986)

Bad (August 1987)/Dangerous (November 1991) = Rhythm Nation 1814 (September 1989)

Dangerous (November 1991) = janet. (May 1993)

HIStory (June 1995)/Blood On The Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix (May 1997) = The Velvet Rope (October 1997)

Invincible (October 2001) = All For You (April 2001)

No major album from Michael = Damita Jo (March 2004)

No major album from Michael = 20 Y.O. (September 2006)

No major album from Michael = Discipline (February 2008)

November 2003's Number Ones hit right as the liars tried to bring Michael down for that trial. Plus its a simple greatest hits compilation with one new song.

November 2004's The Ultimate Collection though a much more comprehensive hits collection with many excellent new or unreleased songs was released in the lead-up to his trial. Plus it cost a pretty penny making it a must-have for fans but not as much for general buyers in the midst of the download age.

July 2005's The Essential Michael Jackson was a balanced greatest hits package for totality and price & came right after Michael's inevitable acquittal. He went to Bahrain & disappeared from Earth for the most part until James Brown's funeral on Christmas Day 2006.

February 2008's Thriller 25 was successful but a spiced up reissue. Good spice of course. It was guest stars' take on those Thriller classics.

So for most of the 2000's Michael's been tied up in legal fights & character assassination not being able to concentrate on music & releasing it properly.

I always saw Michael as Janet's inspiration. They fed off of each other. And I think with him mostly missing on the records in the 2000's after Invincible she's lost her muse so to speak.

Janet had a lot of immunity from negative press before they went hard after Michael. They tried to pit them against each other in print insinuating that Janet bested Michael here or that she was the "normal one". When Michael fought Sony & Mottola, they went after him hardcore. And not so long later came those accusations. Janet stood by his side publically & then here came people putting down Janet for the Superbowl. Don't think it's not connected.

Maybe it's just BS but I always saw Michael & Janet's success as cosmically connected. That's why Scream was so important to do on the HIStory album. They credited Janet with that song as much as Michael. I really wish they did more together on record publicly.

John Lucas

 

[MJ1814]

I'm sorry but you can not sit there and say that the proximity of their releases is the reason behind Janet selling. If that's the case, how do you explain Janet's first two albums failing? Cuz Mike had just released Thriller. And if we use your logic, if she was selling because of Mike, why wasn't she moving as many units as Michael? And with Scream, Mike had asked Janet to do a song after RN1814 and she said no cuz she didn't wanna ride coat tails. It wasn't until after the Janet. album and tour when she finally gave in. That was a strategic move by Mike. He knew he was losing popularity as Dangerous didn't outsell Bad and he didn't want to show that ppl were slowly losing interest in him. So he used Janet's rising fame to help maintain his status in the world, because the Janet. album pretty much ended Mike's popularity in the 90s. Granted their albums came out near each other, because they promised not to cross promote, but to say the proximity of releases was the vehicle behind Janet selling is false. Like I said, many of you on this board probably don't even own a Janet album and rarely give her her credit because you all are stuck on Mike being the reason behind her success. And if you don't even own a Janet album then how can you see them being out together is the reason for Janet selling? Again stop trying to give him all the credit for her work.

 

[abc123]

Like I said, many of you on this board probably don't even own a Janet album and rarely give her her credit because you all are stuck on Mike being the reason behind her success.

I'm not. Her breakthrough album "Control" would have been a hit album even if she had been a white girl from Germany with no relation to Michael whatsoever. It didn't even sound like any of the records that Michael had released up to that point. If anything I actually thought that some of the songs on Michael's next album "Dangerous" were a bit influenced by the Janet sound on "Control." On tracks like (among others) "Jam" and "Why You Wanna Trip On Me" he moved away from the sound of his Quincy Jones albums and started using those harder beats like Janet did on her album.

After "Control" JJ was on her way, and the rest is history.

 

[DuranDuran]

Janet obviously saw Michael as "Big Brother" especially with them sharing a lot personality traits in common. To this day I say that Janet's music career is linked to Michael's cosmically. Her rises echo his rises. And when he's absent, she doesn't have as much success.

If this is the case, why didn't it work for Marlon, Randy, & Jermaine who all released solo albums around the same time Bad was released?

 

[Michelle MC]

This is a bit off topic, but as long as we're speaking about Janet Jackson, I would like to post a song of hers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_qn9mKQ96Q

I'm sure we can all say this from our hearts to Michael.

 

[johnlucas]

If this is the case, why didn't it work for Marlon, Randy, & Jermaine who all released solo albums around the same time Bad was released?

Simple. Careers are not as cosmically linked. But they did have some hits in that time. Well not Randy unfortunately (and he was hella talented too—a damn shame). Jermaine's career was pretty solid in the 1980's & Marlon's 1987 solo album Baby Tonight did make it big on the R&B charts.

And Lonely17, you're totally missing the point of what I'm trying to say about Janet's success. I have Control in my library by the way. One of my favorite all-time albums.

I'm not saying that without Michael, Janet had no chance of success.
I'M saying that Michael's existence gave her the inspiration & drive to want to excel. She was always trying to break his records. Michael & Janet had a friendly professional rivalry.

Both fed each other & drove each other professionally. That is why I say their careers are cosmically linked. Maybe I should say destined.
John Lucas

P.S.: Janet's 1st 2 albums got her on TV (she was on Soul Train & American Bandstand). But they weren't as successful because Janet's heart wasn't behind it like she was from Control on. Those pre-Control albums did have some top ten representation on the R&B charts.

 

[DuranDuran]

P.S.: Janet's 1st 2 albums got her on TV (she was on Soul Train & American Bandstand). But they weren't as successful because Janet's heart wasn't behind it like she was from Control on. Those pre-Control albums did have some top ten representation on the R&B charts.

Janet had been on TV before she even made a record. She was an actress on the 1970s sitcom "Good Times".

 

[johnlucas]

Janet had been on TV before she even made a record. She was an actress on the 1970s sitcom "Good Times".

OK. On TV as a MUSIC ARTIST. Not an actress.

Don't mistake me. I'm not watering down her talents. What I'm saying & what she herself attests to is that Michael inspires her to excel.
They drove each professionally. Fed into each other. Just like Lonely17 said, she influenced him like he influenced her.

Testy Janet fans on this board today. Getting back on topic. The topic title is "Which of Michael's siblings was he closest to?"

John Lucas

 

[krish]

As far as i was concerned, MJ is far more closer to Janet

 

[drea97]

I'd say Janet she is very close to her brother.

 

[Gwyneira]

I think I read that La Toya was but I'm not sure that is true.

I've heard that several times. From La Toya. The way I see it, the ones really closest to him never felt the need to promote the fact, and have, since his passing, remained the most quiet. So definitely Janet, and maybe Randy out of the brothers? Although I'm sure he shared a special relationship with all his siblings.

 

[MichaelMySoul]

I personally think it was Janet, due to the fact that they had the same kind of talent. And also Marlon and Jermaine...

 

[BruceWayne]

Which of the brothers was it that still produced music with Michael during the later years, was it Randy?

 

[witchanna]

Reading all of these posts it's pretty obvious that depending on the circumstances he was close to different members of the family at different stages of his life. There were probably some petty arguments between some siblings at certain points in history - they are after all only human and you have that in any family. But when all is said and done it's safe to say that Michael loved all of his brothers and sisters and that all of them loved him.

you made a point about something i was thinking
about
but michael turn normal first missing out on his childhood by doing music
and his father doing this out of love and desaplane michael was belted
(and that kind of hurt/pain did stay with michael for rest of his life )
he moved on buy himself his own neverland home
if you look at michael's private home movies/videos
from 2000-2009 you will see michael was closes to janet

 

[Linda74]

As a child Jermaine and for many years as an adult I would say it was definitely Janet in the most recent years I don´t know.

 

[abc123]

you made a point about something i was thinking
about
but michael turn normal first missing out on his childhood by doing music
and his father doing this out of love and desaplane michael was belted
(and that kind of hurt/pain did stay with michael for rest of his life )
he moved on buy himself his own neverland home
if you look at michael's private home movies/videos
from 2000-2009 you will see michael was closes to janet

Maybe, yes. Especially since Michael and Janet are the two with the most high profile careers and so they could relate to each other because they had similar experiences with pressure from the media, expectations of the public and the critics and so on. On the other hand, I can also imagine that because of that they saw less of each other than of their other brothers and sisters. I mean, I can imagine that when one of them was at home the other one was on the other side of the world touring or something. In one interview they ask Janet when she last saw Michael and she answers "about two years ago."

 

[MJ1814]

Testy Janet fans on this board today. Getting back on topic. The topic title is "Which of Michael's siblings was he closest to?"

John Lucas

It's not about being testy...you just need to learn how to come out of your mouth correct. If you don't know how then I suggest you just don't post.

 

[sweetbabyxsj]

i guess Marlon and Jermaine.

 

[devinesoul1972]

The Ultimate Collection Booklet in 2004 where he wrote

Randy Jackson - I am honored to have you as my brother, I love you unconditionally...:better:

Thank you!!

 

[elmari]

Thank you!!

Please can anybody confirm. I read that Randy had lived with Michael 24/7 at Neverland during the 2005 trial.

I've always gotten the impression that they got closer as Michael got older, esp when they were they ones (w/Latoya and Janet) living and growing up at Hayvenhurst.

In that huge family reunion picture at Neverland in 2003 (the one with like 100 people), Randy is the only sibling standing next to Michael and he is on Michael's right side.

 

[johnlucas]

It's not about being testy...you just need to learn how to come out of your mouth correct. If you don't know how then I suggest you just don't post.

I came out of my mouth correct.
You just didn't like what I had to say.
But such is life. You can't please 100% of the people 100% of the time.

John Lucas

 

[Spider-Man]

Which of the brothers was it that still produced music with Michael during the later years, was it Randy?

yea

I always got the impression Mike was closer to his younger siblings, with the exception of Marlon, that is. He got real close to Randy during the last like 10 years. and Janet is a given. But him and Marlon are real close in age and hung out alot as kids.

 

[MJ1814]

I came out of my mouth correct.
You just didn't like what I had to say.
But such is life. You can't please 100% of the people 100% of the time.

John Lucas

 

[Gfresh]

Latoya