The Jacksons

The Jacksons—Michael, Jermaine, Jackie, Tito, Marlon, and Randy—triumphantly rose from a teen hit machine to pop-soul supremacy. The brothers from Gary, Indiana, were among Motown’s prominent 1960s hitmakers as the Jackson 5, leaving the storied label in 1975 and regrouping into The Jacksons in the evolving climate of ’70s and ’80s pop music. Led by Michael Jackson’s charismatic voice, The Jacksons flaunted their newfound artistic maturity through a span of emergent Black pop styles: silky-smooth Philly soul on “Enjoy Yourself” and “Show You the Way to Go,” white-hot dance-floor burners “Blame It on the Boogie” and “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground),” and glitzy synth-funk jams “Can You Feel It” and “Torture.” The brothers’ developing gifts as songwriters and producers helped shape Michael’s blossoming solo career; his albums Off the Wall and Thriller made him the biggest pop star of the ’80s. Even in the shadow of his towering success, it’s hard to imagine a musical landscape without The Jacksons’ tried-and-true pop-soul mastery.