7 things about the complicated life and times of Joe Jackson

Joe Jackson, the patriarch of music superstars whose iron-fisted guidance both shaped his children's success and traumatised them, died Wednesday, family members said. He was 89. Here are seven things you probably didn't know about the man:

1.Joe Jackson stumbled upon his children’s talent by accident. In the early 1960s, he discovered that his son Tito had broken a string on his guitar. As punishment, Tito was forced to play the guitar. Tito’s impressive performance inspired Joe to form the Jackson Brothers which included his sons; Tito, Jermaine and Jackie.

2. Joe Jackson, a former steelworker for US Steel, was very hard on his kids and pushed them to perfection. Some of his children later accused him of abuse . His youngest son, Michael Jackson, took most of the heat and would be ridiculed by Joe for having a broad nose. Michael Jackson later had extensive plastic surgery as an adult.

3. He never allowed his children to call him dad. When his youngest daughter, Janet Jackson, dared to call him dad, he reprimanded her and insisted she calls him 'Joseph'. In an interview with CNN in 2013, Jackson said that having the kids call him dad sounded “kind of funny.”

4. He booked his children into nightclubs in Gary and nearby Chicago, where they performed alongside strippers and raunchy comedians from a tender age. This greatly distressed their mother, Katherine, a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses.

5. Joe Jackson had a brief teen marriage that was annulled before he married Katherine Scruse. She later filed for divorce twice following Joe’s extramarital affairs but withdrew the papers each time. She documented her troubled marriage to Joe Jackson in her book My Family, The Jacksons.

6. In 1979, Joe was fired as manager by his son, Michael Jackson, who had just turned 21. A few years later, Michael’s siblings followed suit, breaking away from their controlling father. Michael went ahead to produced hit albums of the 80s such as Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad that sold millions of copies making him a superstar.

7. Joe Jackson filed a petition to get a stipend from Michael Jackson’s estate after his son left him out of his will. Joe however withdrew the petition one year after Michael Jackson’s death who at the time of his death, his net worth was estimated at Sh.50 million according to Celebrity Net Worth.