Joe Jackson died following a battle with pancreatic cancer early in the morning on Wednesday, June 27, 2018. He was 89 years old.

Joe Jackson was the patriarch and manager of the Jackson 5, Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. Though Jermaine Jackson stated that Joe “kept [them] off the streets,” Joe was a notoriously harsh taskmaster and was accused of emotionally and physically abusing his children. In 2003, Joe effectively confirmed those rumors while attempting to deny them. In a BBC interview, Joe stated that he “whipped [Michael] with a switch and a belt…[but] I never beat him. You beat someone with a stick.” He also supposedly insisted that his children refer to him as “Joseph” instead of “Dad” or “Father.”

The fraught history between father and children may be part of why Janet and Michael cut professional ties with Joseph in 1986 and 1983 respectively. While he did not manage their later careers, Joe was the one who launched the entertainment careers of his children.  Joe negotiated the contract between the Jackson 5 and Epic Records, and he financed Janet’s demo that secured her deal with A&M Records.

Joe brought the Jackson 5 into the spotlight by honing their talent with daily practices run with an iron fist. He claimed that he “didn’t want [the kids] to be soft” in a “tough neighborhood where other kids were in gangs and getting into drugs.” Instead of joining gangs, his children catapulted into the entertainment world with the Jackson 5 group, Janet Jackson and Michael Jackson all achieving superstardom. Joe’s harsh demeanor, however, tainted his relationship with his children for the rest of his life. In 2013, Joe suffered four strokes, but when he “was in the hospital recovering, only two people in [his] family traveled all the way to see [him.]” His visitors were his “baby girl,” Janet, and her daughter Brandi.

Janet Jackson described her father as “incredible” and claimed that he “drove [her] to be the best.” Unfortunately, Joe had a contentious relationship, at best, with several of his other children. Despite that, Joe was adamant that he had no regrets about his life. “Not at all,” he said in 2014. “I don’t live that way.”