Jackson Family Patriarch Joe Jackson Is Dead At 89

Jackson family patriarch Joe Jackson has passed away at 89 years old, Access confirms. 

“We are deeply saddened by Mr. Jackson’s passing and extend our heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Katherine Jackson and the family.  Joe was a strong man who acknowledged his own imperfections and heroically delivered his sons and daughters from the steel mills of Gary, Indiana to worldwide pop superstardom,” John Branca and John McClain, co-executors of the Estate of Michael Jackson said in a statement. “Mr. Jackson’s contributions to the history of music are enormous.  They were acknowledged by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002  in a proclamation naming him as Best Entertainment Manager of All Time; he was inducted into Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2014 and his son Michael acknowledged him with a Joe Jackson Day at Neverland. We had developed a warm relationship with Joe in recent years and will miss him tremendously.”

TMZ reported that Joe died at approximately 3:30 AM on Wednesday morning with his family, friends and wife, Katherine Jackson by his side. 

According to reports this week, Joe was battling terminal pancreatic cancer. However, the family never confirmed the reports, but just noted that Joe was gravely ill. Paris Jackson, Joe’s granddaughter, did take to Twitter earlier this week to combat reports that he was tweeting from his hospital bed. 

A tweet surfaced on Sunday that showed a photo of Joe looking out at the sunset. It read, “I have seen more sunsets than I have left to see. The sun rises when the time comes and whether you like it or not the sun sets when the time comes.”

Paris revealed on Twitter on Monday that while the tweet was lovely and sentimental, it was not written by Joe. Paris wrote on her Twitter account, “this is a beautiful tweet. though it upsets me to see whoever is in charge of this account taking advantage of it. my grandfather did not tweet this. i’m not sure if he’s ever used this account.”

Joe’s daughter Janet Jackson also spoke out about her dad at the Radio Disney Music Awards last Friday where she won the Icon Award.

Joe has always been a key figure in the Jackson family history. He was the first manager of the Jackson Family and late the Jackson Five and was instrumental in his children’s stardom. He had  10 kids with Katherine, his wife of more than 60 years.

WATCH: Joe Jackson Celebrates Michael’s Legacy In Las Vegas (August 29, 2009)