Rebbie Jackson/Biography

==Childhood and youth==
Maureen Reillette Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana to a working-class family on May 29, 1950. The daughter of Joseph Walter "Joe" and Katherine Esther (née Scruse), she is the eldest of their ten children. Her siblings are Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, La Toya, Brandon (d. 1957), Marlon, Michael (d. June 25, 2009), Randy and Janet. Joseph was a steel mill employee who often performed in a rhythm and blues (R&B) band called The Falcons with his brother Luther. His wife, Katherine, is a Jehovah's Witness and raised her children to follow the religion. Rebbie, La Toya and Michael became the most devout of the children as time progressed. Reflecting on her early life, Rebbie acknowledged in a 1980s magazine interview that her role within the family had been that of a "second mother" to her younger siblings, who she would often babysit.
==Marriage==
18-year-old Rebbie's announcement that she wanted to marry her childhood love Nathaniel Brown in May 1968 created a division in the Jackson family. Jackson expressed that she wanted to move with him to Kentucky. Katherine encouraged her daughter to proceed with the union; she felt that being a wife and mother was an important role for all of her daughters to play. Joseph, however, was against the marriage; he wanted Rabbie to follow the footsteps of her brothers (The Jackson 5) and become a singer. Her father felt that married life would stop her from becoming a success in the entertainment business. Though Rebbie had taken clarinet, piano and dance lessons in her childhood, she had no interest in a music career. The teenager thought that a happy home was more comforting and secure than the instability of show business. She also wanted to leave her family's drama-filled home on Jackson Street. Arguments ensued for several weeks before her father relented and allowed Rebbie to wed Brown. Havin the last word on the matter, Joseph refused to walk his daughter down the aisle. Brown and Jackson would go on to have three children together: daughters Stacee (born May 6, 1971) and Yashi (born October 5, 1977), and son Austin (born November 22, 1985).
==Grandchildren==
Rebbie has one grandson, London Blue Salas - born 25 July 2005, as the child of Stacee Brown and Rex Salas.
Category:Rebbie Jackson
Category:Biography