Jermaine Jackson Wants To Change His Last Name

"Reconstructed

Been abducted

Don’t know who you are

They may love you

they don’t know you

Lonely superstar."

-Jermaine Jackson on brother Michael

It was a tumultuous time in Jermaine Jackson's life when he penned "Word to the Badd," a back-stabbing dis song about his then mega-star brother Michael Jackson.

Michael, as Jermaine would explain to me in an ill-fated book we collaborated on beginning in 2000 called "Legacy," wouldn't return repeated calls to Jermaine or anyone else in the family.

The King of Pop's shunning of his family was in full effect as of the release of Jermaine's song in 1991. The timing of the release was perfect too as it came the same chilly November day that Michael released his "Black or White" single off the "Dangerous" album.

Michael had left the family's home in Encino, Calif. and built Neverland in 1987. It was only a few years after Michael had moonwalked his way to the title of King of Pop on the great Motown 25th anniversary special that aired in 1983. What Jermaine couldn't cope with was that it was he, not Michael, who was supposed to have that type of solo stardom.

Jermaine spoke of walking on the beach in New York while Michael did the same simultaneously in California after the Jackson 5 left Motown and Jermaine decided to stay with the company. "I knew we had something special and we were connected even though we never really talked," Jermaine told me of Michael.

Jermaine, though, badly miscalculated his worth in music and sadly undervalued his brother's.

Jermaine thought it was going to be he whom the Jackson brothers would come running back to because it was he who was being guided by the genius, Motown founder Berry Gordy.

To be fair, Jermaine's career was nothing to sneeze at. He had his share of hits and his share of moments. Obviously, none like that of Michael's. But, who has had a career like Michael's?

What Jermaine failed to realize was what the world came to celebrate, that the gift Michael was given was as rare as a snow storm in Los Angeles.

Sadly, because his eyes were filled with jealousy, what Jermaine couldn't see was that the second most amazing performance during the Motown anniversary show in which the biggest and the best in music's history performed, involved him.

Next to Michael's "Billie Jean" dazzler, the Jackson brothers were the show. Their performance, which included such hits as "I want you back," "The Love You Save," and "I'll Be There," was astounding especially considering they hadn't performed together in a long time prior to that.

Still, they out shined everyone else on the show. And, it was a show that included, among so many others, Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, Lionel Richie, Richard Pryor, The Four Tops and Stevie Wonder.

But, Jermaine's jealously of little brother Michael would always get the best of him. Now, comes word from the Associated Press that Jermaine has petitioned the court for a name change.

He's asking a court to allow him to alter his famous surname and become Jermaine Jacksun.

Jackson filed a name change petition on Tuesday in Los Angeles, stating the switch was for "artistic reasons."

The filing doesn't elaborate, but the author of Jermaine's latest book, Steve Dennis, spoke on Jermaine's behalf. "Phonetically, it changes nothing," he said.

Yep, Dennis would have been better off saying zilch. Nothing at all. You can't explain the unexplainable.

"It is something he has chosen to do, and it's fair to say that you cannot blame this one on the boogie, you've got to blame it on the sunshine," Dennis said, in a play on the Jackson 5 disco hit, "Blame it on the Boogie."

Again, why speak at all, Steve?

It isn't the first name change for Jermaine, who had the (guts?) to name his youngest son, Jermajesty. He once declared himself Muslim and went by the name, Muhammad Abdul Aziz.

He used the Muslim faith to "marry" a girlfriend at a mosque in California while he was still married to his brother, Randy's ex.

As close as Jermaine and I once was, I found out about the "marriage" by reading the National Enquirer and when I asked he and the girlfriend about it, they looked at me and laughed.

"You didn't know? I thought we told you," they said, as if I'd forget that I was in the company of a bigamist.

After all, this is a man who also begged his wife to let him out of the house one late night so that he could go see Louis Farrakhan; only Farrakhan was Jermaine's front as he swept out of the house in a frenzy only to pick up a blonde at Starbucks and drive her into the night along the Sepulveda Pass to make out.

In any event, we wish Mr. Jacksun/Jackson/Aziz well (as Michael said back in 2001 when Jermaine temporarily dropped off the bill for the King of Pop's 30th anniversary celebration) in his solo career