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Fifty years after The Jackson 5 signed with Motown and came to Detroit for the first time -- famously performing for the label's roster around Berry Gordy's home swimming pool -- the city will honor the group with a street named after it.
Well, one of its members, at least -- and possibly more.
Michael Jackson Ave. was announced Thursday for a block in Detroit's downtown, with an unveiling to take place during the second annual Detroit Music Weekend June 14-17. The surviving Jackson 5 brothers -- Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon -- will headline the festival and receive a key to the city. But Jackie and Marlon, on hand for the Thursday announcement, were surprised that the street was being named just for their late younger brother and indicated there might be a change.
Marlon told Billboard that the street was "supposed to be" named for the entire group and added that "I think it is going to be that. There was a mistake." A Detroit city ordinance requires any honorary street naming to be for an individual only, but sources said that talks were underway to allow for an exception to that. Festival founder and producer Vince Paul explained, "I'd like to do the other four brothers individually. It seemed appropriate to start with Michael because of his premature passing, so that's the first one we'll start with. But if I had my druthers there'll be [streets named for] Tito, Jackie, Marlon. That's where I'm going with it."The Jacksons to Headline Detroit Music Weekend, Receive Key to the City & Honorary Street Renaming

I'm not sure what any of the Jacksons have to do with Detroit. When they signed to Motown, most of it had moved to L.A. and that's where the group was moved to and they lived there for around a year before they released a record. They weren't at the original Hitsville studios..

MickyDolenz said:

Stevie got a street a few years ago

MickyDolenz said:

Stevie got a street a few years ago

Stevie should've got a haircut a few years ago. Let Stevie stylist show you that haters don't care if you look like Bob Marley standing behind Michael Jordan

I'm done I have nothing to say here

MotownSubdivision said:

MickyDolenz said:

I'm not sure what any of the Jacksons have to do with Detroit. When they signed to Motown, most of it had moved to L.A. and that's where the group was moved to and they lived there for around a year before they released a record. They weren't at the original Hitsville studios..

Yeah. Considering the city, it would've made more sense for it to be named after a Motown alumnus who's synonymous with the label like Smokey, Marvin, Stevie or Diana.

The city planners should rename all of the streets alphabetically (by Motown roster name).

"It seemed appropriate to start with Michael because of his premature passing, so that's the first one we'll start with. But if I had my druthers there'll be [streets named for] Tito, Jackie, Marlon. That's where I'm going with it."

Absolute bullshit.

Cinny said:

"It seemed appropriate to start with Michael because of his premature passing, so that's the first one we'll start with. But if I had my druthers there'll be [streets named for] Tito, Jackie, Marlon. That's where I'm going with it."

Absolute bullshit.

oh yes flies are nesting on it

They are right,

When all the brothers were at Motown in Detroit, the group was known as the Jackson Five, and they were the ultimate self contained musical act in entertainment and they have been emulated time and time again over the past 35-40 years, from the 80s with acts such as New Edition/New Kids/Menudo, we can go down the line, same w/the 90s and the boy band resurgence of the late 90s, their influence as a group has impacted 4 decades......

The Jacksons get keys to the city ahead of Detroit fest performance https://www.freep.com/sto...706579002/

(Photo: Sean Work, Special to the Free Press)

They hailed from Gary, Ind., on the outskirts of Chicago. But the Jacksons got the welcome of returning heroes in Detroit on Friday night.

Ahead of their free Saturday performance at the Detroit Music Weekend festival, the surviving members of the onetime Motown Records group joined more than 200 guests for a splashy suit-and-tie event in a party tent outside Music Hall.

Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon Jackson — grinning and upbeat for the occasion — were presented ceremonial keys to the city by Detroit Police Chief James Craig, part of a festival preview gala that included a fashion show and a tribute to Jackson music by local singers.

The Detroit Music Weekend celebration, produced by Music Hall, comes nearly 50 years to the month after the Jackson 5's Motown records audition, just around the corner from Friday's gala. The resulting record deal turned the group into global stars and set the stage for the stratospheric solo career of late brother Michael Jackson.

“Come back to Detroit is like coming home,” said Jermaine Jackson. “I feel like this is the mega music center of the world.”

Police chief Craig led the presentation of five keys to the city — each encased in a frame with a gold-hued Detroit skyline — including one posthumously tailored for Michael Jackson.

Craig jokingly advised that the keys wouldn’t get them out of traffic citations.

Jermaine Jackson leaned in: “Do they open the banks?”

The group merits a place in Detroit’s music legacy, said Craig, telling the four: “You are Motown. You are Detroit. You are always part of our family.”

Following a fashion runway show presented by Saks Fifth Avenue — staged to the Detroit music of Eminem, Aretha Franklin and Madonna — the four Jacksons watched on intently as local singers and dancers paid tribute to their family’s music. Accompaniment came from a band of top-shelf Detroit players, including keyboardist Valdez Brantley, whose brother Kern (in China this weekend) was the show’s creative director.

After an energetic opening from 10-year-old Jason Kolbusz — singing the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” and “I’ll Be There” — the set shifted into a survey of music from across the whole family catalog.

Vocal trio Love I Am melded La Toya Jackson’s “If You Feel the Funk,” Rebbie Jackson’s “Centipede” and Janet Jackson’s “All For You.” First-class Detroit singer Herschel Boone gave a soulful reading of Jermaine Jackson’s “Let’s Get Serious” (with sax from Dave McMurray, unfortunately marred by audio issues) and Anesha Birchett offered a smoky rendering of Janet Jackson’s “Come Back to Me.”

Jason Kolbusz, 10, of Detroit performs the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" during a musical tribute to the Jacksons at a gala outside Music Hall in Detroit on Friday, June 15, 2018. The event was part of the festivities surrounding Detroit Music Weekend. (Photo: Sean Work, Special to the Free Press)

There was a big emphasis on Michael Jackson solo material, including Beth Griffith’s “She’s Out of My Life,” singer C3’s deft “Rock With You” and Elijah Johnson’s smooth “Human Nature.” Five years after debuting on Broadway as a young Michael in “Motown: The Musical,” Detroiter Jebreel Mawry took the stage for “Billie Jean” — white glove, sequins, spins and all — before Alise King delivered a wailing “Beat It.”

The selections made for a lively show, but there was plenty of Jackson 5 hit material left untapped — an odd choice, given the whole point of the evening. Five of the male singers returned late in the show to perform a medley of the group’s “Can You Feel It,” “Lovely One” and “Shake Your Body,” bringing the onlooking Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon to their feet in appreciation.

Greg Phillinganes — the well-traveled, Detroit-born keyboardist — took the stage late in the show, recounting his early love of the Jackson 5 and enthusing: “To be back here in my hometown celebrating with them is pure, unspeakable joy.”

The night’s entire crew of singers then filed back out as the band launched into “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” — with Phillinganes manning a keyboard to rekindle the parts he played on Michael Jackson's 1979 hit record.

The Jacksons will perform at 9 p.m. Saturday on Detroit Music Weekend’s main stage, at the corner of Madison and Grand River. The event is free. The full schedule of performances on five stages is at detroitmusicweekend.org.

Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.