real name : Maureen Reilette
Michael on Rebbie : "Maureen is now beginning to come out of her shell. She tried for some time to go in another direction but she's now beginning to learn that her roots and her talents are in music; that's her gift and she's using it. She sings great and dances like a cat and we're going to see some great stuff from her."
Since her latest album "R U Tuff Enuff", it's been 10 years that we hadn't heard Rebbie, except through her participation on the "Free Willy 2" Soundtrack with the wonderful retake of Bob Dylan's song "Forever Young"!
Rebbie Jackson often feels like the forgotten sister of the Jackson clan. But if it wasn't for her, headline-makers Michael and Janet would not have had a babysitter when mother Katherine and father Joe were busy striking deals with record companies - starting what was to become a family showbusiness phenomenon.
Home Rebbie is a surprisingly modest four-bedroom property in the celebrety enclave of the Agoura Hills, near Malibu. The only trappings of a superstar are a maid and a swimming pool, but the 'lived-in' family house, filled with photos of the family, is nothing on the scale of her brother Michael's paradise of Neverland. 'My son [Austin, who's 11] and I are regulars, looking at the animals and going on the funfair rides. Michael's secretary even knows my son's voice.'
Rebbie has never gone into great detail about the family's secrets but, at the age of 47, she's eager to step out of the shadows of her famous brothers and sisters and take centre stage for a change. After her last hit, 1984's Centipede - written for her by brother Michael - the self-confessed chatterbox of the family is ready to let her music, not her surname, do the talking. 'My son wasn't even born the first time I did all the recording and dance routines, so it's big novelty for him to see his mom up there,' she says, realising she'll be competing with the likes of the Spice Girls, whose producer Eliot Kennedy helped Rebbie on the new album, Yours Faithfully, which was released at the end of March.
Despite being the eldest of the Jackson children, Rebbie was reluctant to submit to what her heart was telling her to do. 'I guess I tried to suppress my vocation at first, fearing criticism of, "Oh no, here comes another all-dancing, all-singing Jackson", but that's ridiculous, God gave me a gift', she says.
And at 25 she started using her gift when Rebbie held LaToya and Janet's hands as they joined The Jackson Five - brothers Michael, Marlon, Jackie, Jermaine and Tito on stage at the MGM, Las Vegas, in 1975. 'I was so nervous I didn't want to let the family down. Michael taught me dance moves for her routine with Marlon and him,' she recalls. 'Michael was supposed to shoot fire from his hands in a stunt, except the stunt went wrong, and I was left there sharing at all these faces.'
One family member she has yet to get the chance to accept is Michael's wife, Debbie Rowe, the mother of his heir Prince Michael Jr. 'I have never met Debbie, so I don't know what she's like,' she explains. But one 'outsider' Rebbie is happy to be friend with Michael's first wife, Lisa Marie Prestley. She says: 'Her six-year-old son Benjamin is so in love with my two daughters - he flirts with them all the time when Lisa's visiting my home.'
Rebbie was instrumental in another reunion - the Jackson Family Honors, a charity fundraiser, and she also helped to produce a family album and a TV movie, The Jacksons - An American Dream. On her new album, she teamed up with Michael on one of her favorite tracks, Fly Away. Rebbie recalls: 'The first time Michael and I were in studio together for Centipede. He was dancing on the speakers to fire the energy in me.'
Listen to some great sound from the new album!!!
© Copyright 1997-98, NaGuiSha
born : May 29th 1950, in Gary, IN
career : dancer, solo artist
discography : "Centipede" (1984), "Reaction" (1986), "R U Tuff Enuff" (1988), "Rebbie Jackson Collection" (1996), "Yours Faithfully" (1998)
press
audio
Well, we missed her but now the eldest of the Jacksons is BACK...Still so fresh and gorgeous! (just see her new video, where she dresses in red, dances and moves so great!)
On this new album, Rebbie has worked with several producers, and the result is a mix of really different styles of music : groovy, dance, funky (such as the song "Koo Koo", an incredible tip!), slow songs, which makes "Yours Faithfully" definitely different from the previous albums...
Add to this, the excellent contribution of brother Michael on 'Fly Away' (a very beautiful ballad), Men Of Vision on 'I Don't Want To Lose You' (a retake from The Spinners), and daughters Stacy and Yashi as background vocals!
The album ends up with "Centipede" that has been remasterized, a song Michael wrote for Rebbie in 1984, and which 14 years later is still new and so amazing!
Yours Faithfully
Executive Producers: Michael Jackson, Jerry Greenberg, Ken Komisar, Bruce
Kramer (1998)
And if it wasn't for level-headed Rebbie (pronounced 'Reebie'), the famous clan from Gary, Indiana, would not have stuck so firmly together in the face of family feuds, controversial plastic surgery reports and even allegations of Michael's child abuse. 'Bad press comes with the territory,' she concedes. 'It is something all Jacksons are born into and learn to live with. As the eldest, I probably have had more experience.'
But she knows she has genes in her favour - music runs in every vein of her body, and her youthful looks, which often lead her to be mistaken for her sister Janet, who's 16 years her junior. 'I can't even go into a supermarket or gas station without someone coming up to me for Janet's autograph or to tell me that I'm not doing a bad job of impersonating her. Janet was by my side once when this fan was adamant I was Janet and she was just a pal.'
Sparks did fly, however, in Rebbie's love life from an early age, meeting her future husband Nathaniel Brown, a family friend and fellow Jevoha's Witness, at the age of 11. The two were childhood sweethearts and, at the age of 18, Rebbie eloped with him. 'We have been married for 30 years now. And from the time I decided to join my brothers and sisters in Las Vegas to realising a new album now, he has been beside me,' she says.
Rebbie has had to rely on Nathaniel, who doubles as her road manager, in though times, including Jordan Chandler's abuse allegations against Michael. She has always been close to her brother - even when Thriller made him a superstar, he reportedly donned disguises and went preaching with her, door to door - and what his accusers tried to portray was not the Michael she knows and loves.
'My son was coming home from school in tears because he was getting in fights defending his uncle,' she recalls. 'And in my youngest daughter Yashi's high school, the other kids were talking about it, not realising she was connected to the family, until she stood up, with her voice trembling, and told them they were spreaching lies.'
When Rebbie's eldest daughter Stacy, 27, was looking for somewhere special to hold her wedding two years ago, Michael gave her the keys to Neverland. Stacy admits: 'It's an unbelievable place and it was an unbelievable day. We had elephants with flower hats and chimps in tuxedos. Our wedding pictures are unique. It was a shame Michael and my cousins - the band 3T - were on tour at the time. It was a quiet but grand Jackson reunion.'
She might still have her close family links, but Rebbie's keen to step out the Jackson shadow. 'I'm blessed to be surrounded by such talent - I have a lovely family, a great husband and I'm very happy. A little success on my own terms would make my life complete.'
Rebbie's Audio Center
*Download RealPlayer to listen to the samples*
Title Timing
"Yours Faithfully" 22 seconds
"Fly Away" 20 seconds "Baby I'm In Heaven" 23 seconds "Koo Koo"
22 seconds
Kingdom of Pop
-
Main Menu