The Jackson 5 were originally formed in 1963 under the name the Jackson Brothers. The founding members were Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon. Michael joined the group as the lead singer a year later, which pushed Jermaine to sing the backing vocals and play lead guitar.

After participating in a series of talent shows, they entered the professional music scene in 1967, when they released the small hit “Big Boy” with local label Steeltown Records. In 1968, they signed with Motown Records, who told press Diana Ross ‘discovered’ them, although Bobby Taylor and Gladys Knight claim to have done so.

They released their debut single with Motown, “I Want You Back”, in October 1969, and over the next year, their first four singles (“ABC”, “The Love You Save”, and “I’ll Be There”) all reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. They had such immense popularity among the youth of America that it was dubbed “Jacksonmania”.

Over the next few years, they had a series of substantial hits, including “Never Can Say Goodbye”, “Mama’s Pearl”, and “Dancing Machine”. However, their success slowly declined, and they became frustrated at Motown’s refusal to give them creative control or more royalties.

In 1975, most of the Jacksons had opted out of recording any more music for Motown. Learning that they were earning only 2.8% of royalties from Motown, Joe Jackson, the father and manager of the group, began to negotiate a lucrative contract with Epic records, which offered a royalty rate of 20% per record. The deal was completed in June 1975. As Motown owned the name The Jackson 5, the group simply renamed themselves The Jacksons.