When your dad is the King of Pop, people assume you’ve got your whole future handed to you. Michael Jackson’s oldest son says the message at home was a lot simpler than that.
Prince Jackson was born on Feb. 13, 1997, the first of Michael’s three children. His sister Paris came along in 1998, and his little brother Bigi, who was once called Blanket, was born in 2002. Prince is 29 now, but this story goes back to 2017, when he was 20 and sat down with Robin Roberts on Good Morning America.
He was there to talk about his new film company, King’s Son Productions. The name was a nod to his dad, and Prince explained it with a line he clearly cared about.
“My father was the King of Pop and King’s Son Productions has this mantra where a title is earned, but a name is given,” he said.
In other words, he knew the famous name came free. Anything else he’d have to work for. He also explained that while his first name is Prince, for all practical purposes he’s the King’s son, still working to earn a title of his own.
Prince also admitted he likes his privacy. “I’m not a fan of having my private or personal life out there, but I understand the importance of showing what I do,” he told Roberts.
That GMA clip didn’t turn up online, but here’s Prince in a different interview, talking about what it was like to grow up with Michael as his father.
Prince Jackson talks about growing up with his dad
So what did Michael tell his kids about the future?
Prince says his father repeated the same advice as they grew up. And when Michael wanted to make his point, he didn’t reach for a pop star or a movie star as his example. He picked a job most people walk right past every day.
A janitor at a high school.
Here’s how Prince put it: “As we were growing up my dad always said, ‘I really don’t care what you do in life, as long as you’re happy doing it and you’re the best at what you do. If you want to be a janitor at a high school, you should be the best janitor that you can be,'”
It’s such a dad thing to say. Michael’s point was that any honest job, done well, is worth being proud of.
According to the report, he said his father would have been supportive of anything his children chose, as long as they were the best at it.
“So, I think that he would always be the supporting figure to me and my siblings and support us in all the endeavors that we try,” he added.
One of Prince’s own endeavors is his Heal LA foundation. Here he is talking about it with a local TV station in Los Angeles.
Prince Jackson talks about his Heal LA foundation
Whatever Prince, Paris and Bigi picked, Michael just wanted them happy and giving it everything they had. At home, the King of Pop sounded a lot like any proud dad.
Most parents would sign off on that advice.