In April 1974, the Jackson family began a residency at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas — and it was not a Jackson 5 concert. It was something far stranger and, for the family, far more important. Joe Jackson put every one of his children on that stage twice a day in a full variety show.
Michael was 15.
The run began on 9 April 1974 and lasted roughly a fortnight, with two performances daily. And the line-up is the part people forget. Alongside the five brothers, this show introduced Rebbie, La Toya and — for the very first time — a seven-year-old Janet Jackson.
The Jacksons 5 & Janet Jackson- The Merv Griffin Show, 1974
It was not a concert in the modern sense. It was a Vegas cabaret act, with comedy skits, costume changes, and impressions woven between the songs. Janet’s contribution was a sketch in which she and her brother Randy performed impersonations—she did Mae West and Cher at seven years old in a casino showroom, twice a night.
That is where Janet Jackson’s career actually starts. Not with a record deal. With a Cher impression in Las Vegas.
The residency mattered for a strategic reason too. Motown did not control the Jackson 5’s Las Vegas shows. The family put them together themselves, with their own setlist and their own material — a rare piece of independence in a career where almost everything was decided for them. Within a year, they would leave Motown entirely.
Jackson 5 – Dancing Machine (Live)
Katherine Jackson attended every single show.
They went back repeatedly. The family moved the act to the Sahara Tahoe later that month, returned to the MGM Grand in August and September, and again that November and December.
There is one small, sad footnote. Rebbie, the eldest of the nine Jackson children, was meant to make her professional debut in that April run. She sprained her ankle and had to wait until June to step on stage for the first time.
Michael had been working since he was five. By 15, he was doing two shows a day in a casino with his little sister doing impressions between numbers. Nine years later, he did the moonwalk and the world changed.