Long before the world knew her son’s name, Katherine Jackson was busy with a needle and thread.
Biography.com describes her as the Jackson 5’s costume designer, “often making suits and costumes for her sons to wear during their performances.” As her boys became a famous family act, their mother helped them look the part. Whenever those brothers stepped out under the lights, there was a good chance her handiwork was part of the picture.
Keep her in mind. She’s coming back into this story.
Michael’s album “Thriller” came out on Nov 29, 1982, on Epic Records. Quincy Jones produced it, working side by side with Michael, and together they made something that still hasn’t been topped. “Thriller” is the best-selling album of all time, with an estimated 70 million copies sold around the world.
Seventy million. That’s a lot of record sleeves sitting on a lot of shelves.
Quincy looked back on those studio days in this Entertainment Tonight flashback, and it’s a nice way to hear about the record from the man who helped build it.
Quincy Jones remembers making “Thriller” with Michael
Most people who owned “Thriller” spent their time on the songs. Fair enough. Album credits are the small print nobody reads on the first listen, or the tenth. But if you ever slid the record out and read the credits, there’s one short line printed there, and it doesn’t thank a label boss or a producer or a big star.
It reads: “This album is lovingly dedicated to Katherine Jackson.”
His mother.
Out of everyone who could have had that spot on the biggest album in history, Michael gave it to the woman who once sewed the stage clothes he and his brothers wore. And the connection goes deeper than costumes. According to Biography.com, Michael later credited his mother with giving him his vocal gifts. So the voice that sold all those copies, in Michael’s own view, started with her. She gave him the clothes on his back for those first shows and, as he saw it, the gift that made the shows possible in the first place.
It’s a sweet thing to find tucked inside a record so many people know by heart.
Michael’s record went on to win big. This short look back from theGrio revisits Feb 28, 1984, the night Michael won Grammy Awards for “Thriller.”
The night “Thriller” won at the 1984 Grammys
Katherine was born on May 4, 1930, and she turned 96 this year. And every copy of “Thriller” out there, all those millions, carries her name inside.
If you’ve still got your old copy in a closet or a crate somewhere, it might be worth pulling out to look for that line.
The title song is still the best place to start, so here’s “Thriller” in its official video, the record Michael quietly dedicated to his mom.
Michael Jackson’s official “Thriller” video
Next time you hear that famous opening, think about Katherine with her needle and thread back in the early days. Michael clearly did. He made sure her name went inside the record, right where anyone who looked could find it.