Life Magazine Photoshoot

The Jackson 5 graced the cover of Life magazine's September 1971 issue as part of a feature entitled "Rock Stars at Home with Their Parents." They are seen standing on the spiral staircase in their family room (where did that staircase lead to, anyway?), surrounded by their gold records and awards. At the bottom of the staircase, Joe and Katherine Jackson pose proudly.

There was just one more photo inside that showed the five brothers outside with their parents, sitting around their pool on their minibikes. It was photos like these that led fans to believe that the Jackson 5 lived an impossibly charmed life.


An outtake from the session shows all the Jackson siblings and their parents, along with their grandmother and Rebbie's baby daughter. Janet is not much more than a baby herself, sitting on Jermaine's lap. And La Toya is rocking an afro that makes her look more like a member of the Sylvers than one of the Jacksons.

I'm not sure who took this picture of photographer John Olson taking one of these pictures.