The family · his children
Prince, Paris & Bigi
Michael's three children were raised largely out of public view — often masked when out in the world. All were minors when he died in 2009. As adults they've taken markedly different paths: philanthropy and film, a public career in the arts, and deliberate privacy.
Guardianship
After June 2009
When Michael died, his three children were placed under the guardianship of their grandmother, Katherine Jackson. In 2012, Michael's cousin TJ Jackson (son of Tito) was appointed co-guardian, sharing the role with Katherine and later taking sole guardianship of the youngest after she stepped back in 2017.
The eldest
Prince Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., known as Prince, was born February 13, 1997 (mother: Debbie Rowe). He graduated from Loyola Marymount University in 2019 with a business degree, co-founded the Heal Los Angeles Foundation for underserved LA youth, and served as an executive producer on the 2026 biopic Michael (which stars his cousin Jaafar). His godparents were Macaulay Culkin and Elizabeth Taylor.
The middle child
Paris Jackson
Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson was born April 3, 1998 (mother: Debbie Rowe). At 11 she spoke at her father's televised memorial — "the best father you could ever imagine." She has built the most prominent public career of the three: signed to IMG Models (2017), a Rolling Stone cover, runway work; a musician (the duo The Soundflowers, then a solo deal with Republic Records and the 2020 album Wilted); and acting roles. She is an ambassador for the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (Taylor was her godmother) and has spoken openly about her own mental-health struggles.
The youngest
Bigi Jackson
Prince Michael Jackson II — long known by the nickname "Blanket," later "Bigi" — was born February 21, 2002, via a surrogate. As an infant he was at the center of the 2002 Berlin balcony incident, for which Michael promptly apologized, calling it a "terrible mistake." Of the three children he has remained by far the most private, with only rare public appearances.