Joe Jackson, the father of Michael and Janet Jackson and the often-tyrannical family patriarch who managed The Jackson Five, has died at the age of 89.

The music manager and father of 11 children passed away at a hospital in Las Vegas on Wednesday (June 27th), having been cared for in the final stages of terminal cancer. His grandson, Taj Jackson, confirmed the news on Twitter later that day.

Jackson had been in ill health for a number of years, suffering a stroke while visiting the Brazilian city of Sao Paolo in 2015 as well as several heart attacks.

His fourth child, Jermaine Jackson, had told media outlets a few days ago that the family had not been allowed to visit him while in hospital. “No one knew what was going on,” he told the Daily Mail. “We shouldn’t have to beg, plead and argue to see our own father, especially at a time like this. We have been hurting.”

Joe JacksonJoe Jackson pictured in March 2018

He is survived by nine of his 11 children, and his wife Katherine, now aged 88.

Michael Jackson’s estate released a statement in the hours after Joe’s death. “We are deeply saddened by Mr. Jackson’s passing and extend our heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Katherine Jackson and the family,” said John Branca and John McClain, co-executors of the estate. “Joe was a strong man who acknowledged his own imperfections and heroically delivered his sons and daughters from the steel mills of Gary, Indiana to worldwide pop superstardom.”

More: Michael Jackson’s father suffers stroke on his 87th birthday [archive]

On top of a music career in his own right, Joe Jackson’s primary legacy is the formation and success of family band The Jackson Five, comprising his sons Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael, and later Randy. He was also Michael’s manager until 1979, and was Janet’s manager also for a number of years.

However, any discussion must acknowledge the cruelty with which that came, the fanaticism which saw him drive his children to international success coming with physical and mental abuse and extreme hard work along the way. Michael and several of his siblings at various points alleged that their father used to bully and beat them in rehearsals.

“I just remember hearing my mother scream, ‘Joe you’re gonna kill him, you’re gonna kill him, stop it,’” Michael recalled in a 2003 documentary interview with Martin Bashir. “I was so fast he couldn’t catch me half the time, but when he would catch me, oh my god it was bad, it was really bad.”

More: Janet Jackson opens up about “intense” battle with depression