Joe Jackson, the father of Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson, is in intensive care following a stroke he suffered on Sunday, according to a Brazilian hospital.

An emailed statement from the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paolo on Monday morning (July 27th) said that the 87 year old patriarch of the Jackson family had a stroke the previous day and was admitted to their intensive care facility. The statement also says that he has an irregular heartbeat, but does not disclose Jackson’s precise condition at this time.

Joe JacksonJoe Jackson has reportedly suffered a stroke in Brazil

Jackson was in the Brazilian city to celebrate his birthday, with pictures appearing on his official website a couple of days beforehand dining in some of Sao Paolo’s restaurant. Local media report that he was absent from his own birthday party on Sunday, having been hospitalised earlier that day.

Joe Jackson has experienced similar health problems in the recent past, having suffered three strokes in quick succession back in December 2012 in Las Vegas.

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Joe Jackson acted as manager to his sons’ musical group, first consisting of his eldest sons Jackie, Tito and Jermaine and then later Marlon and Michael, when they became known as The Jackson 5. He was reported to be something of a tyrant, acting abusively towards Michael in particular.

In 2003, Joe was interviewed by Louis Theroux where he admitted to striking his second-youngest son with a belt. “I whipped him with a switch and a belt. I never beat him. You beat someone with a stick.”

Michael also revealed in a 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey that he often cried from loneliness as a child, having been put under extreme pressure through constant rehearsing and mental and physical abuse by his father. The two had been estranged for many years before Michael’s death in June 2009.

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