Janet Jackson Honors Her Father After He Is Hospitalized With Terminal Cancer

On Friday, June 22nd, TMZ reported that Joe Jackson, the head of the Jackson family, had entered his final stages of cancer. They also reported that it “cannot be treated”. His son Jermaine revealed to the Daily Mail that their father Joe was dying. That Sunday, the patriarch’s official twitter account sent out a post confirming the illness. The previous Saturday night, Joe’s daughter Janet was being recognized as one of the most influential artists in pop music as she became the first ever recipient of the Impact Award at the 2018 Radio Disney Music Awards. She used her acceptance speech to honor her family’s influence on her career.

“If I have been fortunate enough to impact others it is only because I, myself, have been greatly impacted by positive people in my life,” the pop icon said, “My mother nourished me with the most extravagant love imaginable, my father, my incredible father, drove me to be the best that I can. My siblings set an incredibly high standard, a high bar for artistic excellence.” She continued to honor her family while accepting her award saying, “It’s beautiful, it’s humbling to be recognized as someone that has had a positive impact, but if I have been fortunate enough to impact others it is only because I, myself, have been greatly impacted by positive people in my life,” she said in her speech.

TMZ reports that the Jackson family has been by Joe Jackson’s bedside in recent days. “He’s very, very frail, he doesn’t have long”, Jermaine told the Daily Mail. ”The family needs to be by his bedside. That’s our only intention in his final days.”