(May 4, 2026) – Members of the Jackson family were on a roll in 1987, making history in ways that other families could only dream of—and pulling off accomplishments we’ll likely never experience again in our lifetimes. And like most Jackson moments, this one began and ended with Janet and Michael at the top.
Janet kicked off the year with “Control,” the title track from her No. 1 album, which topped the very first Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop list of the year. She’d go on to add three more No. 1s in that year alone with “Let’s Wait Awhile,” “The Pleasure Principle,” and as a featured act on Herb Alpert’s “Diamonds.”
Then there was big brother Michael whose long-anticipated follow-up to Thriller, the Bad album, dropped in the fall and produced its first three No. 1 singles – “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” (with Siedah Garrett), “Bad,” and “The Way You Make Me Feel” — the latter leading the very last chart of 1987.
But another Jackson sibling had a song riding that chart around the same time Michael’s “Bad” was climbing, nearly reaching the pinnacle. It was next-older brother Marlon, whose single “Don’t Go” defied expectations and climbed to a very respectable No. 2 that November. Had he reached the top spot, it would have given the Jacksons eight (!) No. 1 hits on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart in one calendar year. Their total of seven was already a record for any set of siblings, individually or collectively.
In fact, Marlon’s near-miss is part of a larger, little-discussed feat: all nine Jackson siblings have charted individually on Billboard in some form—a distinction unmatched by any other musical family. I’ll get to that momentarily.
“Don’t Go” was the second single from Marlon’s debut solo album, Baby Tonight. On first listen, the song gave Sly Stone’s “Hot Fun in the Summertime” vibes, but Marlon’s hit was clearly a product of its own time with synth and drum machine programming throughout its four minute duration. The music video (linked above) featured Jackson showing off some nifty dance moves, easily making him the second-most nimble among the famous brothers.
The only tune that stood in the way of the Jacksons extending their No. 1 history was Angela Winbush’s “Angel,” the first solo hit for the female half of former R&B duo Rene & Angela. It was in its second and final week at No. 1 when “Don’t Go” inched up to the runner-up spot. “Angel” tumbled to No. 5 the following week, but Marlon’s momentum vanished quicker than it arrived, with his song taking an even bigger stumble to No. 8 on its way to a fast exit. In a strange twist, the new No. 1 was by Stevie Wonder—an artist for whom Marlon and his brothers had sung backup on a No. 1 tune 13 years earlier. The Motown legend’s 1987 hit was “Skeletons,” and the song for which the Jackson 5 had provided backup was Stevie’s 1974 smash, “You Haven’t Done Nothin’.”
But the Jacksons were certainly doing something. Marlon was the last of five Jackson siblings to reach the top ten on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart, after Michael, Jermaine, Janet and Rebbie. That is still a record among any group of siblings.
Not every Jackson cracked the top ten—but each made a mark. Of the remaining four, Randy came the closest when his “Love You Honey,” as leader of Randy & The Gypsys, reached No. 16 in 1990. La Toya was the next closest when she reached No. 22 with “Bet’cha Gonna Need My Lovin’” in 1983. Her more famous song, “Heart Don’t Lie” was a No. 29 R&B/Hip-Hop hit the following year.
Jackie had a moderate hit with the No. 39-peaking song “Stay,” the first single from his 1989 album, Be the One. And the late Tito didn’t release a solo project until 2016 – the album Tito Time – which included two songs that made it to the hybrid Adult R&B airplay chart at Nos. 20 and 29 in 2016 and ’17, making him the most recent Jackson to chart in Billboard with new material.
While Tito remained the only Jackson sibling not to make the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, he is the only one whose offspring pulled the trick. The group 3T, featuring Tito’s sons Tariano, Taryll, and Tito Joe, reached the chart with songs from their debut album, Brotherhood in 1996.
Michael, unsurprisingly, was the first sibling to get things rolling as a solo artist when “Got to Be There” charted in 1971 on the Motown label. Jermaine followed when his remake of “Daddy’s Home” reached the top ten. Another Jackson wouldn’t join the list until early 1983 when Janet’s “Young Love” became her first single to reach the region. Rebbie made history in 1984 when “Centipede” made the Jacksons the only family to produce top ten R&B hits by two brothers and two sisters individually.
In an era where even one hit can define a career, the Jacksons did more than just dominate as a group—they built a nine-piece solo legacy across decades of Billboard history. And for one brief moment in 1987, Marlon Jackson came within a heartbeat of adding yet another No. 1 to the family’s already unmatched résumé.
DJRob
(And my thanks to Marlene C. for putting Marlon’s song back in my head!)
DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on Bluesky at @djrobblog.bsky.social, X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog, on Facebook or on Meta’s Threads.
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