Born to parents Joseph and Katherine Jackson, Jermaine became the original lead singer of an earlier incarnation of The Jackson 5 until 1967 when younger brother Michael assisted lead vocals but Jermaine would co-lead with Michael for many years. Jermaine and his brothers signed with Motown Records in 1969. 

Jermaine was the co-lead singer of The Jackson 5, after his brother Michael, and sings notable parts of "I Want You Back", "I'll Be There", and "I Am Love". Like Michael, Jermaine also began a solo career concurrent to his tenure in The Jackson 5, and had many hits. 
When The Jackson 5 left Motown, Jermaine left the group and stayed at Motown, as he was married to Hazel Gordy, the daughter of Motown owner Berry Gordy. Jermaine was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his 1979 album Let's Get Serious. He had several hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s all over the world. 

Jermaine was married four times, first to Hazel Gordy (mother of Jermaine, Jr., Autumn and Jeremy), then to Margaret Maldonado (mother of Jaimy and Jourdyn) then to Alejandra Genevieve Oiaza (ex-wife of brother Randy and mother of Jaffar and Jermajesty). These three marriages ended in divorce. Since 2004, he has been married to Halima Rashidd. He also has a daughter named Dawn; her mother's identity is unknown.

Jermaine converted to Islam after a visit in Bahrain in the 1980s. In 1992, he, Margaret, and Suzanne de Passe produced The Jacksons: An American Dream, an award-winning and highly-rated miniseries about the history of The Jackson 5. Jermaine, Jr. portrayed his father as a young teenager in the miniseries. Jermaine appeared in the media a lot in the recent years to defend and support his brother Michael.  He also participated on the UK BIG BROTHER show where he were really appreciated by the fans in england. He recently collaborate with indian artist Adnan Sami on a song called "Let's go to Mumbai city" which were released in India. Jermaine is also a part of the TV project "The Jacksons; a family dynasty"... he's also a jury in the TV show "Move like Michael Jackson" (England, Netherlands, Belgium).