What You Didn't Know About Michael Jackson's Daughter, Paris Jackson

Paris was born April 3, 1998, to Debbie Rowe, Michael Jackson's second wife, says Rowe's entry on Biography. Paris has an older brother, Michael "Prince" Jackson, also born to Rowe, in February 1997. Although Rowe was married to Paris's father, the couple never lived together as husband and wife. Rowe and Jackson divorced six months after Paris was born; two years later, Rowe petitioned the court to terminate her parental rights entirely. The children lived with their father, says Smooth Radio.

Paris was just 11 when her father died. At his memorial service, hearts broke as Paris sobbed, "I just wanted to say, ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. And I just wanted to say I love him, so much." Michael's mother took custody of the children after his death; Paris moved out when she was 18. She's struggled to find her place in the world; there have been suicide attempts, and relationships lived out under the public's too-critical eye. There was a stalker requiring legal action in 2018.

USA Today reports footage from Paris's fourth birthday party that includes her telling Dad her birthday wish: "I'd do what you do. You dance and sing." She has gone on to do just that, working as a model, an actor, and now recording and performing in a band called The Soundflowers, which released a five-song EP earlier this year. This year also sees the release of a documentary series, Unfiltered: Paris Jackson and Gabriel Glenn, on Facebook Watch. Glenn is her partner of two years, as well as Soundflower bandmate. The music, she insists, is a requirement of her life.

"It's been 11 years" since her father's death, "and I've been through hell — whether it was him passing or all" the other heartaches of her life, she told USA Today. "If I don't talk about it, or if I don't put it in my music, it's gonna completely ruin my life, and it's gonna own me. And I'll be a slave to that kind of pain and torment. I don't want that."

She's just 22 years old and clearly still discovering herself. The Express in the U.K. quotes her self-description: "musician, lightworker, treehugger, activist." "Actor" belongs on the list, too; in addition to her performance on the 2017 TV series Star, The Express also reports that Jackson has completed a role as a "Lesbian Jesus" in the indie film Habit.