Then and Now: 10 Years On, Michael Jackson’s Children Have Found Their Callings

L: Getty Images | Carlo Allegri, R: Getty Images | AFP

In the decade since their father’s sudden death, the Jackson siblings have struggled to put their lives back together. But after 10 years of heartbreak and healing, Prince, Paris, and Blanket seem to have finally found their way.

Just two weeks after Michael’s death on June 25, 2009, Michael Joseph “Prince” Jackson Jr. (then 12), Paris Michael Katherine Jackson (then 11), and Prince Michael “Blanket” Jackson II (then 7) congregated in a Los Angeles sports arena beside 10,000 public mourners, and their broken hearts were on full display.

Photos of the three siblings clinging to one another in their grief were haunting. The siblings have remained just as close in the years that followed Michael’s death, but their lives have taken a turn for the better.

Michael Jackson with real estate developer Mohamed Hadid, Hadid's children, and Jackson's children, Prince (L), Paris, (C) and Blanket (2nd R) in California, 2008 ©Getty Images | Mohamed Hadid

Prince was born on Feb. 13, 1997. His mother is Jackson’s second wife, Debbie Rowe, but he was raised by Michael. The oldest of the three siblings when his father died, Prince made a bold tribute to his dad by having his image tattooed on his leg in 2018.

Prince’s studious side has taken him far, too. The now-22-year-old graduated in May of 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Loyola Marymount University. And it seems he has a goal in mind.

Paris, Prince, and Blanket during Michael Jackson's public memorial service in LA on July 7, 2009 ©Getty Images | Mark Terrill-Pool

Perhaps more comfortable behind the scenes than taking center stage, Prince has a burgeoning career as a music video producer, says People. In 2016, the young music entrepreneur launched the appropriately named King’s Son Productions. It seems he’s had his sights on a career in the music industry for some time.

Speaking to the LA Times, the young producer explained. “My dad would ask me what I wanted to do,” he shared, “and my answer was always producing and directing.”

Blanket, Paris, and Prince at the St. Paul Saints vs. the Gary SouthShore RailCats baseball game in Gary, Indiana, 2012 ©Getty Images | Tasos Katopodis

In the wake of his father’s death, Prince also became a motorbike enthusiast, regularly sharing his daring adventures on his Instagram page.

Paris was born on April 3, 1998, and shares a mom with her brother, Prince. She is now a stunning 21-year-old with piercing blue eyes and a tenacious attitude, and has a career as a model, actress, and activist.

Music definitely runs in this family; Paris is also in a band called The Soundflowers and lives by herself in the compact music studio Jackson built in his childhood home in Encino, California.

The youngest and most reclusive of the three Jackson siblings was born on Feb. 21, 2002, to a surrogate mother. “Blanket,” now 17, changed his name to “Bigi” amid reports of serious bullying, but has always had the full support of his loving siblings.

“Prince and Bigi are best friends,” a family friend of the Jacksons told People. “They share a lot of interests, like science and sci-fi.”

Bigi has electively stayed out of the limelight as a teen; his first brush with fame came in 2002 when the unwitting baby Blanket hit headlines after Michael dangled him over the balcony of a Berlin hotel.

Bigi arrives at the Las Vegas premiere of "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour" by Cirque du Soleil in 2011 ©Getty Images | Jeff Bottari

Bigi attends a private high school in Los Angeles and also has dreams of becoming a musician. The quiet, movie-loving teenager lives at his grandmother Katherine Jackson’s Calabasas, California, mansion.

Also living there is Michael’s nephew T.J. Jackson, who became Bigi’s legal guardian in 2017, says Inside Edition.