What to Know About Bigi Jackson, Michael Jackson's Youngest Child

Michael Jackson's Youngest Son Bigi "Blanket" Celebrates Birthday

The most memorable image of the baby who was introduced to the world as Blanket Jackson was bizarre by any standards, his father's storied quirks aside.

On Nov. 19, 2002, Michael Jackson carried his then-9-month-old son, born Prince Michael Jackson II, to the balcony of their suite at the Adlon Hotel in Berlin and proceeded to hold him over the railing to show him off to his cheering fans. A horde of photographers angled for a glimpse at the pop icon's third child, but a towel was shielding his face.

Michael may have proudly envisioned a Lion King moment, and ironically he was in Germany to accept an award honoring his lifelong commitment to helping children, but the incident prompted outraged headlines the world over and even inspired a tragic plot point in a 2003 Law & Order episode.

"I offer no excuses for what happened," the Thriller artist said in a statement as the concern over his fitness as a father reached fever pitch in the span of 24 hours. "I got caught up in the excitement of the moment. I would never intentionally endanger the lives of my children.

And that little baby from the balcony is turning 24 on Feb. 21. 

He reasonably ditched the nickname "Blanket" in 2015 and started going by Bigi Jackson. At the time, he was a big movie fan who was "really into comics and the comic book world," a source told E! News as his high school graduation approached, and he was living that teenage-boy life, astounding familial history aside. 

He was "especially tight" with older brother Prince,  the source added, though all three siblings were close.

And so they have remained, as interest in—and scrutiny of—their late father has continued to wax and wane. The trio gathered for a rare red carpet appearance in 2024 at a press performance of MJ: The Musical in London, but otherwise the youngest Jackson sibling leads an extremely private life. A lunch outing with his unidentified girlfriend in January made headlines.

"My little brother is a legal adult today. what the f--k," Paris, now 27, wrote on Instagram for Bigi's 18th birthday in 2019, sharing a few old photos. "i used to change his diapers. this is such a trip.. proud of the handsome, intelligent, insightful, funny, and kind young man he has become. he likes privacy so that's all i gotta say. hbd lil bro."

The most low-profile of the Jackson children agreed to an interview in November 2021 with Good Morning America, during which he toured a room full of memorabilia from his father's legendary career.

"There's a lot of really cool stuff here," Bigi said. "I think there's a lot of history in this house and studio here. And that's what he was all about and that's just kind of what each of us want to do...make things that people hopefully enjoy, but also can benefit their lives."

And the kids were taught that it was the people in the house who mattered at the end of the day.

Prince, 29, told Good Morning Britain, "When we were growing up, my father would say, you know, 'We could have nothing, but you look around in this room, your brother, your sister, and me, that's all you'll ever have. And that always stuck with my siblings and I, and we have such a close relationship."

He shared that, because he was the oldest, their dad told him that he'd be responsible down the road for looking after his brother and sister. Sadly, that stop on the road came sooner than anticipated when Michael died suddenly in 2009 at the age of 50, and Prince, who was 12, admitted he wasn't ready to step up.

"After his passing, and us being thrown into the 'real world,'" he recalled, "my siblings, honestly—they picked up the slack that I unfortunately left behind." 

But now they're all adults, which for anyone who remembers when they were born, their arrivals shrouded in secrecy, is just wild.

Prince, who got engaged to longtime girlfriend Molly Schirmang last summer, noted that, with only a few years separating them, no one really acted the role of oldest or youngest anymore. "Every moment that I get with them—any little family dinner, any little family outing," he said, "is really a special moment for me."

Moreover, they've got a legacy to oversee.

At the "Thriller Night" benefit he hosted at the family home in Encino, Calif., for his Healing Los Angeles foundation, Prince told Access Hollywood in October 2019 , "I think with any siblings, you know, you grow up in a situation and factors that are very similar."

"Just like in that situation you have a bond with them because nobody else really understands how you grew up or how you were raised," he continued. "But they 100 percent understand you and it's a very raw, unfiltered relationship. And especially, you know, when there's a lot of people who may not have the best intentions for you, it's very easy to get caught up in a lot of fake personalities, so I think it's only made us stronger as siblings to have that bond, to have that very real relationship and raw relationship with each other, that we know it's always love."

"My dad spoke to me like an adult. He told us the reason for the masks was he wanted us to have our own life without him," Prince told the Los Angeles Times in November 2016. "I don't think I ever thought about if other kids lived like that when I was younger. But once I knew who he was, I realized it wasn't normal. I remember being in Disneyland and I went to the window and there were all these fans waving and taking pictures of me. I thought it was normal, so I just waved back...You could say my whole life has been unconventional. I really love that though, and it's all I've ever known."

Prince graduated from Loyola Marymount University and has been focused on philanthropy, while Paris started modeling and singing, for awhile forming The Soundflowers with then-boyfriend Gabriel Glenn.

Nearly 17 years after tragedy thrust them into a different kind of spotlight than the one they were already in, the Jackson siblings have worked out what sort of public life they want to lead, knowing more than most just how tricky of a balance that is once you've chosen to pursue a career in any sort of entertainment and fame is practically built into their DNA. 

All of which has also made the duo particularly protective of Bigi, who has remained the least visible member of the branch of their sprawling family tree. When Paris posted a photo of herself with both brothers around Christmas in 2017, it was the first sanctioned pic the public had seen of her younger brother in several years.

He was only 7 when their father died on June 25, 2009. It was at the massive star-studded memorial for Michael held at Los Angeles' Staples Center that the world really got their first look at the artist's children. One of the event's most memorable moments was when 11-year-old Paris informed a till-then quite skeptical world in her never-before-heard voice, "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."

The child still known then as Blanket sat in the front row with his siblings and grandparents, clutching a program and a Michael doll.

They had been home-schooled when they lived with their father at his Neverland Ranch and at the sprawling family compound in Encino, designated "the Hayvenhurst House," but they were enrolled in private school after his death.

"The children are doing so well," aunt La Toya Jackson told The Daily Beast in 2011. "Michael put masks on them to protect them and to keep them safe from anyone who wanted to hurt him. He's gone now. The first thing my mother did was say to them, 'Today we're unmasking you. Today the masks come off.'"

But even the nickname Blanket ensured that Prince Michael II would be considered an enigma.

"It's an expression I use with my family and my employees," Michael explained the moniker in an interview. "I say, 'you should blanket me, you should blanket her with something'—meaning, like, a blanket is a blessing. It's a way of showing love and caring." Meanwhile, the identity of Blanket's biological mother was never revealed.

"I used a surrogate mother and my own sperm cells," Michael did divulge, per J. Randy Taraborrelli's Michael Jackson: The Madness, the Magic, the Whole Story. "She doesn't know me and I don't know her. I didn't care what race she was so long as she was healthy and her vision was good. And her intellect—I wanted to know how intelligent she is."

After his almost literal unveiling when he was 7, Blanket would make the occasional appearance with Paris and Prince at events honoring their dad, such as the 2011 premiere of Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour in Las Vegas and a tribute concert in 2013, when all three went onstage to introduce a satellite performance by Beyoncé.

"My brother and my sister, we've all coped differently. I've gotten better the older I get," Prince told the L.A. Times in 2016.

Prince and Paris have set out to greet the media on an even keel, to hit restart on the narrative that got so wildly out of control when their father was alive and for years after his death. They've remained fiercely protective of his legacy and have amiably talked about the ways in which they've chosen to honor him. Both have also decorated their bodies with various tattoos of parental significance, and in November 2019 they represented their dad at a 60th anniversary celebration of Motown held in Beverly Hills.

As for his youngest, Michael would be happy to know that Bigi did get to have a childhood. He traveled to Japan and Italy with Prince and T.J.'s family, and in May 2019 he and Prince recorded a movie review show on YouTube with their cousin Taj Jackson (T.J.'s brother). Naturally, comics aficionado Bigi started with Avengers: Endgame and the Marvel Universe.

"My brother has a really unique talent to be able to tell you, even a movie he hasn't seen, he'll tell you what year it came out," Prince told Entertainment Tonight in October 2019. "He knows the director, the staff, the crew, everybody behind it that you wouldn't know. He really thinks and studies about film in a different way that you would notice and that comes with his upbringing with my dad encouraging him to study film."

"We had a film teacher at a very young age," he continued. "So it was really his idea and he was championing behind it. I feel like I have an outgoing personality that kind of lightens the mood a little bit and then Taj is a fantastic mediator, where we balance each other all out."

The ability to balance each other out sounds like what their father wanted for all three of his kids all along.

See Prince, Paris and Bigi through the years: