Michael Jackson’s sons are stepping out for a bittersweet occasion.
Prince Jackson and Bigi Jackson, formerly known as Blanket, made a rare appearance together on what would have been the late music icon’s 65th birthday on Aug. 29.
Bigi joined his older brother at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, where Cirque du Soleil has performed its “Michael Jackson ONE” residency since 2013. Paparazzi footage captured the 21-year-old posing for photos alongside Prince, 26.
Actor Myles Frost, who won a Tony for portraying Michael in Broadway’s “MJ the Musical,” was among the attendees and also took pictures with the Jacksons, according to video shared on the “ONE” show’s Instagram story.
In addition to supporting his father’s legacy, Prince also reflected on growing up with the superstar and posted a childhood photo of him, Bigi and sister Paris Jackson at home with Michael.
“Happy birthday dad. I miss you and I love you. You may be gone but not forgotten. You’re in our hearts each and every day,” he wrote in his caption, adding a red heart emoji.
Though Paris wasn’t present for the Vegas event, she did share a candid Instagram video in which she explained the King of Pop’s longtime aversion to his big day.
“So today is my dad’s birthday and back when he was alive, he used to hate anybody acknowledging his birthday, wishing him a ‘Happy Birthday,’ celebrating it — nothing like that,” she said. “He actually didn’t want us to even know when his birthday was, because he didn’t want us to throw a party, or anything like that.”
The singer went on to call out fans who have slammed her for not paying tribute to her dad online in previous years and how the criticism affected her.
“That being said, social media is apparently how people express their love and affection these days and if you don’t wish someone a ‘Happy Birthday’ via social media, it apparently means that you don’t love them, that you don’t care about them,” she said, adding that people have “told me to kill myself” for not sharing about him more publicly.
“They’re basically telling me that I don’t love my own father, based on what I post on Instagram,” Paris said.
The 25-year-old has been touring with Incubus in recent weeks and went on to drop footage of herself onstage that day honoring her dad’s memory and thanking him for paving the way for her own music career.
“He would have been 65 years old today and he put 50 years of blood, sweat and tears and love and passion into doing what he did, so I could stand up here on stage, in front of you, and scream into a microphone,” she told the crowd. “So I owe everything to him.”
Remembering Michael Jackson
View GalleryCopyright © 2024 by NBC Universal, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be republished, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.