 18 @-@ year @-@ old Rebbie 's announcement that she wanted to marry her childhood love , Nathaniel Brown , in May 1968 created a division in the Jackson family . Jackson expressed her feelings for the man and proclaimed that she wanted to move with him to Kentucky . Katherine encouraged her daughter to proceed with the union ; she felt that being a wife and mother were important roles for all of her daughters to play . Joseph , however , was against the marriage ; he wanted Rebbie to follow in the footsteps of her brothers ( The Jackson 5 ) and become a singer . Her father felt that married life would stop her from becoming a success in the entertainment business . Though Rebbie had taken <unk> , piano and dance lessons in her childhood , she had no interest in a music career . This was despite the fact that according to brother Jermaine she had won several singing contests , <unk> with brother Jackie . The teenager thought a happy home was more <unk> and secure than the instability of show business . She also wanted to leave her family 's drama @-@ filled home on Jackson Street as well as get away from her controlling father . <unk> ensued for several weeks before her father relented and allowed Rebbie to wed Brown . Having the last word on the matter , Joseph refused to walk his daughter down the aisle . 
