Jermaine Jackson has been left devastated by the passing of his brother last week, revealing the pain of saying goodbye was “unreal”.
He told The Today Show this morning (July 2): “I wanted to see Michael, and I wanted to see my brother, and seeing him lifeless and breathless was very emotional for me.
“I held myself together, because I know he is very much alive, his spirit is. I kissed him on his forehead and I hugged him and I touched him and I said, ‘Michael, I’ll never leave you, you’ll never leave me. He went too soon. I wish that it was me. I’ve always felt that I was his backbone, someone to be there for him. I was there and he was sort of like Moses. The things he couldn’t say, I would say them.”
Jermaine revealed hearing his mother Katherine Jackson tell Michael had died was one of the hardest moments of his life.
“She was crying, saying he was dead. And to hear my mother saying Michael is dead, to feel and hear the tone of her voice to say her child is dead - it’s nothing that anyone can ever imagine.”
Jermaine also expressed his disappointment that Michael won’t be buried at Neverland, his former home in Santa Barbara.
“This is his home, I feel his presence. He built this place with love, you can see it and feel it. Look at it here, it’s peaceful here. This meant wonderment, the ultimate happiness.”
Jermaine insists Michael was physically fit enough to undertake a 50-date comeback residency in London later this month - despite speculation the rehearsals had left him exhausted and underweight. He said: “I do believe and I do know that Mike is very strong, not just mentally but physically. He’s a dancer, he never stopped dancing. He was already ready physically. He passed the physical, he was strong - he was ready.”
Here’s the Jermaine Jackson on the Today Show video:
