On the left is Jermaine Jackson and on the right is Isiah Thomas.
Jermaine Jackson was born Jermaine La Jaune Jackson on December 11th 1954 in Gary, Indiana. He is an American singer, bass guitarist, composer, member of The Jackson 5, occasional film director and older brother to the famous singer Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. He also produced and recorded duets with American singer Whitney Houston in her early years as a recording artist and was a producer for Bobby DeBarge’s band Switch. Jermaine Jackson is the fourth child of Joseph “Joe” and Katherine Jackson. His siblings are Rebbie, Jackie, Tito, La Toya, Marlon, Michael, Randy, and Janet Jackson. Him and his older brothers would often play instruments and sing in their spare time. One night, after his brother Tito accidentally broke a string on his father’s instrument, the trio (Jackie, Tito and Jermaine Jackson) had to own up to their late night practicing. Joe, out of anger, made the boys demonstrate their musicianship. Impressed, he recognized the boys’ potential and began encouraging them to perform as a group. Jermaine and his two older brothers began The Jackson Brothers in 1964. By the end of 1965, Jermaine’s younger brothers Marlon and Michael had also joined, creating The Jackson 5.He was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness by his devout mother, but he converted to Islam in 1989 after a trip to Bahrain. Jermaine was the original lead singer of the Jackson Brothers—an earlier incarnation of The Jackson Five—until 1966, when younger brother Michael began singing lead. Jermaine would continue to provide some leads over the years. Jermaine graduated from Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California in 1973. As part of the The Jackson 5, Jermaine and his brothers first signed with Gordon Keith of Steeltown Records (The Jackson Five) in 1967 and then Berry Gordy of Motown Records (The Jackson 5) in 1969. As the co-lead singer of The Jackson 5 after his brother Michael, Jermaine sang notable parts of “I Want You Back”, “I’ll Be There”, “The Love You Save”,”Dancing Machine”, and many other Jackson 5 songs. In 1975, after performing for six years with his brothers, Jermaine split from the Jackson 5 to continue his solo career at Motown Records, while the other Jackson brothers left to sign with Epic Records. In 1983, he reunited with his brothers for the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever television special. After the success of the broadcast, he rejoined the band to record the album Victory and participated in the Victory Tour. He stayed with the group for their final album, 2300 Jackson Street, in 1990. In 2001, he reunited with his brothers to perform for the 30th Anniversary Special. Jermaine Jackson began a solo career while still a member of The Jackson 5, and had a hit with the 1972 Shep and the Limelites cover “Daddy’s Home”. It sold over one million copies by March 1973, and was awarded a gold disc. When The Jackson 5 left Motown, Jermaine left the group and stayed at Motown, as he had married Hazel Gordy, and Motown head Berry Gordy was his father-in-law. In 2009, Jermaine claimed on the family reality series The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty, it was because “Motown was gonna make us like the Beatles. We were the Jackson 5 and that’s all I wanted.” Jermaine Jackson was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his 1980 album Let’s Get Serious. He had a number of Billboard Top 30 hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including “Daddy’s Home” (#9), “That’s How Love Goes”, “Let’s Be Young Tonight”, “Bass Odyssey”, “Feel the Fire”, “Let Me Tickle Your Fancy” (featuring Devo on backing vocals) (#18), “Let’s Get Serious” (#9, also one of his only two UK hits, peaking at #8), “Dynamite” (#15), “Do What You Do” (#13), and “I Think It’s Love” (#16). A duet with his brother Michael, “Tell Me I’m Not Dreamin’ (Too Good to Be True)”, hit No. 1 on the dance chart in 1984. He and Michael also collaborated with Rockwell, both providing guest vocals on his 1984 hit single, “Somebody’s Watching Me”. In 1985, his duet with Pia Zadora, “When the Rain Begins to Fall”, topped several singles charts in Europe. His final chart success, 1989’s “Don’t Take It Personal”, hit (#1) on the Billboard R&B singles chart. Some of Jermaine’s finest moments as a singer can be heard in the soulful “Castle of Sand” and the Earth Wind & Fire-inspired “You Need To Be Loved”. Jermaine Jackson is proficient on the electric guitar and is a talented bass guitar player. At an early age he performed the parts of legendary bass player James Jamerson, etc., when J5 (Jackson Five) performed live. Jermaine Jackson also composed and produced for other artists, such as Switch, and he produced and sang a couple of duets on Whitney Houston’s debut album on Arista Records. In 1992, he produced The Jacksons: An American Dream, an award-winning and highly rated miniseries about the history of The Jackson 5. Jermaine Jr. portrayed his father as a young teenager in the miniseries. Jermaine Jackson appaeared on Reality television on the show of Celebrity Big Brother. Jermaine Jackson was the first housemate to enter the Celebrity Big Brother UK house in 2007. He steered clear of the controversy caused by the series, avoiding confrontation and offering moral support to fellow housemate Shilpa Shetty against alleged bullying from fellow housemates Jade Goody, Jo O’Meara, and Danielle Lloyd. He was often considered to be the most stable-minded in the house. During a task in the Big Brother house, the housemates had to create a tribute band for The Jackson 5. The performance of “I Want You Back” helped put The Jackson 5 back in the UK charts at #53.[citation needed] The final three consisted of Dirk Benedict, Jackson, and Shetty. After leaving Big Brother,[5] Jackson did several interviews on UK television, stating why and how he took his peaceful and mediating stance in the Big Brother house. He also spoke about the Jackson 5 reuniting for a performance. On December 15, 1973, Jermaine Jackson married Hazel Joy Gordy, who is the daughter of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. The couple had three children together: Jermaine La Jaune “Jay” Jackson, Jr. (born January 27, 1977), Autumn Joi Jackson (born July 10, 1978), and Jaimy Jermaine Jackson (born March 17, 1987). Jermaine Jackson had a relationship beginning in 1986 with Margaret Maldonado during his marriage to Hazel. After his divorce from Gordy in 1988, Jackson began living with Maldonado, and he had two children with her: Jeremy Maldonado Jackson (born December 26, 1986) and Jourdynn Michael Jackson (born January 5, 1989). After separating from Maldonado, Jeramine Jackson began a relationship with Alejandra Genevieve Oaziaza. (She had two children with his brother, Randy, daughter Genevieve and son Steven, Jr.) Oaziaza had two sons with Jermaine: Jaafar Jeremiah Jackson (born July 25, 1996), and Jermajesty Jackson (born October 3, 2000). Jackson and Oaziaza divorced in 2003. Jermaine Jackson met Halima Rashid, a wealthy Afghan native, while in line at Starbucks in January 2004. In March 2004, he proposed to her, and in August 2004 they got married in a mosque in Los Angeles, where they currently live. In all, Jermaine Jackson has seven children: three with his first wife Hazel, two with Margaret, and two with his second wife Alejandra. In 1989, after a trip to Bahrain, Jermaine Jackson converted to Islam. On November 6, 2012, Jackson filed a name change petition in Los Angeles, from Jermaine Jackson to Jermaine Jacksun, stating the switch was for “artistic reasons”. His last name officially became Jacksun on February 22, 2013.
Isiah Thomas was born Isiah Thomas III on April 30th 1961 in Chicago, Illinois. He was nicknamed “Zeke”. He is a retired American basketball player who played professionally for the Detroit Pistons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 12-time NBA All-Star was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Thomas has also been a professional and collegiate head coach, a basketball executive, and a broadcaster. He was the youngest of nine brothers and sisters. Isiah Thomas commuted from Chicago’s west side North Lawndale neighborhood to play high school basketball at St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois for Gene Pingatore. He would wake up at 5:00 am and commute 90 minutes to attend the private school. During his junior year, he led St. Joseph to the State Finals and was considered one of the top college prospects in the country. Isiah Thomas played collegiately for the Indiana Hoosiers. He went on to play professionally as point guard for the Pistons from 1981 until 1994 and led the “Bad Boys” to NBA championships in the 1988–89 and 1989–90 seasons. After his playing career, he was an executive with the Toronto Raptors, a television commentator, an executive with the Continental Basketball Association, head coach of the Indiana Pacers, and an executive and head coach for the New York Knicks. He was later the men’s basketball coach for the Florida International University (FIU) Golden Panthers for three seasons from 2009 to 2012. Isiah Thomas was recruited to play college basketball for Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers. Although he received mail saying Knight tied up his players and beat them, he did not believe the rumors. When Knight visited the Thomas home, one of Isiah’s brothers, who wanted him to attend DePaul, embarrassed him by insulting the Indiana coach and engaging him in a shouting match. Nevertheless, Thomas chose Knight and Indiana because he felt that getting away to Bloomington would be good for him, as would be Knight’s discipline. Isiah Thomas quickly had to adjust to Bob Knight’s disciplinarian style. At the 1979 Pan American Games in Puerto Rico Knight got so mad at Thomas he threatened to put him on a plane home. Knight recalled yelling at the freshman-to-be, “You ought to go to DePaul, Isiah, because you sure as hell aren’t going to be an Indiana player playing like that.” Prior to the start of his freshman year, the 1979-80 season, Knight became so upset with Thomas that he kicked him out of a practice. According to Thomas, Knight was making a point that no player, no “matter how talented, is bigger than Knight’s philosophy.” However, Isiah Thomas quickly proved his skills as a player and became a favorite with both Knight and Indiana fans. His superior abilities eventually would cause Knight to adjust his coaching style. Fans would display bed sheets with quotations from the Book of Isaiah (“And a little child shall lead them”) and nicknamed him “Mr. Wonderful.” Because of Isiah Thomas‘ relatively short stature at 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), Coach Knight would call Thomas “Pee Wee”. Isiah Thomas and Mike Woodson led the Hoosiers to the Big Ten championship and advanced to the 1980 Sweet Sixteen. The following year, the 1980-81 season, Bob Knight made Isiah Thomas the captain and told him to run the show on the floor. Isiah Thomas responded so positively that, as the season unfolded, Bob Knight and Isiah Thomas grew as friends. When a Purdue player took a cheap shot at Isiah Thomas in a game at Bloomington, Bob Knight called a press conference to defend his star. And 19 days later, when Isiah Thomas hit an Iowa player and was ejected from a game, Bob Knight refused to criticize his player Isiah Thomas. That year Isiah Thomas and the Hoosiers once again won a conference title and won the 1981 NCAA tournament, the school’s fourth national title. He earned the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award. Following his sophomore season and the Hoosiers’ national championship, Isiah Thomas made himself eligible for the NBA Draft. During his NBA career Isiah “Zeke” Thomas was one of the greatest “small men” ever to play professional basketball. His only peer at point guard in the NBA during the 1980s was the Lakers’ Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who at 6-9 brought unique physical skills to the position. Isiah Thomas retired as Detroit’s all-time leader in points, assists, steals and games. Isiah Thomas, who stood barely over 6-feet, was in his day the grittiest performer to play the position, a feisty competitor who offered no quarter and expected none in return. Like Johnson, he possessed the skill and determination to take over a game at will. Isiah Thomas helped build a last-place Detroit Pistons team into back-to-back NBA champions in the late 1980s. His sunny smile belied an inner toughness that made him a key member of a scrappy, physical group of players dubbed the “Bad Boys” of Detroit. “I call him the baby-faced assassin,” an opposing coach once told the Charlotte Observer, “because he smiles at you, then cuts you down.” Like many of his teammates, Isiah Thomas was tempestuous, edgy, vocal and not opposed to balling up his fist when he felt the need. And he knew how to handle pain; he often played with injuries resulting from his rough-and-tumble style. After retiring, Isiah Thomas became part owner and Executive Vice President for the expansion Toronto Raptors in 1994. In 1998, he left the organization after a dispute with new management over the franchise’s direction and his future responsibilities. During his four-year tenure with the team, the Raptors drafted Damon Stoudamire, Marcus Camby, and high schooler Tracy McGrady. After leaving the Raptors, Isiah Thomas became a television commentator (first as the lead game analyst with play-by-play man Bob Costas and then as part of the studio team) for the NBA on NBC. Thomas also worked a three-man booth with Costas and Doug Collins. Isiah Thomas became the owner of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1998 to 2000. Isiah Thomas purchased the CBA for $10 million, and in 2001 the league was forced into bankruptcy and folded, shortly after NBA Commissioner David Stern decided to create his own development league, the NBDL, to replace the CBA. Many CBA managers blamed Thomas for the league’s failure, citing mismanagement and out-of-control spending on his part. At the time of the league’s collapse the managing of the CBA was in a blind trust, due to Thomas’ position as head coach of the Indiana Pacers. From 2000 to 2003, Isiah Thomas coached the Indiana Pacers, succeeding Larry Bird, who previously coached the Pacers to the Eastern Conference title. Thomas attempted to bring up young talents such as Jermaine O’Neal, Jamaal Tinsley, Al Harrington, and Jeff Foster. However, under Thomas the Pacers were not able to stay at the elite level as they went through the transition from a veteran-dominated, playoff-experienced team to a younger, less experienced team. In Thomas’s first two seasons with the Pacers, the team was eliminated in the first round by the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Nets, both of whom eventually made the NBA Finals. In his last year with the Pacers, Isiah Thomas guided the Pacers to a 48–34 record in the regular season and coached the Eastern Conference team at the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. As the third seed, the Pacers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the sixth-seeded Boston Celtics. With blossoming talents such as Jermaine O’Neal, Brad Miller, Ron Artest, Al Harrington and Jamaal Tinsley, along with the veteran leadership of Reggie Miller, the perception existed that the Pacers’ unfulfilled potential stemmed from Thomas’ inexperience as a coach. In the offseason, Larry Bird returned to the Pacers as President of Basketball Operations, and his first act was to replace Thomas with Rick Carlisle. In 2000, Isiah Thomas was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. On December 22, 2003, the New York Knicks hired Isiah Thomas as President of Basketball Operations. He was ultimately unsuccessful with the Knicks roster and fanbase. At the end of the 2005–06 season, the Knicks had the highest payroll in the league and the second-worst record. He traded away several future draft picks to Chicago in a deal for Eddy Curry including what turned out to be two lottery picks in talent-rich drafts. A press conference for Isiah Thomas at the U.S. Century Bank Arena at Florida International University in Miami. On June 22, 2006, the Knicks fired coach Larry Brown, and owner James Dolan replaced him with Isiah Thomas under the condition that he show “evident progress” or be fired. During the following season the Knicks became embroiled in a brawl with the Denver Nuggets, which Isiah Thomas allegedly instigated by ordering his players to commit a hard foul in the paint.[12] However, he was not fined or suspended. NBA Commissioner David Stern said that he only relied on “definitive information” when handing out punishments. Later in the season, nine months after James Dolan demanded “evident progress”, the Knicks re-signed Thomas to an undisclosed “multi-year” contract. After he was granted the extension, the Knicks abruptly fell from playoff contention with a dismal finish to the season. During the 2007 Draft, Isiah Thomas made another trade by acquiring Zach Randolph, Fred Jones, and Dan Dickau from the Portland Trail Blazers for Steve Francis and Channing Frye. Isiah Thomas also compounded the Knicks’ salary cap problems by signing fringe players such as Jerome James and Jared Jeffries to full mid-level exception contracts. Neither player saw any significant playing time and both were often injured and highly ineffective when able to play. Despite the constant criticism that he received from Knicks fans, Isiah Thomas maintained that he had no intention of leaving until he turned the team around and he predicted that he would lead the Knicks to a championship, stating that his goal was to leave behind a “championship legacy” with the Knicks, just as he had done for the Detroit Pistons. This prediction was met with widespread skepticism. On April 2, 2008, Donnie Walsh was introduced to replace Isiah Thomas as President of Basketball Operations for the Knicks. Walsh would not comment definitively on whether or not Isiah Thomas would be retained in any capacity at the time of his hiring. One night after the Knicks tied a franchise record of 59 losses and ended their season, news broke that in talks with Walsh the week before, Isiah Thomas had been told he would not return as Knicks head coach the following season. He was officially “reassigned” on April 18 “after a season of listless and dreadful basketball, a tawdry lawsuit and unending chants from fans demanding his dismissal.” Isiah Thomas posted an overall winning percentage of .341 as head coach of the Knicks, fifth lowest in team history. As part of the reassignment agreement, he was to serve as a consultant to the team, reporting directly to Walsh. However, he was banned from having contact with any Knicks’ players under the rationale that he could willingly or unwillingly undermine the new head coach. On December 19, 2012, NBA TV announced that Isiah Thomas would begin work on December 21, 2012 as a member of the studio analyst panel. It was also announced that Thomas would become a regular contributor for NBA.com.
Famous twin look alikes Jermaine Jackson vs Isiah Thomas. Jermaine Jackson and Isiah Thomashave a very close in resemblance.
