Just in:Michael Jackson’s 3 Kids: All About Prince, Paris and Bigi

Michael Jackson’s three children, Prince, 27, Paris, 26, and Bigi (formerly known as Blanket), 21, have lived their entire lives in the spotlight.

When they were small, the pop star kept them semi-protected from the paparazzi with fanciful masks and veils. In 2007, Jackson’s longtime bodyguard told PEOPLE the children were “well-mannered, well-behaved kids … They are really level-headed.” The singer’s publicist added, “They were Michael’s first priority.”

But after Jackson’s death in June 2009, the children became more visible in the public eye — beginning with Paris’s short, unplanned speech at her father’s funeral. “Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. And I just want to say that I love him so much,” said Paris, who was only 11 years old at the time.

Today, the siblings pursue passions and projects of their own but remain very close. “At this point in our life it doesn’t really feel like there’s that hierarchy of, ‘I’m the older brother,’ ” Prince said in 2021. “It’s more [that] we’re all siblings and we’re kind of all on that same level where my sister has her strengths, and my brother has his strengths, and where I’m not as strong in certain areas, they complement me in that way.”

Prince added that even though the three have busy schedules, they make time for one another whenever they can. “Any moment that I get to spend with my siblings now, especially as we’re getting older and our own lives are starting to blossom and grow, every moment that I get with them, any little family dinner, any family outing, is really a special moment.”

In August 2023, all three of Jackson’s kids celebrated what would have been the singer’s 65th birthday. Prince and Bigi hosted a Q&A for fans at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino — home of the Cirque du Soleil show Michael Jackson ONE — and Paris paid tribute to her dad during a show at the Las Colonias Park Amphitheater in Colorado.

“It’s my dad’s birthday,” she said to the crowd. “He would have been 65 years old today. He put 50 years of blood, sweat and tears and love and passion into doing what he did so that I can stand up here on stage and scream into a microphone. I owe everything to him.”