Hazel Gordy is the eldest daughter of Motown founder Berry Gordy and is widely known as the first wife of Jackson 5 singer Jermaine Jackson. Born in Detroit in August 1954, Hazel grew up surrounded by the artists, musicians and businesspeople who helped create the Motown sound. She later married Jermaine in 1973, welcomed three children with him and, after their divorce, built an independent career in real estate. Today, Hazel maintains a much quieter public life than many members of the Gordy and Jackson families, although her professional career remains active.
Read more about the Jackson-Gordy family connection at PEOPLE
Quick Bio of Hazel Gordy
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Hazel Joy Gordy |
| Famous For | Berry Gordy’s daughter and Jermaine Jackson’s first wife |
| Birth Date | August 24, 1954 |
| Age in 2026 | 72 |
| Birthplace | Detroit, Michigan, USA |
| Father | Berry Gordy |
| Mother | Thelma Coleman |
| Former Husband | Jermaine Jackson |
| Marriage Date | December 15, 1973 |
| Divorce | 1988 |
| Children | Jermaine Jackson Jr., Autumn Joi Jackson and Jaimy Jermaine Jackson |
| Early Work | Modeling and work connected with Motown |
| Current Profession | Licensed California real estate agent |
| Real Estate License | Obtained in 1989 |
| Current Professional Group | The Beth Styne Group |
| Education | Continued studies at UCLA |
| Grandchild | Soltan Jackson |
| Net Worth | Not independently verified |
| Current Relationship | Private |
Hazel’s official professional biography says she obtained her California real-estate license in 1989 and has been associated with The Beth Styne Group since 2020, specializing in high-end Los Angeles-area markets.
Who Is Hazel Gordy?
Hazel Gordy was born into one of the most important families in American music history.
Her father, Berry Gordy, founded Motown Records.
Motown helped launch or develop artists such as the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and, of course, the Jackson 5.
Hazel therefore grew up around music before most children her age even understood how the record business worked.
Her father was not simply a celebrity.
He was building a company that would completely change popular music.
The Motown Museum describes Berry Gordy as the entrepreneur who used an $800 family loan to begin building what became Motown, creating a system through which young Detroit performers could develop into polished international stars.
Hazel saw that world from inside the family.
That made her childhood very different from that of an ordinary girl growing up in Detroit.
When Was Hazel Gordy Born?
Hazel Joy Gordy was born on August 24, 1954, in Detroit, Michigan.
That means she turned 72 years old in August 2026.
A PEOPLE family profile republished by Yahoo identifies Hazel as Berry Gordy’s eldest child and says she was born in August 1954 in Detroit. Genealogical records and other biographical databases give August 24 as the specific date.
Hazel and Jermaine Jackson were very close in age.
Jermaine was born in December 1954.
Both were still teenagers when their relationship began.
Who Are Hazel Gordy’s Parents?
Hazel’s parents are Berry Gordy and Thelma Coleman.
Berry married Thelma in 1953, before Motown became a global music empire.
They had three children together:
Hazel,
Berry Gordy IV,
and Terry James Gordy.
The marriage later ended in divorce.
Hazel remained closely connected to the much larger Gordy family, which played an important role in helping Berry build Motown.
The Motown Museum explains that Berry’s parents, siblings and extended relatives frequently worked together in the early company, filling roles in management, finance, publishing and artist development.
So when people say Motown was a family business, they mean it quite literally.
Hazel Gordy Was Berry Gordy’s First Child
Hazel holds a special place in Berry Gordy’s family.
She was his first child.
Even the name of Berry’s publishing company, Jobete, has a family connection.
The name has traditionally been explained as drawing from the names of his first three children: Joy, Berry and Terry.
Hazel’s middle name is Joy.
So even before she became known through her marriage to a Jackson family member, part of the early Gordy family identity was connected with her.
Hazel Grew Up Around Motown
Imagine growing up while your father is creating one of the most influential record companies in history.
That was Hazel’s world.
She would have seen musicians, producers, songwriters and performers moving through the Motown environment while the company was still growing.
Her official professional biography says Hazel was “born into the entertainment industry” and grew up around major global talents because of her father’s work.
That background later became useful in her own professional life.
Hazel says she developed experience working within entertainment and managing a portfolio of music artists.
But she eventually decided she wanted a career that did not depend entirely on the famous Gordy name.
That decision led her toward real estate.
Did Hazel Gordy Work as a Model?
Yes, modeling is part of her early reported career.
A PEOPLE family profile says Hazel worked as a model and also spent time at her father’s record label.
However, she did not pursue the kind of long-term high-profile modeling career that would make her famous independently.
Her public profile remained much more closely connected with Motown and later with Jermaine Jackson.
Today, Hazel is better documented professionally as a real-estate agent than as a model.
How Did Hazel Gordy Meet Jermaine Jackson?
Hazel met Jermaine because their families were connected through Motown.
The Jackson 5 had signed with Berry Gordy’s company and quickly became one of Motown’s biggest young acts.
Hazel therefore came into contact with Jermaine while spending time around the label.
The PEOPLE family profile says Hazel and Jermaine were both approximately 15 years old when they met.
That means their relationship began long before they married.
It also explains something Hazel later said about their marriage.
In a 1980 PEOPLE interview, she said that she and Jermaine had been able to grow up together.
They had known one another through their teenage years and early fame.
When Did Hazel Gordy Marry Jermaine Jackson?
Hazel Gordy and Jermaine Jackson married on December 15, 1973.
They were both 19.
Getty Images has preserved photographs from their wedding showing Jermaine in a white suit and Hazel in her wedding gown and veil.
It was a major Motown-family event.
Think about the connection:
Hazel was the daughter of the man running Motown.
Jermaine was one of the biggest young stars on the Motown roster.
The marriage therefore connected two of the best-known families associated with the label.
Their Marriage Connected the Gordy and Jackson Families
The Gordys and Jacksons were already professionally connected.
Hazel and Jermaine made the connection personal.
Jermaine had become famous alongside Jackie, Tito, Marlon and Michael Jackson in the Jackson 5.
Berry Gordy had played an enormous role in the group’s Motown career.
Then Jermaine married Berry’s daughter.
This family connection became particularly important when the Jackson brothers later decided to leave Motown.
Jermaine initially stayed behind rather than moving with his brothers to their next label.
Biography.com notes that Jermaine remained with Motown during this period while he was married to Hazel.
Jermaine eventually continued both his solo work and his broader Jackson-family career.
How Many Children Did Hazel Gordy and Jermaine Jackson Have?
Hazel and Jermaine had three children together:
Jermaine La Jaune “Jay” Jackson Jr., born in 1977,
Autumn Joi Jackson, born in 1978,
and
Jaimy Jermaine Jackson, born in 1987.
PEOPLE confirms all three as Jermaine’s children with Hazel.
Jermaine later had other children through different relationships.
But Hazel is the mother of his first three children documented in his marriage history.
Who Is Jermaine Jackson Jr.?
Jermaine Jackson Jr., often known as Jermaine II or Jay, is Hazel and Jermaine’s eldest child.
He was born in 1977.
Like many members of the Jackson family, he has had some involvement in entertainment.
He has also performed alongside his father.
Jermaine Jr. later became known publicly through his relationship with Shahs of Sunset personality Asa Soltan Rahmati.
The couple welcomed a son named Soltan Jackson in 2017.
That made Hazel a grandmother.
Who Is Autumn Joi Jackson?
Autumn is Hazel and Jermaine’s daughter.
She was born in 1978.
Unlike some members of the huge Jackson entertainment family, Autumn has maintained a relatively private life.
PEOPLE reports that she lives a quieter life with her husband in Finland.
That private approach is similar to Hazel’s.
Neither has made constant celebrity publicity a central part of everyday life.
Who Is Jaimy Jermaine Jackson?
Jaimy is the youngest of Hazel and Jermaine’s three children together.
He was born in 1987, near the end of his parents’ marriage.
He has kept a lower public profile than several of his Jackson relatives.
This is another area where online biographies sometimes go too far.
Being related to Michael Jackson does not automatically mean someone has a public career, enormous net worth or celebrity lifestyle.
Jaimy’s personal and professional life is much more private.
Why Did Hazel Gordy and Jermaine Jackson Divorce?
Hazel and Jermaine’s marriage eventually became troubled.
The couple divorced in 1988, ending a marriage of roughly 14 years.
Biography.com reports that their breakup followed Jermaine’s affair with Margaret Maldonado, with whom he had a child while still married to Hazel.
Because this is a sensitive part of their personal history, it is better not to exaggerate the story.
The basic documented timeline is enough.
Hazel and Jermaine married in 1973.
Their relationship eventually deteriorated.
Jermaine became involved with another woman.
Hazel and Jermaine divorced in 1988.
Did Hazel Gordy Remarry?
A later marriage is not clearly documented in strong public sources.
Hazel’s current professional biography focuses on her:
family background,
entertainment experience,
education,
and real-estate career.
It does not publicly identify a current husband or partner.
Therefore, the responsible answer is:
Hazel Gordy’s current relationship status is private.
A celebrity biography should not assume that “no public spouse” means she has remained single ever since her divorce.
It simply means her later romantic life is not something she has chosen to make widely public.
What Did Hazel Gordy Do After Her Divorce?
Hazel made a major professional decision shortly after her marriage ended.
She moved into real estate.
Her official professional biography says she obtained her real-estate license in 1989, just a year after her divorce from Jermaine.
She wanted to do something she genuinely enjoyed outside the entertainment industry.
That decision gave Hazel a career that could stand independently from:
Berry Gordy,
Motown,
Jermaine Jackson,
and the Jackson family.
It became a long-term profession rather than a temporary project.
Hazel Gordy’s Real Estate Career
Hazel is a licensed California real-estate professional.
Her official website says she has been a dedicated associate with The Beth Styne Group since the beginning of 2020.
She can work across California but focuses particularly on luxury Los Angeles communities including Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Santa Monica.
Those are some of California’s highest-profile property markets.
Her background also gives her unusual experience when working with clients from entertainment.
Hazel spent her life around people who valued privacy.
She understands high-profile clients.
And she has experience with international travel and luxury homes.
That combination can be useful in high-end real estate.
Why Did Hazel Choose Real Estate?
Interestingly, Hazel connects her interest in property with her childhood and her marriage.
Her professional bio says she often traveled with Berry Gordy and saw premier estates around the world.
Later, while traveling internationally with Jermaine during his musical career, she was exposed to different architectural and interior-design styles.
Those experiences stayed with her.
Eventually, she decided to turn that interest into a profession.
Hazel also continued her education at UCLA, studying in areas connected with her interests in architecture and design.
What Does Hazel Gordy Do in 2026?
As of recent professional information available in 2026, Hazel is still publicly presented as a real-estate agent in California.
Her official website remains active and describes her as a member of The Beth Styne Group with a focus on high-end Los Angeles real estate.
This is important because many older biography articles stop Hazel’s story after her divorce.
They give readers the impression that she disappeared.
She did not.
She simply moved away from celebrity-centered publicity and developed a different career.
Does Hazel Gordy Still Work in Music?
Hazel’s official biography says her background includes experience working inside entertainment and managing her own portfolio of music artists.
However, her primary publicly promoted profession today is real estate.
Music remains part of her family history and professional background rather than the main job featured on her current website.
Hazel Gordy and Her Famous Half-Siblings
Berry Gordy has a large family.
Hazel’s full brothers through Berry and Thelma are Berry Gordy IV and Terry Gordy.
She also has several half-siblings through her father’s later relationships.
Among the better-known are:
Kennedy William Gordy, better known as singer Rockwell,
Rhonda Ross Kendrick, whose mother is Diana Ross,
and Stefan Kendal Gordy, better known as Redfoo of LMFAO.
That means Hazel belongs not simply to the Motown business family but to a remarkable network of performers and entertainment figures.
Is Hazel Gordy Related to Diana Ross?
Not biologically.
But there is a family connection.
Berry Gordy and Diana Ross share a daughter, Rhonda Ross Kendrick.
Rhonda is therefore Hazel’s paternal half-sister.
That makes Diana Ross the mother of Hazel’s half-sister, not Hazel’s mother or stepmother.
This relationship is sometimes incorrectly explained on celebrity websites.
Hazel’s mother is Thelma Coleman.
Is Hazel Gordy Related to Michael Jackson?
Not by blood.
Hazel became Michael Jackson’s sister-in-law when she married his brother Jermaine.
Her children with Jermaine are Michael’s niece and nephews.
That gives Hazel an important place in Jackson-family history without making her a biological Jackson.
Following the divorce, she was no longer Jermaine’s wife, but the family connection continued through their three children.
Is Hazel Gordy Still Close to the Jackson Family?
Hazel does not publish enough of her private family life for outsiders to confidently describe every present relationship.
However, she shares three children and a grandchild within the Jackson family.
That means the Gordy-Jackson connection did not disappear when the marriage ended.
Family relationships usually continue in ways that cannot be measured simply by whether former spouses appear together publicly.
Hazel has chosen not to make those details a regular subject of interviews.
What Is Hazel Gordy’s Net Worth?
There is no independently verified figure for Hazel Gordy’s personal net worth.
Celebrity websites sometimes publish estimates of several million dollars.
Those numbers are difficult to prove.
Hazel comes from a very successful family.
She has also had a long career in real estate.
But those facts do not reveal the exact value of her:
property,
investments,
business interests,
inheritance,
savings,
income,
or debts.
Her father’s wealth should also not simply be assigned to her.
The accurate answer is:
Hazel Gordy’s exact net worth is private and unverified.
Is Hazel Gordy Still Alive?
Yes.
Hazel remains publicly professionally active.
Her current real-estate website continues to present her as a working California agent.
There is no credible report of her death.
As of September 2026, she is 72 years old based on the widely documented August 24, 1954 birth date.
Why Is Hazel Gordy Famous?
Hazel is famous for several connected reasons.
She is Berry Gordy’s first child.
She grew up inside the Motown world.
She married Jermaine Jackson during the Jackson 5 era.
She became the mother of three Jackson family children.
And she later built an independent professional identity in real estate.
That last part often receives the least attention.
Yet it may say the most about the life Hazel created after celebrity-family headlines became less important.
Final Thoughts
Hazel Gordy’s biography connects two of the most influential families in American popular music.
She was born in Detroit in 1954 as Berry Gordy’s first child.
While she was still growing up, her father built Motown from an ambitious Detroit record business into one of the most influential music companies of the 20th century.
Then came the Jackson 5.
Through Motown, Hazel met Jermaine Jackson while both were teenagers.
Their relationship developed over several years, and they married on December 15, 1973.
Together they had three children: Jermaine Jr., Autumn and Jaimy.
The marriage did not last forever.
It ended in divorce in 1988 after roughly 14 years.
But Hazel’s story did not stop there.
In 1989, she earned a California real-estate license and began building a career outside entertainment.
Decades later, she remains professionally connected with luxury Los Angeles property through The Beth Styne Group.
That creates a more complete picture of Hazel.
She is not only “Jermaine Jackson’s ex-wife.”
She is Berry Gordy’s eldest daughter.
She witnessed Motown history from inside the family.
She raised three children connected to the Jackson music dynasty.
She became a grandmother.
And she created a career that belongs to her rather than simply relying on two famous surnames.
For readers searching for Hazel Gordy, that is the clearest story: a woman born into music history who eventually chose a much quieter and more independent professional life.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hazel Gordy
Who is Hazel Gordy?
Hazel Gordy is Berry Gordy’s eldest daughter, Jermaine Jackson’s former wife and a California real-estate agent.
What is Hazel Gordy’s full name?
Her full name is Hazel Joy Gordy.
When was Hazel Gordy born?
Hazel was born on August 24, 1954, in Detroit, Michigan.
How old is Hazel Gordy in 2026?
She is 72 years old as of September 2026.
Who is Hazel Gordy’s father?
Her father is Berry Gordy, founder of Motown Records.
Who is Hazel Gordy’s mother?
Her mother is Thelma Coleman.
Was Hazel Gordy a model?
Yes. A PEOPLE family profile says Hazel worked as a model before developing her later career.
How did Hazel Gordy meet Jermaine Jackson?
They met through Motown while they were teenagers. Hazel spent time at her father’s record label, where Jermaine performed as part of the Jackson 5.
When did Hazel Gordy marry Jermaine Jackson?
They married on December 15, 1973.
How many children did Hazel and Jermaine have?
They had three children: Jermaine Jackson Jr., Autumn Joi Jackson and Jaimy Jermaine Jackson.
When did Hazel Gordy and Jermaine Jackson divorce?
They divorced in 1988.
Why did Hazel and Jermaine divorce?
Biographical sources report that Jermaine became involved with Margaret Maldonado while he was still married to Hazel. Their marriage ended in the late 1980s.
Did Hazel Gordy remarry?
No later marriage is clearly established in strong public sources. Her current relationship life remains private.
What does Hazel Gordy do now?
Hazel works as a licensed California real-estate agent, specializing in luxury Los Angeles-area markets.
When did Hazel become a real-estate agent?
Her professional biography says she obtained her real-estate license in 1989.
Did Hazel Gordy attend UCLA?
Her professional biography says her interest in architecture and interior design led her to continue her education at UCLA.
Is Hazel Gordy related to Diana Ross?
Diana Ross is the mother of Hazel’s paternal half-sister, Rhonda Ross Kendrick. Hazel herself is the daughter of Berry Gordy and Thelma Coleman.
Is Rockwell Hazel Gordy’s brother?
Yes. Singer Rockwell, born Kennedy William Gordy, is one of Hazel’s paternal half-brothers.
Is Redfoo related to Hazel Gordy?
Yes. Redfoo, whose real name is Stefan Kendal Gordy, is also Hazel’s paternal half-brother.
Does Hazel Gordy have grandchildren?
Yes. Her son Jermaine Jackson Jr. and Asa Soltan Rahmati welcomed their son Soltan Jackson in 2017.
Is Hazel Gordy still alive in 2026?
Yes. Her professional real-estate presence remains active, and there is no credible report of her death.
What is Hazel Gordy’s net worth?
Her exact personal net worth has not been independently verified.
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