Emily Besselink: Jackie Jackson’s Wife, Twins, and Family Life
Emily Besselink is Jackie Jackson’s wife and the mother of his twin sons, River and Jaylen. She married the Jackson 5 singer in 2012, and the couple welcomed their sons on December 31, 2013. Jackie has described Emily as Dutch, and the family has lived in the Las Vegas area while he continued performing and touring. Unlike many members of the Jackson family, Emily has largely stayed outside the public spotlight.
Her story is easiest to understand through the family life she built with Jackie. She joined a famous music family with years of fame behind it. She also joined a blended home because Jackie already had two older children. Through all of that, she stayed far from the kind of attention that has followed the Jackson name for years.
Quick Facts
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Full name | Emily Besselink |
| Husband | Jackie Jackson |
| Married | 2012 |
| Children | River and Jaylen Jackson |
| Children’s birth date | December 31, 2013 |
| Nationality/background | Dutch, according to Jackie Jackson |
| Home base reported | Las Vegas area |
Marriage to Jackie Jackson
Emily Besselink married Jackie Jackson in 2012. By then, Jackie had already spent most of his life in music.
He was one of the original members of the Jackson 5 with his brothers Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael. The group became one of Motown’s biggest acts, and its songs helped shape pop and soul in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted the Jackson 5 in 1997. Jackie is named among the members honored with the group.
That past meant Emily joined a family known around the world. Yet her own life did not become a public performance.
In a 2018 Irish Independent interview, Jackie spoke about life with his Dutch wife and their young twins near Las Vegas. He also said trips to Europe gave him time with her kin.
The interview gave a rare look at their family life. Jackie kept touring while the home still had ties to both the United States and the Netherlands.
River and Jaylen Changed Jackie’s Life Again
The couple welcomed twin sons River and Jaylen on New Year’s Eve in 2013.
People reports that Jackie later called the twins his “biggest New Year’s blessing.” Years later, he wrote that his children gave him purpose.
The boys came at a very different stage of his life. Jackie was already in his sixties. He had been a father for decades and had also seen his family go through huge changes.
Emily Besselink became the mother of his two youngest children.
Jackie has shared family moments with River and Jaylen on social media over the years. He has also taken them to events that honor Michael Jackson’s work.
The twins were born after Michael died in 2009, but Jackie has kept that part of their past close.
A Blended Family With Four Children
Jackie has four children in total.
His older son, Siggy Jackson, was born in 1977. His daughter Brandi Jackson was born in 1982. Their mother was Jackie’s first wife, Enid Arden Spann.
River and Jaylen came decades later through his marriage to Emily.
That made a blended home with a wide age gap between the older and younger children. People has profiled all four and the paths they took.
Siggy, whose full name is Sigmund Esco Jackson Jr., has worked in music. Brandi has worked as a photographer and videographer and has appeared in family projects.
The twins belong to a younger generation. They grew up after the Jackson 5’s biggest years and after Michael Jackson’s death in 2009.
For Emily, the marriage meant more than becoming Jackie’s wife. It linked her to his grown children, grandkids, siblings, nieces, and nephews.
Life in Las Vegas While Jackie Kept Touring
Jackie remained active in music after marrying Emily.
The Jacksons kept playing live. Jackie also worked on solo projects and business ventures. Touring stayed part of his life.
In that Irish Independent interview, he said he lived in Lake Las Vegas with Emily and the twins.
He also spoke about meeting her in Europe on tour so they could spend time with her relatives.
That small detail gives the story more shape. The twins grew up with ties to both sides.
The marriage joined two very different worlds: one rooted in a famous American music dynasty and another with family ties in the Netherlands.
Emily Besselink did not need to become a public figure for that part of the family to matter.
Jackie’s Career Still Shapes the Home Around Them
Jackie’s work has always been close to family life. The Jackson name carries years of musical history.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame credits Jackie as one of the inducted members of the Jackson 5. The group helped bring a young Michael Jackson to global attention, but it also had its own major run of hits and tours.
Jackie remained part of that history long after the early Motown years ended.
In recent interviews, he has continued talking about the family’s early days in Gary, Indiana, and about the work behind the group’s success.
For River and Jaylen, those stories are not just old music tales. They are part of their own family history.
Emily has appeared in family photographs with Jackie, the twins, and other Jackson relatives, but she has not tried to become the public voice of the family.
The Twins Grew Up Around Michael Jackson’s Legacy
Michael Jackson died before River and Jaylen were born.
Even so, Jackie has made sure his younger sons know their uncle’s work.
People reports that he has taken the twins to Michael Jackson ONE, the Cirque du Soleil production in Las Vegas, and to MJ: The Musical on Broadway.
Those outings connect the boys to an uncle they never met and to a family story that shaped modern pop music.
They also show how music can pass through a home in a personal way. It is not just about records and awards. It is about memories and those who came before.
Emily has remained largely private while Jackie has publicly shared some of those family experiences with their sons.
Her Public Life Stayed Small
Emily Besselink does not have a long public work record under her own name.
She has no major film, music, or TV credits in strong public records. Mainstream reports focus on her marriage, her children, and her place in the Jackson family.
That limited public record is worth respecting.
Some celebrity pages add exact birth details, jobs, or personal claims when a person rarely speaks in public. Reliable sources do not back many such claims here.
Her husband has spoken about her in family terms. Mainstream coverage also identifies her mainly as his wife and the mother of River and Jaylen.
That does not make her story empty. It simply means the useful facts are about family rather than fame.
The Wider Jackson Family Around Her
Marriage to Jackie also placed Emily inside one of the most famous music families in America.
Jackie is one of the oldest members of the Jackson siblings. His brothers and sisters include Rebbie, Tito, Jermaine, La Toya, Marlon, Michael, Randy, and Janet.
Several became major stars. Their children later formed a new wave of singers, actors, and public figures.
That kind of fame can reach people who do not seek it, but Emily has mostly stayed outside that cycle.
She appears in family settings, but she has not built a public career from the Jackson name.
That has kept her marriage more private than many show business ties linked to famous families.
A Different Stage of Jackie Jackson’s Family Life
Jackie’s marriage to Emily belongs to a later stage of his life.
His first years of fatherhood came while the Jackson family was still living through intense fame and public attention.
By the time River and Jaylen were born, that world had changed a lot. He was no longer a young Motown performer raising children while building a career from scratch.
He was already a veteran performer. He was also in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and was a grandfather.
That changed the setting in which the twins grew up.
It also gave Emily a family role that was different from the one Jackie’s earlier partners had experienced.
She married a man whose public story was already established. Their private family life was still beginning.
Emily Besselink Today
Emily Besselink remains best known as Jackie Jackson’s wife and the mother of River and Jaylen.
The couple married in 2012, and their twins came the next year. They built a home while Jackie continued performing and touring.
She is Dutch, according to Jackie’s own interview, and the family has kept ties to both sides of the twins’ background.
Jackie’s older children, Siggy and Brandi, make the family a blended one, while River and Jaylen represent a younger generation of the Jackson family.
Emily has never needed a large public profile to have a clear place in that story.
Her life is connected to one of music’s most famous families, but the part that is visible is simple: a long marriage, two sons, family ties across countries, and a home life that has stayed mostly away from the spotlight.
For another biography about a woman linked to the wider Jackson family, read our Eliza Shaffy profile on LakewoodScoop.co.uk.