MICHAEL JACKSON promised a very close friend he would name his first daughter Paris – but there was a catch: His friend would do the same. Michael Jackson wanted nothing more than to be a father. The Thriller singer loved kids and was always excited to become a dad himself. After his marriage with Lisa Marie Presley broke down in 1996,
he moved on and met his soon-to-be second wife Debbie Rowe. Rowe quickly fell pregnant with Michael’s child, before they got married in November 1996. The couple’s first child, Prince Jackson, was born on February 13, 1997.Just a year later, Rowe gave birth to Michael’s second child, Paris Jackson, on April 3, 1998.
Michael decided to name his daughter Paris because of a pact he made alongside his sister, La Toya Jackson and his close friend, Kathy Hilton. Kathy Hilton is a fashion designer from New York, New York, and the mother of Paris Hilton. Michael and Kathy were such good friends they discussed naming their children the same thing,
as revealed by La Toya years later. La Toya told Yahoo in 2012: “It’s so funny because when we were growing up, we all said that we were going to [one day] have children. “And I told [Michael and Kathy]: ‘Well, I’m going to name my first son Prince and my first daughter Paris.’
“We all said it. Then Kathy had kids, she did it. Michael had kids, he did it. And me, well, I only had dogs!” Kathy’s own daughter, Paris Hilton, was born in 1981 and followed this trend. Michael’s touching tribute to his childhood friendships now lives on in his children. Kathy spoke about her bond with Michael in an interview with Piers Morgan in 2011.
She said: “We met when I was 13 and he was 14 and developed a friendship and a bond throughout the years. And we always kept in touch. “Kathy continued: “And then when I moved to New York and he would come, and we’d always go to his concerts. And, you know, we started with – we used to make prank phone calls together.
And we were little kids.” Paris Hilton also spoke candidly about experiencing losing Michael two years prior in 2009. The singer died of an administered drug overdose. He was 50-years-old. She said:
“One of the first memories I have of him was when my mom [Kathy] took us to the music video set of Thriller.” Paris went on: “And we have the pictures still. I just always loved him. “I used to go to his concerts and he’d bring my sister and I on stage, and we’d sing up there.”
