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La Toya trades music for 'Celebrity'

March 6, 2011



La Toya Jackson

La Toya Jackson becomes a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice Sunday with a specific goal: to raise money for AIDS Project Los Angeles, one of her brother Michael's favorite charities.

We asked Jackson, 54, about her Donald Trump connection, Michael's legacy, and why she's quitting the music business:

Her Trump card: Jackson sang at one of his birthday parties. Later, at Trump's request, she introduced his kids to Michael, who "didn't have a clue" who Trump was, she says.

Michael's legacy: "Michael was really the closest thing to God," says Jackson, the fifth of nine Jackson siblings.

The kids are all right: Jackson says Michael's three children -- Prince Michael, Paris and Prince Michael II, who goes by the nickname Blanket -- "are adjusting perfectly, but you want to make sure nothing's bothering them inside."

Stop the music: Next album Starting Over will be her last, she says. "I never really wanted [music] to be a part of my life. It's something that my father said, 'This is what you are going to do.' Now I'm doing what I want."