Last week, a portion of a previously unreleased Michael Jackson song hit the web. This week, a leak from a different member of the Jackson clan made its way onto the Internet. Though it won't get an official release until July 28, La Toya Jackson's "Home" is already streaming. The track is a tribute to her late brother Michael and recalls her childhood in the lyrics. She sings, "Life's not fair/ But I know our love will always last/ Missing all the memories we all once had." The tune also shouts out her other siblings and is meant to be a tribute to them as well.
La Toya was not a member of the Jackson 5, though she has still had a career in music — albeit a very uneven one. She released a self-titled album in 1980, which contained a minor hit in a song called "If You Feel the Funk." She followed with another album in 1981 but made her biggest impact with Heart Don't Lie in 1984. Throughout her early career, her family was actively involved in her career. She provided backing vocals on Michael's "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)," was in a short-lived vocal group with sisters Rebbie and Janet and got a production assist from Michael on the song "Night Time Lover." She even appeared on the Michael-produced "We Are the World" in 1985. But her relationship with her family became strained at the turn of the decade following her scathing autobiography and her famous Playboy pictorial.
In the late '80s, La Toya continued to release albums but found her career constantly derailed. 1986's Imagination was released by a label that folded shortly after its debut, and 1989's Bad Girl was delayed several times by management disagreements and international rights issues. While none of these albums stood out as exceptional, they were full of serviceable R&B tunes.
Her last album of original material came in 1991, but she continued to release albums of covers (including a country collection and a Motown compilation). She has had a new album, titled Startin' Over, in the can for several years (a single from the album charted way back in 2004) that is expected to be released later this year.