Michael Jackson, the reigning music star, and Debbie Rowe were wed for three years, from 1996 to 1999.
Michael Jackson: How did Debbie Rowe come to know Michael Jackson, and who is she?
When Debbie Rowe was working as a dermatologist in Beverly Hills, California, Michael Jackson met her there while receiving treatment for his vitiligo skin disease.
In a 2003 interview with ABC News, Rowe discussed their first meeting. The source quoted her as saying: “I go ‘Hi. And when he said, “Hello,” I replied, “You know what? Nobody is better at what I do than you are, and vice versa. Let’s conclude this now. He then chuckled, and we immediately become close. It happened instantly.
When Jackson first met Rowe, he was still married to Lisa Marie Presley, but Presley is said to not have been concerned about the union since she thought Rowe was not glamorous enough for Jackson.
Jackson went to Rowe after Presley and Jackson split in 1996, just 19 months after they had been married.
Rowe told ABC News, “I was trying to comfort him because he was obviously distressed. He was unhappy because he wanted to be a father so badly. So be a dad, I exclaimed. He gave me an enigmatic glance.
“At that point, I remarked as I turned to face him. Let me finish this. This is something I desire to do. You’ve been wonderful to me. What a wonderful buddy you are. I beg your indulgence. You should be a father, and I want you to be one.
In November 1996, just a few weeks after divorcing Presley, Jackson wed Rowe in a ceremony in Sydney, Australia’s Sheraton on the Park hotel.
Rowe claimed that she understood Jackson’s desire to become a father and that she wished to be the one to fulfill his wish.
She told the newspaper, “I think there are some people who should be parents, and he’s one of them.
He is such a wonderful man, a great friend, and he has always supported me ever since we first met, she continued.
Jackson received exclusive custody of their children and a $10 million divorce settlement from Rowe; but, in 2006, Rowe filed a request for visitation rights and to restore contact with her children.
When Jackson passed away in 2009, they came to an arrangement, Rowe resumed seeing her kids, and Michael Jr. and Paris moved in with their mother, who subsequently won custody. Rowe was given visitation privileges under the new agreement while her kids resided with their grandma.