Joe Jackson was born on August 11, 1954 in Burton-on-Trent, England, but grew up in the South Coast naval port city of Portsmouth

At age 16 Joe played his first paying gig, as pianist in a pub next door to a glue factory just outside of Portsmouth. This was followed by other pub gigs (in which he was often trying to entertain crowds of drunken, bottle-throwing sailors) and accompanying a bouzouki player in a Greek restaurant.