Tito Jackson, a founding Jackson 5 member who, along with his brothers Jackie, Jermaine, Randy, Marlon and Michael, became a teen heart-throb in the 1970s and sang hits such as ABC and I’ll Be There, died, his family said. He was 70.
His death was announced in a statement early Monday by his three sons – Taj, Taryll and TJ – on an Instagram account dedicated to their music group, 3T. The statement did not say when, where or how he had died.
“Some of you may know him as Tito Jackson from the legendary Jackson 5, some may know him as “Coach Tito2 or some know him as “Poppa T”,” the statement said. “Nevertheless, he will be missed tremendously.”
The Jackson 5, one of the most popular boy bands in the United States for a brief period, were responsible for launching the solo career of Michael Jackson, who earned the title King of Pop and became one of the most emulated musicians of all time. The singer, songwriter and dancer died in 2009 at age 50.
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The story of the Jackson 5, from their humble beginnings in Gary, Indiana, to their various levels of success, has been well documented and was the subject of a five-hour miniseries in 1992 called The Jacksons: An American Dream.
Born Toriano Adaryll Jackson in Gary to Joe and Katherine Jackson, Tito Jackson is largely remembered for being a guitarist in the group, a skill he picked up by watching his father. The elder Jackson died in 2018.
In a 2019 interview with Vlad TV, Tito Jackson said that as a child, he would regularly play his father’s guitar behind his back.
“One day I broke the string and I didn’t know what to do about it,” he said. “He came home and saw the string broke and was really upset about it.”
After punishing him, Jackson said, his father asked him to demonstrate what he knew. His father gave him that guitar with the instructions to learn every song on the radio.
The family soon formed the Jackson Brothers, a group that included young Michael, who was given a spot after impressing the family with a performance of Climb Every Mountain at a talent show. The band’s name was later changed to the Jackson 5 after someone suggested it following a performance at a wedding.
The Jackson 5 were household names in the 1970s, regularly appearing on television, sometimes next to Cher or Diana Ross. Their music – through more than a dozen albums – provided a soundtrack for a young generation and incited a level of fandom that is perhaps now only reserved for elite pop stars like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.
“I remember the very first time we went to the U.K. and we had something like 10,000 screaming fans to greet us at the airport,” Jackson told Sister Circle TV in 2019. “I got lost in the airport and 1,000 fans chasing me, pulling everywhere. It was crazy.”
Three of the Jackson 5’s biggest songs, ABC, I Want You Back and I’ll Be There, were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 alongside The Bee Gees.
Jackson continued to work in the music business over the years, releasing a solo album, Tito Time, in 2016, and touring alongside some of his brothers. The group, now called The Jacksons, were scheduled to perform in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in October and in Cincinnati in November.
“We’ve always said that it’s the fans that make the artist,” Jackson told Sister Circle TV. “We go to work, we make music and we do all these other things, but it’s actually the fans who love it and buy it.” – This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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