Tito Jackson, famous for being a founding member of the Jackson 5 has passed away, according to a post written by his sons TJ, Taj and Taryll on Instagram late Sunday. He was 70.
Entertainment Tonight reported on Sunday, September 15 that Tito, 70, died following a suspected heart attack while driving from New Mexico to Oklahoma, according to Steve Manning, a longtime Jackson family friend and former manager.
People later reported that Tito’s son Siggy Jackson confirmed the news of his passing, though there is currently no official cause of death.
Tito was nearly always seen with his guitar on stage. He was an integral part of the Jackson family’s musical dynasty. He, along with his brothers Michael, Jermaine, Marlon, and Jackie, formed The Jackson 5 in the 1960s. Their debut single, “I Want You Back,” became an instant sensation, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, as did their subsequent hits “ABC” and “I’ll Be There.”
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“It’s with heavy hearts that we announce that our beloved father, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Tito Jackson is no longer with us,” they wrote.
The post continued: “We are shocked, saddened and heartbroken. Our father was an incredible man who cared about everyone and their well-being. Some of you may know him as Tito Jackson from the legendary Jackson 5, some may know him as ‘Coach Tito’ or some know him as ‘Poppa T.’ Nevertheless, he will be missed tremendously. It will forever be ‘Tito Time’ for us.”
The Stats for Black People and Heart Attacks are Crazy!
While reports are still coming in surrounding Tito’s death, the singer and musician was said to be have been suffering from heart disease for years. The term “heart disease” refers to several types of heart conditions. In the United States, the most common type of heart disease is coronary artery disease (CAD), which can lead to heart attack.
Heart disease is the No. 1 killer for all U.S. adults, and stroke is the No. 5 killer and a leading cause of disability. As frightening as those statistics are, the risks of getting those diseases are even higher for Black people.
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Black women are more likely than white women to have a heart attack.
Black men are nearly 40% more likely than white adults to die from a heart attack.
Here are some symptoms to be aware of:
- Chest pain
A feeling of pressure, fullness, squeezing, or pain in the center or left side of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes. - Pain in other areas
Pain that spreads from the chest to the jaw, neck, back, arms, or shoulders. - Shortness of breath
It can occur before chest discomfort, or along with it. - Other symptoms
Feeling lightheaded, dizzy, or faint, sweating, nausea or vomiting, anxiety, coughing, or wheezing.
Some people have mild symptoms, while others have severe symptoms, and some people have no symptoms at all. Most heart attacks start slowly with mild pain or discomfort, so people may not realize what’s wrong and wait too long to get help.
Swelling in the legs, ankles, or feet can also be a sign of a heart problem. When the heart isn’t working well, blood flow slows and backs up in the veins, causing fluid to build up in the tissues.
Tito Loved Something Much More than Jackson 5 Music…
Although Tito Jackson loved performing their “bubblegum soul” sound that captivated billions, Tito’s desire to play the blues never went away. As they grew older, brothers Michael, Jermaine, Marlon and Jackie continued performing pop and soul music, while Tito went on to become a blues guitarist and singer.
“My Father and my Uncle Luther would get together on the weekends and play blues guitars,” explained Tito. “They both were guitarists; and I used to be a little boy sitting there staring at their fingering, seeing what they were doing and enjoying what they were doing. My father used to play the guitar and he’d tell me; and my brothers when he’d go to work, “don’t touch my guitar!” Telling a little kid that around seven or eight years old that is like saying “touch my guitar!”. I wondered what I could do. So I would take the guitar out of the closet and out of the case and played it for months; and my mom would let me do it”. She’d let me know when my father would be back, saying “Your father will be back in an hour of so, better put that back”. Then I broke a string….and he found that I had been playing his guitar. He punished me really well for it! He put it in my lap and told me, “Show me what you know!”. So I’m playing and crying and he was surprised to see me playing something very basic, very simple. So he wound up giving me the guitar but told me he wanted me to learn every song I liked on the radio. He said he’d get himself another one when he got his paycheck.”
“So that’s how basically I started playing guitar and playing blues stuff because this was even before the brothers were even singing as a group,” continued Tito. “We had been doing some little harmonizing with our mom when she she was washing dishes and such. As far as having a band, the Jackson Five or the three of us, we hadn’t organized it at that point. My Father and my Uncle would come over and I would jam with them. They would play a little bass, you know ”dum-de dum-de-dum de-dum-de-dum”, the simple parts, of course. And at that jam session they’d give me a chance to do a solo, no matter how bad it sounded or whatever; it was my turn. I would wait that whole session just for that one moment to come.”
“That’s basically how we started the Jackson Five,” confessed Tito.
“Prior to going to Motown Sound we’d be playing a lot of blues sets. We’d include about five or six blues numbers every time we did a show. Once we made it to Motown, we didn’t do any more blues because we started having all these records and our audiences wasn’t a blues audience so we wrote out our blues songs. We didn’t have that many, we would cover other artist’s songs. The only other time I got to play blues at that time and point, is that there was an accident on stage, one of the other brothers were playing when the microphones went out. He hollered out, “Tito play some blues!” (laughs). That hardly happened, but it happened a few times.”
What Did Tito Do Before He Died?
Jackson, born Oct. 15, 1953, as Toriano Adaryll Jackson, was one of seven siblings to the late King of Pop Michael Jackson, and of superstar Janet Jackson.
Alongside brothers Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael, the family group gave the world the first ever family super singing group that consumed the nation. The group was nominated for three Grammy Awards. The hitmakers were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. In saluting them at the ceremony, Motown founder Berry Gordy declared that the group gave “Black kids from the ghetto a license to dream.”
Days before his death, the “One Way Street” singer wrote on Instagram of visiting a memorial dedicated to Michael Jackson in Munich and his gratitude for “this special place that honors not only his memory but also our shared legacy. Thank you for keeping his spirit alive.”
