2nd Member of the Jackson 5 Has Died

A second member of the Jackson 5 has died. Tito Jackson, older brother to the late Michael Jackson and singer Janet Jackson and one of nine Jackson children in total, passed away at the age of 70, nephew Siggy Jackson tells People. Entertainment Tonight, which first reported the news, cites Steve Manning, a longtime family friend, who says that although an official cause of death hasn't been announced, he believes Tito Jackson had a heart attack on Sunday while driving from New Mexico to Oklahoma.

Jackson was one of the original members of the Jackson 5, the pop group that initially consisted of himself, Michael, Jackie Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, and Marlon Jackson. The group—managed by their father, Joe Jackson, and at one point also including brother Randy Jackson—scored a bunch of hits throughout the '70s, including "ABC," "I Want You Back," and "I'll Be There." Tito Jackson still performed as the Jackson 5, with brothers Jackie and Marlon, as recently as earlier this month in the United Kingdom. The group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

The brothers had upcoming performances set for later this year in Cincinnati and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Tito Jackson, who played the guitar in addition to singing, went on to have a solo career after the Jackson 5, releasing two albums. He came out with his final single, "Love One Another," in the summer of 2021, during the COVID pandemic and the "ongoing chaos in the world," per his YouTube page. "My aim was to convey a message of love, unity, and peace, offering a balm for troubled times," he wrote. "He will be missed tremendously," Tito Jackson's sons, TJ, Taj, and Taryll, wrote on Instagram early Monday, per the AP. "It will forever be 'Tito Time' for us." (More Tito Jackson stories.)