Taj Jackson is one of three sons of the late Tito Jackson, one of Michael’s older brothers.
On social media this morning, Taj answered a fan’s question bluntly about how the other brothers grew up with Michael as the star of family.
“imagine since you were a teenager being told by everyone you were worthless without your younger brother and you should thank him for everything you have,” Taj wrote.
It’s a jarring answer but for once the truth has been told. Tito — an accomplished a guitarist — Marlon, Jackie, and Jermaine were the original members of the jackson 5 along with Michael.
Almost instantly, Michael, the youngest, became the focus of the group. Even though the others played instruments and sang, they were ignored. Michael’s parallel solo career began in 1971 when he was just 13 years old. Despite Jermaine getting a singing part on the group’s hit “I’ll Be There,” he and the others were relegated to status of second class citizen.
Years later, Taj and his brothers formed the group 3T, which Michael encouraged. But Michael was cruel to his brothers when it came to their careers. He actively stopped Jermaine from having a Renaissance in the early 80s.
The real story of the Jackson 5 isn’t told in the “Michael” movie. In fact, none of the brothers has a speaking part or any kind of character development. They are just props. Now Taj, whose brother Tito was appointed co-guardian of Michael’s kids after the King of Pop’s death in 2009, is finally admitting the truth. It’s not pretty.
The sad part was that while the rest of the Jacksons — with the exception of Janet — failed to find careers outside the family, Tito was a working musician. But he died suddenly of a heart attack almost two years ago at age 70. His son is clearly resentful that Tito’s life was cut short. It obviously wasn’t easy to live in the shadow of Michael Jackson.
