Obituary: Tito Jackson, musician

Overshadowed and underrated, Tito Jackson always had to battle to be respected in his own right. The first of the Indiana-born Jackson siblings to show musical talent — he had surreptitiously taught himself to play guitar — Toriano Adaryll "Tito" Jackson was overtaken as leader of family band the Jackson 5 by his prodigiously talented younger brother Michael, and then undercut by their record label Motown, which hired session musicians to play his guitar parts. Tito sold hundreds of millions of copies of records as part of the Jackson 5 and then the Jacksons. Although never the star of the family business, he was a willing ally in his siblings’ endeavours, contributing to their solo albums and continuing to tour under the Jackson banner. The Jackson 5 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Tito finally embarked on a solo career in 2003, but did not release a solo album until 2016. Much of his attention was taken up managing and mentoring 3T, the band formed by his three sons. Tito Jackson died of a heart attack on September 15 aged 70. — Agencies