Janet Jackson finally broke her silence on her big brother Toriano ‘Tito’ Jackson on Tuesday in honor of what would’ve been his 71st birthday.
The 58-year-old R&B diva – who boasts 20.8M social media followers – Instastoried a b&w childhood snap of the siblings captioned: ‘May you rest in eternal peace. I miss you so much!’
The Jackson 5 member died on September 15 from a heart attack at a New Mexico hospital during a road trip from California to Oklahoma with two friends.
‘We just got done eating turkey and chicken, laughing and talking,’ Terry Harvey Maltbia told DailyMail.com.
‘We were putting the top on the convertible because it started raining. That’s when Tito came back on the passenger side window and said, “My chest is hurting. Can you help Ronnie to finish the [car] top?” He said, “I ain’t feeling good in my chest.” He wiped his face off, took off his shirt and it was like someone had threw a bucket of water on him.’
Janet Jackson (R, pictured in 2007) finally broke her silence on her big brother Toriano ‘Tito’ Jackson (L) on Tuesday in honor of what would’ve been his 71st birthday
The 58-year-old R&B diva – who boasts 20.8M social media followers – Instastoried a b&w childhood snap of the siblings captioned: ‘May you rest in eternal peace. I miss you so much!’
Janet’s sister La Toya Jackson shared a video on Instagram Tuesday captioned: ‘Happy Heavenly Birthday Tito! I will always love you!’
Jackson’s brother Jackie Jackson posted a pictured on Instagram Tuesday captioned: ‘Your first heavenly birthday is a reminder that though you may have left this world, your memory will forever be etched in our hearts.’
Tito is survived by his nine grandchildren as well as his three sons – Taj, 51; Taryll, 49; and TJ, 46 – from his 16-year marriage to Delores ‘Dee Dee’ Martes, which ended in 1988.
Taryll posted on Tuesday: ‘If I could have one more call I’d tell you how much I love you. How thankful I am and how amazing you are. I always tried to show my love and appreciation because I always wanted you to know. I cherish all the great memories especially the past few years. I really got to understand you more and learn more about you. How simple you were and what mattered to you most.
‘Our conversations and your words I can recall clearly in my head. You gave me so much and still I wish I could have more. More time, more laughter, more conversations, more lessons, more stories, more memories, more music, more father and son time. I miss you and I love you Pops. Happy Heavenly Birthday!’
Taj commented on Taryll’s post with a red heart emoji, and TJ commented on Tito’s official Instagram video on Tuesday: ‘I miss you pops. I love you pops. Thank you for all you did for us.’
Janet frequently shares posts dedicated to her late brother Michael Jackson who died, age 50, in 2009 from ‘acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication.’
Last month, Jackson made headlines for claiming Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is ‘not black.’
‘Her father’s white. That’s what I was told. I mean, I haven’t watched the news in a few days,’ the five-time Grammy winner told The Guardian.
The Jackson 5 member died on September 15 from a heart attack at a New Mexico hospital during a road trip from California to Oklahoma with two friends (pictured with Ronald Balfour and Terry Harvey Maltbia)
Janet’s sister La Toya Jackson shared a video on Instagram Tuesday captioned: ‘Happy Heavenly Birthday Tito! I will always love you!’
Jackson’s brother Jackie Jackson posted a pictured on Instagram Tuesday captioned: ‘Your first heavenly birthday is a reminder that though you may have left this world, your memory will forever be etched in our hearts’
Last month, the five-time Grammy winner made headlines for claiming to The Guardian that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is ‘not black’ (pictured September 9)
On December 30, Janet – who just concluded her 94-date Together Again Tour – will kick off her 10-date Las Vegas residency at the Resorts World Theatre
‘I was told that they discovered her father was white.’
The 59-year-old Vice President is well known to be the daughter of Jamaican-American economist Donald J. Harris, who split from Indian biomedical scientist Shyamala Gopalan when she was only five.
On December 30, Janet – who just concluded her 94-date Together Again Tour – will kick off her 10-date Las Vegas residency at the Resorts World Theatre.
Janet Jackson: Las Vegas will include a New Year’s Eve concert on December 31.
Jackson has sold over 100M records, and she still gets 5.6M monthly listeners on Spotify.
The Oscar-nominated songwriter famously got her start at age 10 appearing on her famous family’s 1976 CBS variety show before landing acting roles in Good Times, Diff’rent Strokes, and Fame.