Celebrity

Tito Jackson’s 3 Kids: Meet Taj, Taryll and TJ

Tito Jackson’s children at a glance

Their family background

Tito Jackson married Delores “Dee Dee” Martes in 1972. The couple later divorced in 1988, but their three sons remained central to Tito’s life. CBS News, citing the Associated Press, reported after Tito’s death that he had held back from pursuing a solo career for many years because he wanted to focus on raising Taj, Taryll and TJ.

That context matters. Tito was already famous through the Jackson 5, but his sons did not grow up outside the family business. They were children of a Jackson 5 member, nephews of Michael and Janet Jackson, and eventually artists who had to find their own place inside one of pop music’s most recognised families.

The brothers’ mother died in 1994. Taj has written publicly about how much that loss shaped the family and how Michael Jackson supported the brothers emotionally while they were finishing their early 3T work. That period became part of the background to their debut album, Brotherhood.

Taj Jackson

Taj Jackson is Tito’s eldest son. His full name is Tariano Adaryll Jackson II, and he was born on August 4, 1973. Taj’s official biography says he formed 3T with Taryll and TJ when he was 12, which makes the group less of a later celebrity project and more of something the brothers had been building since childhood.

As the eldest, Taj is often presented as the brother most closely tied to the family’s storytelling and archive work. Alongside music, he has worked in film, directing and production, and his public profile frequently focuses on preserving the Jackson family legacy rather than only promoting himself as a performer.

Taj has also spoken about the role Michael Jackson played in the brothers’ lives after their mother died. That detail helps explain why the connection between 3T and Michael was not just a marketing line. Michael was their uncle, mentor and a close family figure during a painful period.

Taryll Jackson

Taryll Jackson is Tito’s middle son. Born on August 8, 1975, he became one of 3T’s main creative voices as a singer, songwriter and producer. His role in the group is easy to overlook if the article only treats the brothers as “Tito’s kids”, so it is worth making clear that Taryll has his own music career beyond the family name.

In 3T, Taryll contributed to a polished 1990s R&B sound that sat somewhere between the Jackson family’s pop legacy and the vocal-group style of the decade. The group’s debut album, Brotherhood, included singles such as “Anything”, “I Need You” and “Why”, the latter featuring Michael Jackson.

Taryll has continued to make music outside the biggest 3T moments, including solo releases and live performances. Public coverage of him often links his work back to the Jackson family, but his strongest article angle is broader: he is the brother who has kept songwriting and recording at the centre of his identity.

TJ Jackson

TJ Jackson, whose full name is Tito Joe Jackson, is the youngest of Tito’s three sons. He was born on July 16, 1978 and grew up with the same mix of famous-family pressure and close family music culture as his brothers.

TJ’s public story has two major strands. The first is music: he performed with Taj and Taryll in 3T and later released solo material. The second is family responsibility. In 2012, a California judge made TJ permanent co-guardian of Michael Jackson’s children alongside their grandmother, Katherine Jackson.

That role gave TJ a wider public identity than many second-generation celebrity relatives. He was not just known as Tito’s son or Michael’s nephew; he became one of the adults legally involved in helping care for Prince, Paris and Bigi Jackson after Michael’s death.

3T and the Michael Jackson connection

3T is the shared thread that connects the brothers’ public lives. Their official music page describes Brotherhood as a platinum-certified debut album released on MJJ Music in 1995, with more than three million copies sold worldwide. The album included “Why”, a single featuring Michael Jackson, and helped introduce Taj, Taryll and TJ as artists rather than simply as famous relatives.

The Michael connection was still important, but the better way to frame it is family plus craft. Michael helped and supported them, Tito guided them, and the brothers had to turn that support into actual records, tours and performances. That is why 3T remains the main reason many readers search for Tito Jackson’s children today.

For readers already looking into the wider family, the natural next stop is the KidsCo guide to Michael Jackson’s children, Prince, Paris and Bigi, because TJ’s guardianship role connects the two family stories.

Who was Dee Dee Jackson?

Delores “Dee Dee” Martes Jackson was the mother of Taj, Taryll and TJ. She and Tito married when they were young and divorced in 1988 after 16 years of marriage. Dee Dee died in 1994, a loss that the brothers have continued to reference in public projects and family work.

Because the circumstances of Dee Dee’s death were serious and widely reported, a short family article should not turn that into sensational filler. The useful point for readers is that her death shaped the brothers’ lives, influenced the emotional background to 3T’s early career and later inspired family work in her name.

Tito Jackson’s death and his sons’ statement

Tito Jackson died on September 15, 2024, at age 70. CBS News and the Associated Press reported that his sons Taj, Taryll and TJ announced the news publicly. Early reports said no official cause of death had been determined at the time.

For the brothers, the announcement was also a public reminder of how closely their identities are tied to their father. Tito was a Jackson 5 founder and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, but on this page the centre of the story is simpler: he was the father of three sons who followed him into music and carried the family name into another generation.

Helpful sources

• CBS News/AP: Tito Jackson dies at 70, sons say
• 3T official music page: Brotherhood album details
• Taj Jackson official biography
• ABC News: TJ Jackson granted permanent co-guardianship
• Los Angeles Times archive: Dee Dee Jackson reporting