Tito Jackson, one of the brothers who made up the pop group the Jackson 5, has died at the age of 70.

Tito was the third of nine Jackson children, including global superstars Michael and Janet.

“It’s with heavy hearts that we announce that our beloved father, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Tito Jackson is no longer with us. We are shocked, saddened and heartbroken. Our father was an incredible man who cared about everyone and their wellbeing,” his sons TJ, Taj and Taryll said in a statement posted on Instagram late on Sunday.

The musician Questlove paid tribute to Tito on Instagram: “All of the Jackson brothers are heroes to me. I really don’t have the words right now. May the entire Jackson family find comfort & peace in this moment. Thank you Tito. Rest in melody.”

The Jackson 5 included brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael. The family group, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, produced several No 1 hits in the 1970s including ABC, I Want You Back and I’ll Be There.

The Jackson 5 became one of the biggest names in music under the guidance of their father, Joe Jackson, a steelworker and guitar player who supported his wife and children in Gary, Indiana. As the family’s music careers took off, they relocated to California.

Born on 15 October 1953, Toriano Adaryll “Tito” Jackson was the least-heard member of the group, as a background singer who played guitar. In 2019, he told Vlad TV that he would play his famously strict father’s guitar behind his back, and once broke a string. When Joe found out, he first punished him, then asked Tito to show him what he knew, and set him the task of mastering every song on the radio.

In an interview with Record Mirror in 1973, the journalist Robin Katz remarked that Tito was the most serious of the family band; Michael once said: “Tito is very quiet and soft, but can be really strong when necessary. He’s always there when we need him, and manages to project an inner calm which is vital within a family unit.”

Recalling the highs of the band’s fame, Tito told the Boise Beat of their first visit to London and being mobbed by teenage girls at the airport: “We had to walk through all this crowd and we got torn to pieces! … I got left outside the car because the brothers ran, rushed to the car and locked the doors and locked me out! Now I’m in a rush … holding on for dear life … banging on the windshield. [The girls] were getting hair, pulling afros; Michael had on a winter scarf. They were pulling one way, girls were pulling the other way – they were crazy. I’ll never forget that!”

He also recalled meeting Queen Elizabeth II, who told the band that her favourite song was their 1974 hit Dancing Machine. “Later that evening we got back to the hotel and we were laughing, because we were saying: ‘Could you imagine the Queen trying to do The Robot?’”

His brothers launched solo careers, and Michael became one of the world’s biggest performers. Michael died at the age of 50 on 25 June 2009.

Tito was the last of the nine Jackson siblings to release a solo project with his 2016 debut, Tito Time. He released a song in 2017, One Way Street, and in 2021 released the blues album Under Your Spell, featuring artists including Stevie Wonder, George Benson and Joe Bonamassa.

The album was inspired by a childhood love of the blues, which the family played at barbecues; the young Tito also met his hero, BB King, and had his guitar signed, and before the Covid pandemic was touring with the late musician’s BB King Blues Band.

Tito said he held back from pursuing a solo career because he wanted to focus on raising his three sons: TJ, Taj and Taryll, who formed their own music group, 3T, which Tito managed. Tito’s website offers a link to a single featuring 3T and Stevie Wonder, titled Love One Another.

Tito is survived by his brothers Jermaine, Randy, Marlon and Jackie, his sisters Janet, Rebbie and Latoya, and their mother, Katherine. Their father died in 2018.