Delores Martes Jackson in Photos: Her Life Alongside Tito Jackson and Her Sons
By James H. Sterling
In archival snapshots from the 1980s, Dee Dee appears surrounded by sheet music, guitars, and her three sons practicing harmonies in home studios. Rather than relying entirely on nannies or external handlers, she managed her sons' day-to-day routines personally. She drove them to sports practices, sat through long vocal sessions, and pushed them toward instrumental mastery.
By the early 1990s, the three brothers had banded together to form the R&B/pop group 3T. They wrote their own material, played instruments, and built multi-part vocal arrangements. Martes served as their earliest critic and fierce advocate. She shielded them from exploitative industry contracts, insisting that their creative independence remain untouched.
She did not live to see their debut album reach record stores. Her sudden passing stripped them of their primary protector right as their musical careers prepared to launch.
James Sterling reports on renewable energy developments, climate policy, ecological conservation, and green tech innovations around the globe.
