Randy Jackson

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This article is about the American Idol judge. For the former member of The Jackson 5, see Randy Jackson (musician). For other uses, see Randy Jackson (disambiguation).
Randy Jackson
Randy Jackson singing on tour with Journey
Randy Jackson singing on tour with Journey
Background information
Birth name Randall Darius Jackson
Born June 23, 1956 (age 50)
Origin Flag of United States Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Genre(s) Rock
Instrument(s) Bass guitar
Singing
Years active 1983–present
Label(s) Columbia
Associated
acts		 Journey

Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American musician and record producer, now best known as a judge on American Idol.

Contents

Music career

Jackson played bass in violin virtuoso Jean-Luc Ponty's backing band and toured with rock band Journey in 1983 and 1985. His numerous credits range from playing with Aretha Franklin, George Michael , Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Billy Cobham, Blue Öyster Cult, Herbie The Car, Richard Marx, Billy Joel, Journey, Banana Republic and Bob Dylan to playing at the Grand Ole Opry with The Charlie Daniels Band. His production/songwriting work in the San Francisco Bay area with Narada Michael Walden and Walter Afanasieff led Jackson to be quite in demand as a producer himself.

While in the Bay Area, Jackson played in bands with Carlos Santana and Jerry Garcia. He moved to Italy in the late 1980s and produced a record for Italian pop star Zucchero. The record Zucchero and the Randy Jackson Band produced one of Zucchero's biggest hits, "Donne". Jackson was bass guitarist for Tracy Chapman featuring on several Tracks on her 1992 release Matters of the Heart. He performed on the single "Bang Bang Bang", "Open Arms", and "Dreaming on a World". Jackson has also recorded, produced, or toured with many well-known artists and bands, ranging from Mariah Carey (whom he knew when she was still a teenager; he was in her band at Live 8 in London in 2005) to *NSYNC, Céline Dion, Wild Orchid, Bruce Springsteen, and Madonna (he played bass on her # 1 hit "Like a Prayer"). He has also worked as an executive, spending eight years as vice president of artists and repertoire (A&R) at Columbia Records and four years heading A&R at MCA Records.[1]

Jackson also hosts a radio top 40 countdown known as "Randy Jackson's Hit List" syndicated on hundreds of stations nationwide by Westwood One. Every week Randy counts down his top 30 Urban AC and Mainstream AC hits, gives us a peek into AI with American Idol Underground, and shares what's currently in his iPod.

American Idol

The American Idol judges, Randy Jackson (left), Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell
The American Idol judges, Randy Jackson (left), Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell

Jackson has been a judge with American Idol since its inception in 2002. On the show, he is known for taking a middle road of criticism between the supportiveness of Paula Abdul and the frankness of Simon Cowell. He has popularized the word "pitchy" as the way to describe off-key singing. He is also renowned for his heavy use of slang terms, most notably the words "dude", "dawg", "dope", and "yo". He is also well known for signing the word "Love" when introduced by Ryan Seacrest. Jackson sometimes also refers to the group of male semifinalists as "the dawg (dog) pound" (though during season five, the female contestants were also included).

Battle with obesity

In 2003, Jackson lost 100 pounds following gastric bypass surgery. [1]

Bibliography

  • Jackson, Randy. What's Up Dawg?: How to Become a Superstar in the Music Business.. Hyperion, 2003. ISBN 1-4013-0774-4
  • Randy Jackson's Hit List [2]

External links

References

  1. ^ 'American Idol' judge Randy Jackson strives for stardom, The Daily Vidette from AP, 3 February 2005
v • d • e
American Idol
Seasons 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6
Hosts and judges Ryan Seacrest · Randy Jackson · Paula Abdul · Simon Cowell · Brian Dunkleman
Winners Kelly Clarkson · Ruben Studdard · Fantasia Barrino · Carrie Underwood · Taylor Hicks
Runners-up Justin Guarini · Clay Aiken · Diana DeGarmo · Bo Bice · Katharine McPhee
Other notable alumni Chris Daughtry · Jennifer Hudson · Josh Gracin · Kellie Pickler · Tamyra Gray · Kimberley Locke · William Hung · Elliott Yamin
Spin-offs From Justin to Kelly · American Juniors · An American Idol Christmas · American Idol Extra · American Idol Rewind
Other Idol Gives Back · American Idol Compilation Series · Controversy · American Idol Magazine · American Idol Underground · Font · Video game · List of spin-offs · List of episodes
Journey
Jeff Scott Soto | Neal Schon | Jonathan Cain | Ross Valory | Deen Castronovo
Steve Augeri | Steve Perry | Steve Smith | Gregg Rolie | Aynsley Dunbar | George Tickner | Robert Fleischman | Prairie Prince | Randy Jackson | Larrie Londin | Bob Glaub | Mike Baird
Discography
Studio albums: Journey | Look into the Future | Next | Infinity | Evolution | Departure | Dream After Dream | Escape | Frontiers | Raised on Radio | Trial by Fire | Arrival | Red 13 | Generations
Live albums: Captured | Greatest Hits Live
Compilations: In the Beginning | Greatest Hits | The Ballade | Time3 | The Essential Journey | Open Arms~Greatest Hits
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