Randy Jackson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Randy Jackson | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Randall Darius Jackson |
| Born | June 23, 1956 |
| Origin | Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Rock, Pop, Blues rock, Dance, R&B, Dance-pop, Rap, Hard rock |
| Occupation(s) | Music Producer, Musician, Television Personality |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, Bass, Keyboards |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Label(s) | Columbia |
| Associated acts | Journey, Mariah Carey, Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell, Richie Sambora, Breakfast Club |
Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is a Grammy Award winning rock bassist, singer, record producer and Emmy Award-nominated television and radio personality, now best known as a judge on American Idol. Jackson was most recently featured in the seventh season of American Idol.
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[edit] Music career
Jackson played numerous times in Jean-Luc Ponty's backing band. His credits as a session musician range from playing with Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Journey, George Michael, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Billy Cobham, Blue Öyster Cult, Herbie Hancock, Richard Marx, Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, Michael Bolton, 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 in demand as a producer as well.
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 and is featured on several tracks of her 1992 release, Matters of the Heart. He performed on the singles "Bang Bang Bang", "Open Arms", and "Dreaming on a World". That same year, Jackson also played bass on Bruce Springsteen's hit "Human Touch". Jackson has also recorded, produced, or toured with many well-known artists and bands, ranging from Mariah Carey (whom he knew since she was a teenager; and has been her musical director for a number of her tours; he was in her band at Live 8 in London in 2005) to *NSYNC, Whitney Houston, Céline Dion, Fergie (dating back to her days in Wild Orchid), Stryper,[1] and Madonna (he played bass on her number-one 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.[2]
Since 2002, Jackson has been one of the three panel judges, along with Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell, on the Fox Network reality television series American Idol.
Jackson is the manager of Papertongues, a Charlotte, NC based band.
Jackson also hosts a radio top 40 countdown known as "Randy Jackson's Hit List", which is syndicated by Westwood One.[3] Every week Jackson counts down his top 30 Urban AC and Mainstream AC hits, and gives behind-the-scenes information on American Idol with American Idol Underground.
The qualification round for America's Best Dance Crew, a new dance contest produced by Jackson, was broadcast live on MTV on 26 January as a teaser to the elimination dance off battles which premiered on 7 February. On March 11, 2008, Jackson released an album produced entirely by himself, titled Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1. The album was preceded with the single "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow", performed by fellow American Idol judge Paula Abdul.
Jackson had performed with the Rock band Journey on their 1986 album Raised on Radio.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Album Information |
|---|
Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1
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[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Hot 100 | U.S. Pop 100 |
UK Singles Chart | CAN Hot 100 | |||
| 2008 | "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow" (with Paula Abdul) | 62 | 48 | - | 68 | Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1 |
| 2008 | "Real Love" (with Katharine McPhee and Elliott Yamin) | - | - | - | - | Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1 |
[edit] Personal life
Randy Jackson has been married twice. His first marriage, to Elizabeth Jackson, ended in divorce in 1990; they had one child (Taylor) together. Since 1995, he has been married to Erika Riker, with whom he has two children Zoe (age 13) and his son Jordan (age 11).
[edit] Obesity and health
In 2003, Jackson lost over 100 pounds following gastric bypass surgery. He stated in a February 2008 television commercial that he has Type 2 diabetes.[4]
[edit] External links
- Randy Jackson's Music Club Vol. 1
- Randy Jackson's Hit List from Westwood One
- Randy Jackson at the Internet Movie Database
[edit] References
- ^ Erickson, Sturdevant (2006). Stryper: Loud n' Clear, unabridged audio, Maryland: Classic CD Books. ISBN 0976480549.
- ^ 'American Idol' judge Randy Jackson strives for stardom, The Daily Vidette from AP, 3 February 2005
- ^ Randy Jackson's Hit List
- ^ Idol Judge: Nearly Half The Man, Randy Jackson Goes On The Lighter Side For A New Look - CBS News
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