Randy Jackson

Overview

musical style: 

photograph of Randy Jackson

There is more than one artist by this name.

1.) Randy Jackson is the youngest brother of The Jacksons.

2.) Randy Jackson is a record producer and a former member of the rock group Journey. He is well known as a judge on American Idol.

1.) The Jacksons youngest brother, Randy Jackson officially joined the group after Jermaine Jackson stayed at Motown and the rest of the brothers moved on to CBS.

Randy also played the bongos and peformed with The Jackson 5 before Jermaine left, but officially wasn't a part of The Jackson 5 on paper.

His sister Janet Jackson covered a song Randy performed solo on The Jackson's Victory Album, called One More Chance.

Randy also had a solo project with Randy and the gypsies.

2.) Born June 23, 1956, in Baton Rouge, LA, Randall Darius Jackson is a singer, bassist, record producer and television personality.

Jackson played in bands with Carlos Santana and Jerry Garcia. In the early 1980s he played on three albums for Jean-Luc Ponty and with the rock band Taxxi. From 1986 to 1987 he was a session musician for the rock group Journey. Jackson played on Journey's 1986 album Raised on Radio. He moved to Italy in the late 1980s and played on a record by Italian pop star Zucchero. The record, Zucchero and the Randy Jackson Band, was produced by Corrado Rustici who played guitar with Jackson on many albums in the early 1980s. He also played with Billy Cobham.

In 1985, Keith Richards was asked to provide music for the Whoopi Goldberg comedy vehicle Jumpin' Jack Flash. Richards assembled an all-star band which included Aretha Franklin on piano and lead vocals and Jackson on bass guitar. This song was the fourth track on Aretha's 1986 album titled Aretha. Jackson can be seen in the song's video.

In the late 1980s, Jackson was still doing sessions. He was notably on the first solo album by famed session guitarist Steve Lukather. Jackson was a featured bass guitarist on five songs on Maze's 1989 "Silky Soul" album.

Jackson was the bass guitarist on the 1991 self-titled Divinyls album (which features the song "I Touch Myself") as well as featured bassist on several tracks of Tracy Chapman's 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 recorded, produced, or toured with many well-known artists and bands, ranging from Mariah Carey to Whitney Houston.

He is best known as a judge on American Idol and Executive Producer for MTV's America's Best Dance Crew Read more about Randy Jackson on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Gear used by Randy Jackson

Randy Jackson bass guitars

Randy Jackson links

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