RANDY JACKSON Biography - Producers, publishers & editors

 
 

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RANDY JACKSON

Name: Randall Darius Jackson                                                                 
Born: 23 June 1956 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.                                             
                                                                                             
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 played bass in violin virtuoso Jean-Luc Ponty's backing band. His                   
numerous credits range from playing with Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen,                 
George Michael, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Billy Cobham, Blue Öyster Cult,                 
Herbie The Car, Richard Marx, Madonna, 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 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 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, Céline Dion, Wild Orchid,                 
Stryper, 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.                                                                                 
                                                                                             
Since 2002, Jackson has been one of the three regular judges on the Fox Network             
reality television series American Idol.                                                     
                                                                                             
Jackson also hosts a radio top 40 countdown known as "Randy Jackson's Hit List",             
which is syndicated on hundreds of stations nationwide by Westwood One.                     
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.                                                                                 
                                                                                             
On 7 July, 2007 Jackson presented at the American leg of Live Earth.                         
                                                                                             
Jackson is the manager for the Charlotte, North Carolina based band Papertongues,           
with Aswan North as lead vocalist and song writer and Brian West as the producer.           
                                                                                             
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 will be releasing an album produced entirely by himself, titled Randy               
Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1. The album will be preceded with 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.