Games - Randy Jackson

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Randall Matthew Jackson (born on June 23, 1956 Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is an American musician and record producer, now best known to the general public for being a judge on the television show American Idol
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Early years

Jackson grew up in Baton Rouge but didnt like music until sixth grade. His first big break in the industry came when he played with fellow Baton Rouge act John Fred & His Playboy Band when he was 17 years old. He subsequently attended Southern University, where he graduated with a double major of music and psychology.

Music career

As a musician Jackson plays the electric bass. One big break of his was that he played bass for violin virtuoso Jean-Luc Ponty as well as playing bass in the band Journey for a period in the 1980s. He 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, Bruce Springsteen and Madonna. He has also worked as an executive with Columbia Records and MCA Records.

Jackson also helps produce budding recording artists such as Lindsay Lohan and Idol finalist Constantine Maroulis.

American Idol

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 nastiness of Simon Cowell. He has popularized "pitchy" as the way to describe off-key singing. He is also renowned for his heavy use of slang terms and gestures, most notably the words "dude", "dawg", and "man". Jackson sometimes also refers to the group of male semifinalists as "the dawg pound." When Randy says "you can blow," it means "you can sing well." Jackson sometimes wears outrageous outfits and supplies an endless inspirational resource for those looking for eye glasses. He also laughs a lot.

Personal life

He was married to Elizabeth Jackson until 1990 when he divorced her. With Elizabeth, they had 1 child. Since 1995, he has been married to Erika Riker, and they had 2 children. In 2003 Jackson had well-publicized gastric bypass surgery and has subsequently lost over a hundred pounds, which explains his drastic change in appearance from season three of American Idol onwards.

Contrary to a widely circulated story, Randy Jackson is not related to Samuel L. Jackson, nor to Michael Jackson (though the latter has a brother with the same name).

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Randy Jackson ]

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