Steven Randall Jackson is the seventh child of the Jackson family and the youngest of the Jackson brothers. Randy was only two years old when the Jackson 5 was formed and thus not an original member. While his brothers toured, Jackson honed his skills as a musician, mastering piano and the bongos.
Randy was not an original member of the Jackson 5, first appearing live with his brothers in 1971 at a Christmas show the Jackson 5 held for blind children. Although he was on every Jackson 5 tour since 1972, mainly playing the congas among other instruments, Randy did not officially join the family band until 1975 when they left Motown for CBS Records and older brother Jermaine chose to stay with Motown, prompting Randy to replace him. The Jackson 5 officially changed their name to the Jacksons when they signed with Epic in part because Motown owned the name "Jackson 5". At age 16, he co-wrote the Jacksons' most successful single on Epic, "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" with Michael.
On February 4, 1980, Jackson was involved in a serious a car crash in Hollywood, California. In June 1980, he appeared on the cover of the weekly African-American newsmagazine Jet. The cover headline read: "Randy Jackson Walks Again: Talks About His Future.
After recording 2300 Jackson Street, the group disbanded and focused on separate projects in 1990. After this split, Jackson formed his own band, Randy & the Gypsys. The group released only one album before breaking up. The same year, he co-founded Total Multimedia Inc. with former Iron Butterfly bass player Philip Taylor Kramer to develop data compression techniques for CD-ROMs. On June 28, 1998, Jackson opened up his own record label, Modern Records.
He was left out when the Jackson 5 were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997; only the five original members were inducted.
He was part of the Jacksons' 2001 reunion at Madison Square Garden, but did not appear as an official cast member in their 2009 A&E reality series The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty. He did contribute backing vocals with Jackie, Tito, Marlon and Jermaine for Michael's "This Is It".
Trivia[]
- Randy is currently a co-partner with his sister, Janet Jackson, at her independent record label Rhythm Nation Records.
- In the 1980s, Jackson dated Bernadette Swann (née Robi), Lynn Swann's ex-wife. He was physically abusive, so Swann sought refuge at the home of her friend Tina Turner (Swann previously dated Turner's son). Turner shot at Jackson after he broke into her home to see Swann. Turner decided not to press charges in order to avoid bad press.
- Jackson filed for bankruptcy in 1996. He was ordered to surrender his shares in Modern Records Inc. In May 1998, an arrest warrant was issued when Jackson failed to turn over the stock. In 2001, he pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud by failing to list all his vehicular assets.
- Jackson married Eliza Shaffy in August 1989; they divorced in 1992. They have a daughter together, Stevanna Jackson (born June 17, 1990). Oaziaza married and divorced Randy's older brother Jermaine Jackson.