Randy Jackson

Steven Randall Jackson (born October 29, 1961) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and dancer.

Randy is best known as a former member of his family band The Jacksons.

Randy is the youngest Jackson brother and the second-youngest Jackson sibling before his sister Janet Jackson.

He is the ninth child in the Jackson family.

Jackson was born at St Mary's Mercy Hospital in Gary, Indiana to Joseph Jackson and Katherine Jackson.

Nicknamed "Little Randy", Jackson is the eighth child of the Jackson family and youngest of the brothers.

Jackson was only two years old when the Jackson 5 was formed and thus not an original member.

While Randy's 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.

He participated in the Jacksons' Destiny World Tour from 1979 to 1980, the Triumph Tour in 1981, Victory Tour in 1984, and the band's later projects.

On March 3, 1980, Jackson was seriously injured in 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."

Jackson plays congas, percussion, keyboards, piano, bass, and guitar, among other instruments.

In addition to singing and playing on the Jacksons' recordings, he worked with Michael on his album Off the Wall.

In the 1980s, Jackson dated Bernadette Swann (née Robi), Lynn Swann's ex-wife.

Swann alleged that Jackson was physically abusive, so she 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.

After the Victory Tour, Jackson worked with Lionel Richie on his album Dancing on the Ceiling in 1985.

Jackson, along with brothers Jackie, Tito, Marlon, and his sister La Toya joined USA For Africa to sing in "We Are The World", which was led by Jackson's brother Michael, Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones, and Harry Belafonte.

In 1986, Jackson met Alejandra Oaziaza.

They dated for several years, and have two children together, born in 1989 and 1992.

Oaziaza married and divorced Randy Jackson's brother Jermaine Jackson.

Randy Jackson married Eliza Shaffy in August 1989; they divorced in 1992.

They have one daughter together born in 1990.

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.

On June 28, 1998, Jackson opened up his own record label, Modern Records.

Randy is currently a co-partner with his sister, Janet Jackson, at her independent record label Rhythm Nation Records.

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".

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 August 16, 2018, Randy and Janet announced that Rhythm Nation Records was partnering with independent music publisher, distributor and label Cinq Music.

On August 17, 2018, Janet Jackson's "Made for Now" was released, co-written by Randy.