Freddie Jackson, the singer of soul ballads and slow jams whose “Rock Me Tonight,” “You Are My Lady” and “Have You Ever Loved Somebody” dominated R&B radio in the 1980s, died Monday. The singer’s social networks confirmed the news but did not specify the cause of death. He was 70 years old.
“Freddie was more than a legendary voice,” Jackson’s family said in a statement. “He was a kind and generous soul who loved his fans, his family, his friends and his music with everything he had. For decades, he gave us the songs that became the soundtrack to our love stories, our celebrations and our most cherished memories. This gift will live on forever.” Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.
Jackson sang his hits as if he was extracting every ounce of emotion from every word, making it as sexy as possible before the moment faded. In 1989, The New York Times described Jackson as “one of black pop’s most elegant performers, a singer capable of transforming a heartbreaking ballad into a worldview.” Comparing Jackson to Luther Vandross, rolling stone wrote in 1987 that “Jackson is more of a pillow-talking man in love, a tender, loving partner.” »
Born October 2, 1957, in Harlem, Jackson began singing gospel music and briefly led a group called Mystic Merlin on the West Coast before returning to New York. In an interview given in 1985 to Jetsinger Melba Moore recalled how she discovered Jackson’s talent when she saw him at a New York nightclub three years earlier. “I said, ‘My God, what a voice,’” she recalled. “I just screamed like everyone else.” She hired him as a backup singer and songwriter and helped him land a contract at Capitol Records. Moore would later record the number one R&B song “A Little Bit More” with Jackson.
“My heart is broken by the loss of a great singer and even a greatest friend, Freddie Jackson,” Moore said in a statement. “When we worked together on songs such as our hit ‘A Little Bit More,’ his sense of humor made me laugh during the sessions. We had such a special relationship. I will forever miss my dear friend. Rest in peace, Freddie.”
Jackson would achieve popular fame in his late twenties singing songs with mature themes. Her velvety vocals on a string of hits from her 1985 debut album Rock me tonightmade him an instant star. The album took first place on Billboards R&B chart for 16 consecutive weeks thanks to “Rock Me Tonight (For Old Time’s Sake)”, “You Are My Lady”, “He’ll Never Love You (Like I Do)” and “Love Is Just a Touch Away”. It also reached number 10 on the Billboard 200 and was later certified platinum. Her breakthrough success earned her a nomination for two Grammys.
His next three albums, 1986 Like the first time1988s Don’t let love escape youand the 1990s Do me again also reached number one on the R&B chart and was certified gold or platinum thanks to an impressive succession of number one R&B singles: “Tasty Love”, “Have You Ever Loved Somebody”, “Jam Tonight”, “Nice ‘N’ Slow” (which won him an American Music Award), “Hey Lover”, “Love Me Down” and “Do Me Again”. Outside of music, King parlayed his fame into a film appearance King of New York and episodes of The golden girls And Family matters.
He seemed unstoppable until the rise of New Jack Swing and hip-hop, which he told the media he didn’t like. His chart dominance declined in the ’90s, but he continued to record albums on Billboards Top 100 R&B Albums list. As recently as 2010, his album For you reached number 48 on the chart.
But even with declining sales, it still remains the benchmark for cool R&B. Big Boi of Outkast immortalized Jackson in a verse on “So Fresh, So Clean” by comparing himself to the singer saying he’s “cooler than Freddie Jackson sipping a milkshake in a snowstorm.”
“My music is for people who like to hold hands in concert…it’s intimate,” Jackson told the Times in 1989. “With all the racial tensions that exist today, all the hatred, my songs, which are about love, have more meaning than ever. If people could lessen their hatred a little, the chaos and problems in life wouldn’t be so great.”
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