American Idol Season 22 is going strong two episodes in, and some diehard fans might be reminiscing about the old days of one of the biggest competition shows on television. The OG judge trio of the show included record executive Simon Cowell, singer Paula Abdul, and musician Randy Jackson. Simon Cowell is still working on his powerhouse British competition show The X Factor, and Paula Abdul continues to perform her music and make television appearances. But what about the lovable but direct Randy Jackson? Where exactly is Randy Jackson now?
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Randall Darius Jackson (known by most as Randy Jackson) was one of the judges on American Idol from 2002 through 2013. The artist started his career in the 1980s playing bass guitar for a wide range of performers before continuing his career in music production with MCA Records and Columbia Records.
The Baton Rouge, Louisiana native went on to become a judge on American Idol in 2002. Ultimately, Jackson chose to leave the show in 2013 to pursue other business endeavors, though he continued to be a mentor for the show until 2014.
Where Is Randy Jackson Now?
Even though we haven’t heard much from Jackson since his departure from American Idol, he’s been pretty busy.
After leaving American Idol, Jackson went on to join the revival of the popular game show Name That Tune as a bandleader.
Jackson has also been open about his battle with type 2 diabetes. In the early days of his tenure at American Idol, Jackson lost over 100 pounds in the wake of his diagnosis. He also opened up about maintaining his weight loss in the years since undergoing gastric bypass surgery in his 2008 book Body With Soul.
In 2020, Jackson was hired as the new bassist for Journey when original member Ross Valory called it quits. Also in 2020, Jackson did an interview with Closer in which he revealed that he is still close to his former co-judges Cowell and Abdul, as well as Ryan Seacrest.
Jackson doesn’t seem to be very active on social media, but it seems like he is just living his best life at this point. How cool would it be to see him guest-judge on this season of American Idol like he did on Season 20? We can dream!
Photo by Emma McIntyre
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