It’s been announced that the US soul singer Freddie Jackson died on Monday. He had just turned 70 last week.
The singer’s family has issued a statement, saying: “Freddie was more than a legendary voice. He was a kind, 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 treasured memories. That gift will live on forever.” No cause of death has yet been given.
Jackson came to prominence in the 1980s. He sang back up to Melba Moore on the singer’s early 80s material and also appeared on Full Moon, the 1982 album by the novelty magic/disco outfit Mystic Merlin (yes, such a group did actually exist – they even scored a UK hit in 1980). Jackson went solo and signed to Capitol in 1984. His first four albums for the label all topped the Billboard R n B charts.
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Though not as successful as contemporaries such as Luther Vandross or Alexander O’Neal, Jackson was highly rated by soul aficionados. His biggest hits, Rock Me Tonight (For Old Time’s Sake) and You Are The Lady, are the epitome of the smooth romantic style that reached its apogee in the mid-’80s.
The hits dried up in the 1990s, but he was never entirely forgotten. Outkast name-checked him on 2001’s So Fresh So Clean, with Big Boi pointing out he is “cooler than Freddie Jackson sipping a milkshake in a snowstorm.”
Moore has been one of those who have paid tribute to him. “My heart is broken over the loss of a great singer and even a greater friend, Freddie Jackson,” she has said in a statement. “When we worked together on songs such as our hit, A Little Bit More, his sense of humour had me laughing during the sessions. We had such a special relationship. I will forever miss my dear friend. Rest peacefully, Freddie.”
Jackson’s romantic style was a throwback, something he admitted as far back as 1989, when he told The Times: ”My music is for people who like to hold hands in concert… it’s intimate. With all the racial tension going on today, all the hate, my songs, which are about love, make more sense than ever. If people could diminish some of their hate, the chaos and trouble in life wouldn’t be so strong.”
To which, many of us in 2026 will surely be saying ‘Amen’.
