Randy Jackson Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American bassist, singer, record producer, entrepreneur and television personality. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing bass guitar for an array of jazz, pop, rock and R&B performers. He moved on to work in music production and as A&R at Columbia Records and MCA Records. Jackson is best known from his appearances as a judge on "American Idol" and executive producer for MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew". Jackson has won a Grammy Award as a producer. Jackson was born on June 23, 1956, in
Randy Jackson was later decided that he would remain as a judge for season 12. On May 9, 2013, Jackson announced that he would be leaving "American Idol" after twelve seasons due to him wanting to focus on other business ventures. On September 3, 2013, it was announced that Jackson would replace Jimmy Iovine as the in-house mentor on "American Idol". He departed the series for good in November 2014. Jackson produces "America's Best Dance Crew", an American group dance competition and reality television show, which premiered on February 7, 2008 on MTV and was cancelled in 2010 due to declining ratings.