Freddie Jackson, the voice that turned R&B ballads into great love stories, dies at 69
In 2024, the singer revealed that he was suffering from kidney disease and noted that he was working with the National Kidney Foundation to raise awareness about the condition.
Image of Freddie Jackson
Freddie Jackson, the R&B singer with a velvety voice who dominated the genre's charts during the second half of the 1980s with hits like "Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)" and "You Are My Lady," died Monday at the age of 69.
Jackson's family announced his death on Tuesday via his official Instagram account, but did not disclose the cause of death or where he died.
In 2024, the singer revealed that he was suffering from kidney disease and noted that he was working with the National Kidney Foundation to raise awareness about the condition.
Jackson's warm tenor voice became one of the hallmarks of the so-called "Quiet Storm" era of R&B, characterized by smooth vocals, saxophones, and keyboards that accompanied late-night radio broadcasts in major U.S. cities.
"It was one of those godsend voices, one of those one-in-a-lifetime voices," said Paul Laurence, Jackson's friend and collaborator, who wrote "Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)" and co-wrote other songs with the artist.
A career marked by major hits
Jackson's debut solo album, Rock Me Tonight, was released in 1985 and remained for 14 weeks at the top of Billboard's R&B Albums chart.
Two of his singles, "Rock Me Tonight" and "You Are My Lady," also reached number one on Billboard's R&B Songs chart. Two other tracks from the album, "He'll Never Love You Like I Do" and "Love Is Just a Touch Away," made it into the Top 10.
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In 1986, he received two Grammy Award nominations, in the categories of Best New Artist and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.
That success cemented Jackson's status as an R&B star. His second album, Just Like the First Time, released in 1986, spent 26 weeks at number one on Billboard's R&B Albums chart and produced three number-one singles: "Tasty Love," 'Have You Ever Loved Somebody,' and 'Jam Tonight.'
From Harlem to the stage
From a young age, he trained as a gospel singer and performed at the White Rock Baptist Church in Harlem, where he met Paul Laurence.
In the early 1980s, he moved to California and began his musical career as a singer with the funk band Mystic Merlin.
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