Millie Jackson

Mildred "Millie" Jackson (born July 15, 1944) is an American R&B/Soul music singer/songwriter. Her vocal performances are distinguished by long, humorous, and explicit spoken sections in her music; She has also recorded many disco songs, some dance music songs, and a few country styled songs. She is the mother of R&B singer Keisha Jackson. Millie Jackson was born in Thomson, Georgia, on 15 July 1944; she was the daughter of a sharecropper. Her mother died while Jackson was still a child, and subsequently she and her father moved to Newark, New Jersey. By the time she was in her mid-teens, she moved to Brooklyn, New York, and lived with an aunt. She occasionally worked as a model for magazines like Jive and Sepia. Her career is said to have begun on a dare to enter a 1964 Harlem nightclub talent contest, which she won. Her voice is frequently compared to that of her inspiration, Gladys Knight. Though she first recorded for MGM records, she soon left and began her long association with Spring Records. Her first single to chart was 1971's deceptively titled "A Child of God (It's Hard to Believe)," which reached number 22 on the R&B charts. In 1972, Jackson had her first R&B Top Ten single with "Ask Me What You Want", which also reached the pop charts, which was followed up by "My Man, A Sweet Man" which reached #7 R&B. The following year she had her third Top Ten single and biggest hit with "Hurts So Good," which made # 3 on the R&B charts and #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. The single was featured in the blaxploitation film Cleopatra Jones. In 1974 she released the album Caught Up, which introduced her unique and innovative rap style of racy, raunchy language. The featured release was "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right", for which she received two Grammy nominations. On that album, the follow-up Still Caught Up, and others, she was backed by the renowned Muscle Shoals rhythm section. Over the next ten years, Jackson had a string of successful albums and numerous R&B Top 100 singles on the Top Black Singles chart for Spring Records, the biggest being her 1977 version of Merle Haggard’s country hit "If You’re Not Back In Love By Monday". That hit single was followed by many more, including her version of the Boney M song, the Disco single, "Never Change Lovers In The Middle of The Night." This single peaked at #33 on the Top Black Singles chart in 1979. In 1986, she signed with Jive Records and had further Top Ten hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks chart with "Hot! Wild! Unrestricted! Crazy Love" and "Love Is a Dangerous Game." Jackson also formed and produced the group Facts of Life, who had one hit in 1977. In 1991, she wrote, produced and starred in the successful touring play Young Man, Older Woman, based on her album of the same title. In 2000 her voice featured in "Am I Wrong" by Etienne de Crécy, sampled from her performance in "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right". Jackson may be most famous in the internet age for her album covers, which frequently appear on "worst ever" lists. E.S.P. (Extra Sexual Persuasion) features Jackson peering into a crystal ball that accentuates her cleavage; Back to the Shit depicts Jackson on a toilet, straining to (presumably) defecate. Jackson now runs her own record label, Weird Wreckuds. After a lengthy hiatus from recording, she released her fifteenth album, Not For Church Folk in 2002, which marked a return to her "tell it like it is" lyrical style and Urban contemporary sound. The album features the hit singles "Butt-A-Cize" (a dance song) and "Leave Me Alone" (a ballad). The album also features a collaboration with rapper Da Brat on the edgy song "In My Life." For the past several years Jackson has had her own radio show in Dallas, Texas. Broadcasting via remote from her home in Atlanta, Jackson can be found working in afternoon drive time from 3-6 pm on KKDA 730 AM. In 2007, 1977 album Feelin' Bitchy was reissued with positive reviews. She has two children, R&B singer Keisha Jackson, the product of her short-lived marriage in the very late 60's, and son Jerroll from the late 70's.