La Toya Jackson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids La Toya Jackson
Jackson in 2010
Born	La Toya Yvonne Jackson (1956-05-29) May 29, 1956 (age 69) Gary, Indiana, U.S.
Other names	Toy
Occupation	Singer television personality
Years active	1972–present
Spouse(s)	Jack Gordon ​ ​ (m. 1989; div. 1997)​
Parent(s)	Joe Jackson Katherine Jackson
Family	Jackson
Musical career
Genres	R&B pop dance
Labels	Polydor Epic CBS/Columbia Luco Music Group RCA Jive Pump/Dino/WMG Bungalo/Universal Records

La Toya Yvonne Jackson (born May 29, 1956) is an American singer and television star. She is the fifth child and middle daughter of the famous Jackson family. La Toya first became known on her family's TV show, The Jacksons, which aired on CBS from 1976 to 1977.

After that, she had a successful career as a solo singer in the 1980s and 1990s. She released nine studio albums over 15 years with different record labels. Her most popular songs in the United States were "Heart Don't Lie" and her first album, released in 1980. Other songs by La Toya include "If You Feel the Funk" and "Bet'cha Gonna Need My Lovin']". One of her songs, "Just Say No," was written for US first lady Nancy Reagan's anti-drug campaign.

La Toya Jackson is also a two-time New York Times best-selling author. In 1992, she performed in the famous Paris show Formidable at the Moulin Rouge. After a challenging marriage, she returned to music in 2004 with new songs like "Just Wanna Dance" and "Free the World". These songs did well on the dance charts in the United States.

In 2011, she was a contestant on The Celebrity Apprentice. She also released an album called Starting Over, which came out with her best-selling autobiography. From 2013 to 2014, La Toya starred in her own reality TV show, Life with La Toya, on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Life and Career Journey

Growing Up and Family TV Show (1956–1979)

La Toya Jackson was born on May 29, 1956, in Gary, Indiana. She is the fifth of ten children born to Joe and Katherine Jackson. She is the middle sister between Rebbie and Janet. When she was younger, La Toya was quite shy.

In 1965, her mother became a Jehovah's Witness, and La Toya, along with her siblings, followed. She often spent time with her mother, sharing their faith door-to-door. La Toya remembered, "Every morning, Michael and I witnessed, knocking on doors around Los Angeles."

By 1972, at age sixteen, La Toya joined her brothers on stage. Her father arranged for them to perform shows in Las Vegas. La Toya learned tap dancing for these performances. She went to Cal-Prep school in Encino, California, and finished in 1974. La Toya wanted to become a lawyer, but her father encouraged her to join the family in show business.

From left, back row: Jackie Jackson, Michael Jackson, Tito Jackson, Marlon Jackson. Middle row: Randy Jackson, La Toya Jackson, Rebbie Jackson. Front row: Janet Jackson (1977)

In 1976 and 1977, La Toya and her sisters Rebbie and Janet appeared in all twelve episodes of The Jacksons. This was a CBS-TV variety show with their brothers Jackie, Tito, Marlon, Michael, and Randy. On the show, La Toya and her sisters sang, danced, and performed funny skits with their brothers.

In 1978, La Toya traveled to New York with her brother Michael while he was filming The Wiz. They shared an apartment, which was their first time living away from home as adults. Michael and La Toya were very close. They didn't move out of their family home in Encino, California, until they were 27 and 31 years old.

La Toya, Rebbie, and Janet briefly formed a music group. However, they never performed live and soon went their separate ways. The next year, La Toya began working on her first solo album.

Starting Her Solo Music Career (1980–1983)

In 1980, La Toya released her first album. She wanted it to be called just "La Toya" to show she was an individual artist. But her father insisted she use her last name. The first song, "If You Feel the Funk", became a small hit on the US R&B charts.

Her second song, "Night Time Lover", was produced by her younger brother Michael. He also sang backup and helped write the song. La Toya, in turn, provided the opening scream on her brothers', The Jacksons', 1980 hit, "This Place Hotel". She also sang backup on Michael's 1983 solo hit "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)".

Her first album, La Toya Jackson, reached #116 on the US Billboard 200 chart. It also reached #26 on the Billboard R&B album chart. This made it her highest-charting album. In 1981, she released her next album, My Special Love, which included the songs "Stay the Night" and "I Don't Want You to Go".

Heart Don't Lie and International Success (1984–1987)

In 1984, La Toya released her album Heart Don't Lie. The main song, "Heart Don't Lie", became her biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, reaching number 56. Other songs from this album included "Bet'cha Gonna Need My Lovin'" and "Hot Potato".

In 1984, La Toya also started a fashion line called "David Laurenz for La Toya." She agreed to wear items from this line during her public appearances. The collection included her special leather headbands. She also appeared in TV ads for Nikon cameras. The next year, she became a spokesperson for Mahogany Image cosmetics and launched her own perfume, La Toya.

In 1985, La Toya was part of the famous song "We Are the World". This song helped raise money for people suffering from famine in Ethiopia. That same year, she appeared in an anti-drug music video called "Stop the Madness".

Her 1985 song "Baby Sister" was very successful. It won an Outstanding Song Award at a music festival in Japan. "Baby Sister" was later included on her 1986 album Imagination. She also recorded two duets: "Oops, Oh No!" with Cerrone and "Yes, I'm Ready" with Jed. In 1987, La Toya was a special guest at a concert in Japan, where she sang "Funkytown".

Returning to the Spotlight (1996–2006)

After a difficult period, La Toya decided to separate from her husband, Jack Gordon. Her brother Randy helped her. She filed for divorce and changed her name back to La Toya Jackson. She also reconnected with her family. La Toya shared that her brother Michael understood she had been forced to say negative things about him in the past.

After her divorce, La Toya stayed at home for a while. She was scared and unsure about her future. She explained that negative comments in the media made her doubt herself. "I started believing that, and I was thinking, 'Oh my God'." Slowly, she began performing again in Europe and South America to deal with financial challenges.

After the September 11 attacks, La Toya was inspired to write the song "Free the World". She performed it for friends, and their positive reaction encouraged her to write more songs, leading to a full album called Startin' Over.

La Toya made a public return on Larry King Live in March 2003. Her appearance was very popular. She announced her new music project, Startin' Over. The first song from the album was "Just Wanna Dance" in 2004. She released it under the nickname "Toy" so that DJs would listen to it without any old ideas about her name. This plan worked, and "Just Wanna Dance" reached #13 on the US Billboard Hot Dance chart. "Free the World" was released later that year and also did well.

In 2006, an early version of Startin' Over was leaked online. However, La Toya's team said the album was being re-recorded with new songs and a fresh sound. That year, she also became the spokesperson for an Australian drink called Star Ice. After Jack Gordon passed away in 2005, La Toya felt more comfortable talking about the control he had over her life.

Reality TV and New Projects (2007–Present)

On January 10, 2007, La Toya starred in the reality TV show Armed & Famous on CBS. The show followed her and other celebrities as they trained to be reserve police officers in Muncie, Indiana. La Toya still volunteers as a deputy. The show was later moved to VH1. On the show, La Toya showed her strong fear of cats, which she said came from a childhood memory. She even tried therapy on screen to help with this fear.

In January 2009, La Toya appeared on the British TV show Celebrity Big Brother. She was the second person from the Jackson family to be on the show. She was the fourth contestant to leave the house.

The final version of her album Startin' Over was finished in late 2008. A new song, "Love, Honor, and Obey," was planned for release in summer 2009. However, it was put on hold because of the passing of her younger brother, Michael. Instead, the song "Home" was released on July 28, 2009, in Michael's memory. All the money from the song went to AIDS Project Los Angeles, one of his favorite charities. La Toya was one of the first family members at the hospital after Michael passed away.

In 2010, La Toya launched a hand cream called "Dream Cream." In 2011, she appeared on NBC's Celebrity Apprentice. She raised $65,000 for AIDS Project Los Angeles. She was fired twice on the show, which was a first for The Apprentice. In 2011, La Toya was also a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race and America's Next Top Model.

La Toya's second book, Starting Over, was released on June 21, 2011. An album with the same name, Starting Over, was released digitally on the same day.

In 2013, La Toya started her own reality series called Life With La Toya on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). Also in 2013, she returned for The All-Star Celebrity Apprentice. In September 2013, La Toya made her stage debut in the musical Newsical in New York. In 2013, she also helped produce a documentary called Dancing in Jaffa. This film showed young Jewish and Palestinian Israelis dancing together.

In 2016, she worked with Iranian-Armenian pop star Andy on the song "Tehran," sung in Farsi. In 2018, La Toya won the celebrity edition of Food Network's Worst Cooks in America. She won $25,000 for the charity Race to Erase MS.

In 2019, La Toya was revealed as "Alien" on the TV show The Masked Singer. She appeared on the Spanish version of the show in 2021 and the Australian version in 2023.

Vocal Style and Influences

La Toya Jackson has a wide vocal range. Her voice has been described as "attractive, pleasant, matured and controlled." Like her siblings, Michael and Janet, she mainly performs pop, R&B, and dance music. However, she has also tried rock and reggae.

La Toya has said that James Brown was a "major influence" on her music. When she performed at the Moulin Rouge, she honored La Goulue and mentioned Josephine Baker as an influence. A French newspaper, L'Express, even called La Toya "the new Josephine Baker."

Personal Life

La Toya Jackson has stated that she is vegetarian. In December 2013, some news outlets reported that she had married her business partner, Jeffré Phillips. However, La Toya and Jeffre later said they had not married. The confusion came from Jeffre proposing to La Toya on her reality show, Life with La Toya. As of February 2015, La Toya and Phillips ended their engagement.

Discography

Studio Albums

• La Toya Jackson (1980)
• My Special Love (1981)
• Heart Don't Lie (1984)
• Imagination (1986)
• La Toya (1988)
• Bad Girl (1990)
• No Relations (1991)
• Formidable (1992)
• From Nashville to You (1994)
• Stop in the Name of Love (1995)

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and Achievements

• La Toya Jackson received a special honor from the US Congress. This was for her involvement in a "Beat It" rally and a "Stay In School" campaign.

See also

In Spanish: La Toya Jackson para niños