Millie Jackson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Millie Jackson
Jackson performing at the Howard Theatre in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Mildred Virginia Jackson
Born	(1944-07-15) July 15, 1944 (age 80) Thomson, Georgia, U.S.
Genres	Soul disco R&B
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter model
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1964–present
Labels	MGM Spring Polydor Sire/Warner Bros. Jive/BMG Ichiban Wierd

Millie Jackson (born July 15, 1944) is an American singer. She is famous for her R&B and soul music. Millie started her music career in the 1960s. Three of her albums have sold over 500,000 copies. This earned them "gold" awards from the RIAA. Millie's songs often include long spoken parts. These parts can sometimes be very funny. Her music has been used in many other songs by different artists.

Early Life and First Performances

Millie Jackson was born in Thomson, Georgia. Her father was a sharecropper. This means he farmed land owned by someone else. He paid rent with a share of his crops. Her mother passed away when Millie was young. After that, she and her father moved to Newark, New Jersey. Later, Millie moved to Brooklyn, New York City. She lived there with her aunt. She sometimes worked as a model for magazines like JIVE and Sepia.

In 1964, Millie performed at a club in New York City. She then started performing often. Her shows were mostly talking and spoken words. This talking became a big part of her stage act. She started doing it because she was nervous. Millie said, "I just talked to the audience because I was nervous. Then my label wanted to record it like I was doing it live."

Music Career

Millie Jackson's singing career began in 1964. She won a talent contest at a club in Harlem. She first recorded music for MGM Records in 1970. Soon after, she joined Spring Records. Her first song to become popular was "A Child of God (It's Hard to Believe)" in 1971. It reached number 22 on the R&B music chart.

In 1972, Millie had her first top ten R&B song, "Ask Me What You Want." It also reached the top 30 on the pop charts. Then, "My Man, A Sweet Man" became a hit. All three of these songs were co-written by Millie. "My Man, A Sweet Man" was also popular in the UK.

Her song "It Hurts So Good" became a big hit in 1973. It reached number 3 on the R&B chart. It also made it to number 24 on the US Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. This song was featured in the movie Cleopatra Jones.

In 1974, she released the album Caught Up. This album showed her unique style of spoken words. Her version of the song "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right" was on this album. She even received a Grammy nomination for it. Millie worked with producer Brad Shapiro on many of her songs. She recorded much of her music at the Muscle Shoals Studio in Alabama.

Over the next ten years, Millie had many successful albums. She also had many songs on the R&B charts. One of her biggest hits was her 1977 version of "If We're Not Back in Love By Monday." She also had a disco song called "Never Change Lovers in the Middle of The Night."

In 1979, Millie recorded an album with Isaac Hayes called Royal Rappin's. That same year, she released two live albums. Millie also helped create and produce a group called Facts of Life. They had a big hit song called "Sometimes" in 1976.

When Spring Records closed in 1984, Millie joined Jive Records. She released four more albums and had more R&B top ten hits. These included "Hot! Wild! Unrestricted! Crazy Love" and "Love Is a Dangerous Game." In 1985, she sang on a song with Elton John called "Act of War."

In 1991, Millie wrote and starred in a play. It was called Young Man, Older Woman. This play was based on her album of the same name. In 1994, she appeared in an episode of the TV show Martin. In 2000, her voice was used in the song "Am I Wrong" by Etienne de Crécy.

Millie Jackson now runs her own record label called Weird Wreckuds. After a break from recording, she released her album Not for Church Folk in 2001. This album brought back her unique style. It included songs like "Butt-A-Cize" and "Leave Me Alone." She also worked with rapper Da Brat on the song "In My Life." Millie also had her own radio show in Dallas, Texas for 13 years.

In 2006, many of Millie's popular albums were re-released on CD. These included Millie Jackson (1972), It Hurts So Good (1973), Caught Up (1974), and Still Caught Up (1975). In 2012, a TV show called Unsung – The Story of Mildred 'Millie' Jackson aired. Millie performed at the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C., and at B.B. King's Blues Club in New York in 2012. In 2015, Millie Jackson was added to the Official Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame.

Personal Life

Millie Jackson has two children. Her daughter, Keisha Jackson, is also a singer. Millie was married to Victor Davis for eight months.

Discography

Albums

Singles

See also

In Spanish: Millie Jackson para niños