Joe Jackson | Artist

David Ian "Joe" Jackson is an English musician and singer-songwriter born 1954 in Burton-upon-Trent, UK. Having spent years studying music and playing clubs, he scored a hit with his first release, "Is She Really Going Out with Him?" in 1979, before he moved to more jazz-inflected pop music and had a Top 10 hit in 1982 with "Steppin' Out". Jackson is associated with the 1980s Second British Invasion of the US. He has also composed classical music. He has recorded 20 studio albums and received five Grammy Award nominations. In 1978, a record producer heard Jackson's demo tape and signed him to A&M Records. The next year the newly formed Joe Jackson Band released their superb debut album Look Sharp!, a mix of rock, melodic jazz, and new wave, it mined a vein similar to contemporaries Elvis Costello and Graham Parker. Look Sharp! enjoyed wide critical success and in 2013 Rolling Stone magazine named it #98 in a list of the 100 best debut albums of all time. Commercial success followed, with the debut single "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" reaching the top 40 in five countries. Jackson subsequently recorded an album of old-style swing and blues tunes, Jumpin' Jive, with songs by Cab Calloway, Lester Young, Glenn Miller and Louis Jordan. In the late 1990s Jackson expanded into classical music; he signed with Sony Classical and released Symphony No.1 in 1999, which received a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album. In 2000 he released a follow-up album, Night and Day II. Throughout his eclectic recording career Jackson has released over 20 studio albums, which display a remarkable range of diversity of musical styles. Standouts include Look Sharp!, I'm The Man, Jumpin' Jive, Night and Day, Body and Soul and Rain. Jackson wrote an autobiography titled "A Cure for Gravity", published in 1999 which traces his working-class upbringing in Portsmouth and his musical life from childhood until his 24th birthday. Life as a pop star, he said, was hardly worth writing about. In his early career Jackson was known as David Jackson but he picked up the nickname "Joe", based on his resemblance to the British television puppet character Joe 90, a genius child spy. Jackson legally changed his name to Joe at age 20.

Artist Website: joejackson.com

Featured Albums: Joe Jackson

Related Artists: Joe Jackson Band

Video Clips: Is She Really Going Out With Him?, It's Different For Girls, Steppin' Out