Radio Facts: UNSUNG: FREDDIE JACKSON
PREMIERES: JAN 23, 2012 Check TVOne Local Show Times for listings.
Originally posted December 18th 2011 – Some years ago, Melba Moore publicly exposed her former husband at Hush Productions for taking all of her money as she was forced to apply for welfare to care for her daughter (on the news) people were shocked. Moore had been a singer for at least two decades before the incident and she is credited for bringing then young singer Freddie Jackson to the label after she saw him in a showcase.
Hush Productions had a distribution deal with Capitol but they served all purposes for their artists which was an extreme conflict of interest. Freddy was young and shy and he pretty much signed his financial life away as well to the company discovering the errors at a point when his career was on the decline in the early 90s. Jackson’s hitmaking singing style was becoming dated as New Jack Swing and West Coast Hip Hop started to take center stage.
Freddy topped the charts during the 80s at times even beating Luther Vandross to the top spot with many hits like “Rock Me Tonight,” “Hey Lover,” “Nice and Slow” etc. Jackson’s sexuality (like Vandross) has always been in question and he addresses it here almost identically in the same way Luther did, he’s evasive not saying yes or no as the answer to the question, is he gay. Immediately noticeable is the segment is Jackson’s massive weight loss.
He’s at least half the size he once was but he assures everyone that he is perfectly healthy and that he intentionally lost the weight to be healthy. Overall the show is well done without too much more than you would expect except I think this is the first time I have ever seen Freddy in an interview this long.