\n\tFreddie Jackson, the soul balladeer and slow jams firebrand whose \u201cRock Me Tonight,\u201d \u201cYou Are My Lady,\u201d and \u201cHave You Ever Loved Somebody\u201d dominated R&B radio in the Eighties, died Monday. The singer\u2019s social media confirmed the news but did not list a cause of death. He was 70.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cFreddie was more than a legendary voice,\u201d a statement from Jackson\u2019s family<\/a> said. \u201cHe was a kind, generous soul who loved his fans, his family, his friends, and his music with everything he had. For decades he gave us the songs that became the soundtrack to our love stories, our celebrations, and our most treasured memories. That gift will live on forever.\u201d Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.<\/p>\n \n\tJackson crooned his hits like he was wringing every ounce of emotion out of every word, making it as sexy as possible before the moment faded. In 1989, The New York Times<\/a> described Jackson as \u201cone of black pop\u2019s most elegant performers, a singer who can turn a heartbreak ballad into a world view.\u201d Comparing Jackson to Luther Vandross, Rolling Stone<\/a> wrote in 1987 that \u201cJackson is more the pillow-talking love man, the tender grind partner.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tBorn on Oct. 2, 1957 in Harlem, Jackson started singing gospel music and briefly fronted a group called Mystic Merlin on the West Coast before returning to New York. In a 1985 interview with Jet, singer Melba Moore recalled how she discovered Jackson\u2019s talent when she saw him in a New York nightclub three years earlier. \u201cI said, \u2018My God, what a voice,’\u201d she recalled. \u201cI just screamed like everybody else.\u201d She hired him as a backup singer and composer and helped get him a deal at Capitol Records. Moore would later record the Number One R&B song \u201cA Little Bit More\u201d with Jackson.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cMy heart is broken over the loss of a great singer and even a greater friend, Freddie Jackson,\u201d Moore said in a statement. \u201cWhen we worked together on songs such as our hit, \u2018A Little Bit More,\u2019 his sense of humor had me laughing during the sessions. \u00a0We had such a special relationship. I will forever miss my dear friend. Rest peacefully, Freddie.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n \n\tJackson would find popular fame in his late twenties singing songs with mature themes. His velvety vocals on a string of hits off his debut album, 1985\u2019s Rock Me Tonight, made him an instant star. The album held the Number One position on Billboard\u2019s R&B chart for 16 weeks straight thanks to \u201cRock Me Tonight (For Old Time\u2019s Sake),\u201d \u201cYou Are My Lady,\u201d \u201cHe\u2019ll Never Love You (Like I Do)\u201d and \u201cLove Is Just a Touch Away.\u201d It also reached Number 10 on the Billboard 200 and was later certified platinum. His breakthrough success got him nominated for two Grammys.<\/p>\n \n\tHis next three albums, 1986\u2019s Just Like the First Time, 1988\u2019s Don\u2019t Let Love Slip Away, and 1990\u2019s Do Me Again also peaked at Number One on the R&B chart and were certified gold or platinum as he scored an impressive succession of Number One R&B singles: \u201cTasty Love,\u201d \u201cHave You Ever Loved Somebody,\u201d \u201cJam Tonight,\u201d \u201cNice \u2018N\u2019 Slow\u201d (which won him an American Music Award), \u201cHey Lover,\u201d \u201cLove Me Down,\u201d and \u201cDo Me Again.\u201d Outside of music, King parlayed his fame into an appearance in the movie King of New York and episodes of The Golden Girls and Family Matters.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tHe seemed unstoppable until the ascendency of New Jack Swing and hip-hop, which he told the media he didn\u2019t like. His chart dominance declined in the Nineties, but he continued logging albums on Billboard\u2019s list of Top 100 R&B Albums. As recently as 2010, his album For You made it up to Number 48 on the chart.<\/p>\n \t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n \n\tBut even with lower sales, he nevertheless remained the benchmark for R&B cool. Outkast\u2019s Big Boi immortalized Jackson in a verse on \u201cSo Fresh, So Clean\u201d by comparing himself to the singer by saying he\u2019s \u201ccooler than Freddie Jackson sipping a milkshake in a snowstorm.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201dMy music is for people who like to hold hands in concert \u2026 it\u2019s intimate,\u201d Jackson told the Times in 1989. \u201cWith all the racial tension going on today, all the hate, my songs, which are about love, make more sense than ever. If people could diminish some of their hate, the chaos and trouble in life wouldn\u2019t be so strong.\u201d<\/p>\n