This Randy Jackson, born June 23, 1956 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA, is a Grammy-winning producer, who started out learning bass from age 13. He has played and toured as session bassist with numerous high-profile pop artists, including Mariah Carey, Destiny's Child, Céline Dion, Whitney Houston, Elton John, Journey, Madonna, [a=*NSYNC], Jean-Luc Ponty and more. He was vice president of A&R at [l=Columbia Records] for eight years, followed by four years as senior vice president of A&R at [l=MCA Records]. He served as one of the judges on the TV reality show American Idol from 2002 to 2013.