Randy Jackson Used ‘Drastic Measures’ To Lose More Than 100 Pounds

May 10, 2022 by apost team

Randy Jackson is a man of many talents. He has been a big name in the music industry for quite some time and has even shared his wisdom with others over the years. While he is recognized for his work as a musician, singer, record producer and entrepreneur, there’s no denying just how many people know Jackson thanks to his gig as a judge on the singing competition series “American Idol.”

“American Idol” first premiered back in 2002 and ran until 2016. After going on a two-year hiatus, the shoe made its return in 2018 and has been on the air ever since. Over the course of the show’s run, the panel of judges has changed quite a bit. While the current judges are musical legend Lionel Richie, pop star Katy Perry and country music star Luke Bryan, the show’s first three judges were also highly popular and respected. They included Jackson alongside music mogul Simon Cowell and dancer and singer Paula Abdul.

Jackson remained a judge for 12 seasons and also worked as an executive producer for MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew.” It’s clear that music has always run in his blood as he has continued to pursue projects pertaining to this passion. Although Jackson’s talents have helped him stay a household name for several years now, many people can’t help but talk about the star’s changing appearance.

Jackson has continued to make headlines for opening up about his health journey, including losing over 100 pounds and speaking on life with diabetes. Read on to learn more about his story.

Jackson was born on June 23, 1956, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After graduating from Southern University with a bachelor’s degree in music in 1979, he went on to pursue music as a full-time career. He began working as a session musician during the 1980s and was even hired to fill in as a bassist for Journey in 1986 for their album “Raised on Radio” and its complementary tour. Afterward, Jackson began working more in the music production department, specifically in the A&R department at Columbia Records and MCA Records.

It wasn’t long before Jackson became a household name as he joined the judging panel of “American Idol” alongside Cowell and Abdul in 2002. He stayed on the show as a judge for 12 seasons and also worked as a mentor afterward. In May 2022, Jackson uploaded a photo of himself on Instagram alongside the current “American Idol” judges, Abdul and host Ryan Seacrest as they celebrated the 20th anniversary of the competition series.

The show is known for helping launch the careers of many of its contestants, including Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. Unfortunately, not everyone was as lucky, and Jackson spoke about how hard it was to eliminate contestants during a 2016 interview with Entertainment Weekly.

He explained, “I just really wanted to be honest. I wanted to be somewhat encouraging but if you’re really delusional and have a terrible talent I’m gonna say you have a terrible talent.” However, Jackson said that it was important to inspire those who had “an inkling of talent” to keep trying so they could one day make it.

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While Jackson has helped inspire people who have dreams of becoming musical legends, he has also inspired people with his incredible weight loss and health journey. “For a long time you see me on TV and people have noticed me in the past and I was struggling with my weight, then I finally got it off by using some pretty drastic measures,” Jackson told PEOPLE in 2020.

According to Woman’s World, the former “American Idol” judge underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2003, helping him lose 114 pounds. However, his health struggles didn’t end there.

In 2008, Jackson released a book called “Body With Soul” that detailed what it was like being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and what his life has been like since. According to TODAY, he wrote, “It’s a curse to be saddled with a disease that’s life threatening and that you can’t completely get rid of (though you can certainly manage it). But it’s a blessing to get that huge wake-up call.”

Since then, Jackson has worked hard at maintaining his weight loss as well as managing his diabetes. He pays attention to what he eats and sticks to a mostly plant-based diet. According to PEOPLE, Jackson also co-founded Unify Health Labs – a product he describes as helping “other people in their journey get healthy – while sparing them the long confusing search I went through.”

Nowadays, Jackson is a bandleader on the TV show “Name That Tune,” and looks absolutely amazing. It’s clear that he has worked hard at sticking to his health regime!

What do you think about Randy Jackson’s accomplishments over the years? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your family and friends, too.