JJ Jackson Died
MTV Pioneer J.J. Jackson Dead
by Lia Haberman
Mar 19, 2004, 1:30 PM PT
J.J. Jackson, who helped define the term VJ as one of MTV's first hosts, died Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 62.
According to friends and former colleagues, the music man suffered a heart attack while driving home after dining with a friend.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
Jackson reportedly had a history of heart problems and underwent corrective surgery a few years ago.
At one time as synonymous with MTV as the music network's Moon Man, Jackson was one of five on-air personalities hired to launch the experimental new station in 1981, along with Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter and Martha Quinn.
Goodman reacted with complete 'shock' to news of his friend and former coworker's death. 'Although J.J. had a bad ticker he was in good health, he'd lost weight, he was feeling really good,' the former MTV VJ told E! Online, adding that the two were about to be reunited at Sirius, a satellite radio company.
He credited Jackson as an early champion of music acts such as Led Zeppelin, Rod Stewart and Pete Townshend. 'He was one of the people around at a time when you could be a guy on radio and get behind a band to make it happen for them...there aren't many of those guys left.'
Accolades also came from MTV. 'J.J. Jackson's deep passion for music, his ease and good humor on air, and his welcoming style really set the tone for the early days of MTV,' the network said in a statement.
'He was a big part of the channel's success and we are sure he is in the music section of heaven, with lots of his friends and heroes. We are fortunate to have had him as a part of the MTV family. He will be greatly missed,' concluded the statement.
A longtime radio deejay, Jackson adapted well to the new medium and became an early-'80s TV fixture--covering 1985's Live Aid Benefit, helping to 'unmask' KISS during a 1982 interview and hosting the debut episode of MTV's 120 Minutes.
But even Jackson couldn't foresee the impact the network would make. 'I thought it would be a nice promotional tool, but I never knew it would get to be this monster thing,' he told the San Antonio Express News in 1998.
Those early days at the music network also forged a bond between the original VJs, who had no role models to follow. Speaking to MTV, Goodman said they remained a tight-knit group with a 'bond that has only gotten deeper through the years.'
'For the five of us, he was the wise deejay. He was the guy who had been through it all and was able to always put a mature perspective to things. He wound up handling the spotlight that was thrust on us better than any of us,' Goodman reminisced.
Jackson earned his stripes as a radio deejay in Boston during the '60s and later in Los Angeles. His voice was also immortalized as the disc jockey in the sudsy 1976 classic Car Wash.
After a five-year stint at MTV, Jackson and the others were gradually replaced by the next breed of VJs, including 'Downtown' Julie Brown, Adam Curry and Ricky Rachtman, and he returned to local radio in the L.A. area.
He is survived by his parents, a daughter from a previous marriage and two grandchildren.
by Lia Haberman
Mar 19, 2004, 1:30 PM PT
J.J. Jackson, who helped define the term VJ as one of MTV's first hosts, died Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 62.
According to friends and former colleagues, the music man suffered a heart attack while driving home after dining with a friend.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
Jackson reportedly had a history of heart problems and underwent corrective surgery a few years ago.
At one time as synonymous with MTV as the music network's Moon Man, Jackson was one of five on-air personalities hired to launch the experimental new station in 1981, along with Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter and Martha Quinn.
Goodman reacted with complete 'shock' to news of his friend and former coworker's death. 'Although J.J. had a bad ticker he was in good health, he'd lost weight, he was feeling really good,' the former MTV VJ told E! Online, adding that the two were about to be reunited at Sirius, a satellite radio company.
He credited Jackson as an early champion of music acts such as Led Zeppelin, Rod Stewart and Pete Townshend. 'He was one of the people around at a time when you could be a guy on radio and get behind a band to make it happen for them...there aren't many of those guys left.'
Accolades also came from MTV. 'J.J. Jackson's deep passion for music, his ease and good humor on air, and his welcoming style really set the tone for the early days of MTV,' the network said in a statement.
'He was a big part of the channel's success and we are sure he is in the music section of heaven, with lots of his friends and heroes. We are fortunate to have had him as a part of the MTV family. He will be greatly missed,' concluded the statement.
A longtime radio deejay, Jackson adapted well to the new medium and became an early-'80s TV fixture--covering 1985's Live Aid Benefit, helping to 'unmask' KISS during a 1982 interview and hosting the debut episode of MTV's 120 Minutes.
But even Jackson couldn't foresee the impact the network would make. 'I thought it would be a nice promotional tool, but I never knew it would get to be this monster thing,' he told the San Antonio Express News in 1998.
Those early days at the music network also forged a bond between the original VJs, who had no role models to follow. Speaking to MTV, Goodman said they remained a tight-knit group with a 'bond that has only gotten deeper through the years.'
'For the five of us, he was the wise deejay. He was the guy who had been through it all and was able to always put a mature perspective to things. He wound up handling the spotlight that was thrust on us better than any of us,' Goodman reminisced.
Jackson earned his stripes as a radio deejay in Boston during the '60s and later in Los Angeles. His voice was also immortalized as the disc jockey in the sudsy 1976 classic Car Wash.
After a five-year stint at MTV, Jackson and the others were gradually replaced by the next breed of VJs, including 'Downtown' Julie Brown, Adam Curry and Ricky Rachtman, and he returned to local radio in the L.A. area.
He is survived by his parents, a daughter from a previous marriage and two grandchildren.
