R&B singer Deon Jackson was born on January 26, 1946, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He played the Clarinet and performed in the band, with local vocal groups, and as a soloist, while attending Ann Arbor High School. As a young composer, Jackson was signed by producer Ollie McLaughlin during his junior year. His first singles, all Detroit-area hits, were โHush, Little Baby,โ You Said You Love Me,โ โCome Back Home Baby,โ and โNursery Rhymes.โ Several of Jacksonโs compositions were never released, including โSomeday The Sun Will Shine.โ He graduated from Ann Arbor High School in 1964. Also, during this period, Jackson performed throughout the Southeast Michigan school dance and nightclub circuit.
In 1966, Jackson signed with Carla Records and released three hits. โLove Makes the World Goโ Round,โ from the album sharing the same title, peaked at no. 3 R&B and no. 11 on Billboard Hot 100. โLove Takes a Long Time Growingโ reached 77 on the Billboard Hot 100, while โI Canโt Do Without You Babyโ made it to no. 111 on that chart. Jacksonโs last charted work in 1967 was โOoh, Baby!โ It peaked at no. 28 on the R&B chart and 65 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1968, he released โYouโll Wake Up Wiser, Babyโ and โYou Gotta Love.โ Neither record charted.
In 1971, however, his 1966 hit, โLove Makes the World Goโ Round,โ was covered by The Odds and Ends and peaked at no. 28 R&B and 83 on the Billboard Hot 100. By 1972, Jacksonโs musical career was in decline when he released โIโll Always Love Youโ and โLife Can Be That Wayโ for the Shout label. Neither record charted. Jackson also performed in the musical Just Groovin at the Happy Medium Theater in Chicago in the early 1970s, and he was a regular performer at restaurants and supper clubs in suburban Chicago.
In 1989, Jackson married Kim Jackson. Afterward, Jackson faded into obscurity and began a second career when he was 54 in the year 2000 as a student supervisor at Wheaton Warrenville South High School in Wheeling, Illinois. He also taught students piano.
On April 18, 2014, Deon Jackson died of complications from a brain hemorrhage at the Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, Illinois. He was 68.
