Leon Jackson
Leon Jackson attending the London movie premiere of The Golden Compass in November 2007
Background information
Birth name	Leon Jackson
Born	(1988-12-30) 30 December 1988 (age 23)
Origin	Whitburn, West Lothian, Scotland
Genres	Pop, jazz, acoustic, alternative rock
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	2007–present
Labels	Sony BMG, Syco, Independent RCA Records
Associated acts	Michael Bublé, Kylie Minogue, Emily Biggs, Parade
Website	leonjacksonmusic.com

Leon Jackson (born 30 December 1988) is a Scottish singer. He won the fourth series of British talent show The X Factor in 2007. Following his win, Jackson was the main star of his on-web series entitled Leon's Life, which ran from 2007 until 2008.^[1] Jackson's début album, Right Now (2008) finished the year as the 75th best-selling album in the UK, and included the singles, "Don't Call This Love", "Creative" and "Stargazing".

Jackson's début single, "When You Believe", a cover of a song sung by Whitney Houston and composed and written by Stephen Schwartz, was the 92nd best-selling single of the 2000s in the UK,^[2] and was the third best-selling of 2007.^[2] Jackson had the best selling single from a British Male Artist in 2007^[2] beating the likes of Mika, Take That and Mark Ronson in the best-selling male category, and being beaten by Leona Lewis's "Bleeding Love" and Rihanna's "Umbrella" to the number one and number two positions, respectively.^[2]

Life and career[link]

1988–07: Early life[link]

Leon Jackson was born in Whitburn, West Lothian, Scotland.^[3] Before pursuing his singing career, he worked as a retail sales assistant with Gap. He is a supporter of Rangers F.C.^[4] He was a fan of contemporary jazz, his hero being Michael Bublé, and he has stated that during his early years, karate and singing were the only things that made him happy.^[5] He got his black belt at the age of 10.^[6] Before he appeared on The X Factor, Jackson was planning to attend Edinburgh Napier University, studying architectural technology.

Leon started singing in public in January 2007. He wanted to pursue a career in music so he entered X Factor and, after doing well in the competition, deferred his place at Edinburgh Napier.^[5]

[edit] 2007–08: The X Factor

Jackson, during his time on X Factor in 2007

In 2007, Leon Jackson auditioned for the fourth series of The X Factor in Glasgow, being filmed at the city's Crowne Plaza Hotel. During the show, he was mentored by Dannii Minogue. After progressing through the rounds, he reached the final on 15 December 2007, in which he performed a duet with Kylie Minogue of "Better the Devil You Know", as well as three other songs. After the public vote, he was declared winner, receiving a £1 million recording contract with Simon Cowell's company Syco, a division of Sony BMG.^[7]

Jackson was an outsider to win the competition, and his victory was described as "the biggest shock in the history of reality TV betting."^[8] X Factor judge Louis Walsh later said that Jackson had won the vote by about 10%.^[9] A number of viewers complained to watchdog Ofcom that they were unable to get through to vote for Jackson's rival Rhydian Roberts, but an Ofcom investigation found that Roberts had not been unfairly disadvantaged.^[10][11][12] More than 12 Million people watched the final of Leon winning. Jackson described winning as "not Real".^[12]

In December 2007, Jackson was invited to perform with Canadian performer Michael Bublé at Wembley Arena, singing Bublé's "Home" because Bublé was so impressed by his singing ability. Jackson later said this had been the highlight of his life, because Bublé is his idol. Leon was the first and so far only X Factor contestant to perform at Wembley while still in the competition.^[13] with Rhydian Roberts the runner-up and Dannii Minogue emerging as the winning mentor.^[14] The

The series hit the headlines even before recording began. Some of the controversy centred upon whether 14 and 15-year-olds should be eligible to enter, and also on the high-profile dismissals of judge Louis Walsh and presenter Kate Thornton,^[15][16] to be replaced by choreographer and Grease Is the Word judge Brian Friedman and Big Brother's Little Brother host Dermot O'Leary respectively. Before hiring Freidman and Minogue, Cowell had apparently approached colleague and fellow American Idol judge Randy Jackson, and close friend and X Factor mentor Sinitta. Walsh, however, was quickly reinstated, with Friedman becoming the show's choreographer. Jackson's prize as winner was a £1 million recording contract.^[17] His first single release was "When You Believe", arranged for the finalists by composer Stephen Schwartz and released to download on 16 December 2007, with the physical format following on 19 December. The single became that year's Christmas Number One in the UK Singles Chart. The series was Sharon Osbourne's final series as a judge and was replaced the following year by Girls Aloud star Cheryl Cole.

On 11 February 2008, Jackson began the "X Factor Live" tour in the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland with Rhydian Roberts, Same Difference and the eight other finalists from the 2007 show. They continued the tour in other venues around the UK until 21 March when the tour finished at London's Wembley Arena, thus concluding The X Factor 2007.

[edit] 2008–09: When You Believe and Right Now

Jackson performing live in 2008.

Jackson's debut single, a cover of the Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey duet "When You Believe" went on sale as a download from midnight on Sunday, 16 December 2007 and as a CD on Wednesday, 19 December 2007. The debut single is set to be the fastest-selling single of 2007, with sales predicted to reach 300,000 by Sunday.^[18] At Woolworths the single at its peak was selling 40 copies per minute.^[19] Bookmakers reportedly stopped taking bets on who would get the 2007 Christmas number-one single, as "Leon [was] practically guaranteed top spot".^[20] "When You Believe" indeed reached number one in the UK on 23 December 2007. This made Jackson the first Scottish artist to achieve a Christmas number one.^{[citation needed]}

Jackson appeared as a celebrity guest on the first live episode of series five of The X Factor on 11 October 2008, to perform the first single, "Don't Call This Love", from his upcoming album Right Now. The song was released the next day, and peaked at #3 on the UK singles chart and #8 in Ireland.^[21]

Jackson performing live during the Right Now UK Tour (2009)

Right Now was released on 20 October 2008.^[22] It debuted at #4 on the UK Top 40 Albums chart the week of 26 October 2008.^[23] It remained in the Top 40 for three weeks total, before slipping out of the Top 40^[24][25][26] but remaining in the Top 75 for an additional six weeks.^[27] The album debuted on the Ireland Top 75 Albums chart at #7 for the week of 23 October 2008, staying on that chart for a total of five weeks.^[27] The second single from the album, "Creative", was released as a download-only purchase in late 2008. It peaked at #94 on 29 November 2008 on the UK Singles chart.^[28] The third and final single, "Stargazing", was released to radio stations in January 2009. It was also made available for purchase as a download-only single.^[29] The help promote Right Now, Jackson performed on various UK TV Shows such GMTV, This Morning and The X Factor. Jackson's first single When You Believe which reached #1 in the UK^[30] was performed by Jackson in December 2007 to help promote the single. He performed it on GMTV, The X Factor and This Morning.

In July 2008, Bublé again invited Jackson to join him on stage at the Glasgow SECC for a duet of "Lost".^[31] In December 2008, Jackson performed at the 2008 Hogmanay Event in Edinburgh.^[32] However in 2007 Jackson pulled out of the event due to tonsillitis where he would have been playing with Scottish singer Amy MacDonald.^[33]

The album sold 130,000 copies and Jackson was dropped from the Sony BMG label.^[34] Jackson proceeded to work with writers who have worked with Paolo Nutini and James Morrison. Jackson told The Sun newspaper that he was focusing on preparing for an upcoming concert tour of the UK, which would take place in May and June 2009.^[35][36]

Scottish singer and songwriter Sandi Thom had lined up Jackson as a Supporting Guest Act in Glasgow as part of her Homecoming Scotland 2009 Tour.^[37] As of April 2009 half of the concert dates had been cancelled by the management. The reason why the dates were cancelled is unknown, but Leon said he was "gutted" at the cancellations and that it was not his doing.^[38] All but two of the joint tour days from England and Wales remained (with support act Same Difference playing a solo tour gig in Portsmouth),^[39] while seven of the nine tour dates in Scotland remained.^[40]

2010–present: Departure from Sony and second album[link]

In 2009, Jackson confirmed that he was working on a brand new studio album which would be more acoustic in style, different from the jazz and soul genre of his debut album Right Now.^[41] Even though Jackson has failed to find another record deal since he got dropped by his label Sony BMG in March 2009, he hopes to release the album independently.^[42]

Leon travelled to Los Angeles in May 2010 to work with songwriters to come up with tracks for his new sound. He worked with credible artists, such as Ernie Halter, to create piano and guitar led songs, as well as writing some himself. Whilst in L.A, he also performed at 'The Gypsy Lounge' with American artists.^[43]

In May 2010, Jackson was announced as the 2nd biggest reality TV flop, winning 76% of the 1,300 people polled, losing out only to Steve Brookstein.^[44][45][46] He has vowed to never perform When You Believe again, calling his X-Factor success a curse ^[47] and revealing he was no longer in contact with former mentor Dannii Minogue or Simon Cowell subsequent to being dropped by Syco Music.^[48] Jackson said he felt "crushed" by Cowell after finding out through the newspaper that Cowell had dropped him.^[49] On 1 September 2010, Jackson released a video for his song, "Different Lives".^[50]

Jackson then announced a summer tour in 2010 where he would perform his new acoustic sound. The first date was at the Half Moon, Putney, London on 8 June. Leon performed guitar and piano-led songs.^[51] The second date was at the ABC Glasgow on 10 July, where he sold out the show and more tickets were put on sale due to popular demand.^[52] The final date of the tour was on 31 July at the O2 Academy Birmingham, where Jackson again performed new songs written by himself and American songwriters.^[53]

On 16 February 2011, Jackson attended the 2011 BRIT Awards as part of the Universal Records after-party.^[54] Jackson has been writing new material and taught himself to play the guitar and piano, which he has brought into his new songs. Some of the new songs include 'Never Left The Ground', 'Ode to Isabel', 'The Other Side', 'See It Through Your Eyes' and 'Wounded by Love'.^[42] Jackson will debut at least four new songs at several summer festivals in 2011.^[55]

The 2011 Scottish New Music Awards were held on 4 September 2011. Jackson performed an acoustic set of new songs.^{[citation needed]} Jackson is still working on his second studio album.^{[citation needed]}

Jackson is said to have written a song for The Voice UK's contestant Vince Kidd named "Sick Love" along with Kidd^[56]. A video of the song premiered on YouTube on 30 January 2012.

Other ventures[link]

Jackson supports the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS), a Scottish charity established to provide hospice services in Scotland for children and young people with life-limiting conditions. According to Jackson's own website: “As far as team Leon is concerned music is about life not the other way round. It’s a privilege to be able use your gifting to bring joy to people, travelling and paying the bills is a bonus".^[57]

Following Jackson's X Factor win in 2007, Jackson appeared in his own web series, Leon's Life, which was solely broadcast on the social networking site, Bebo.^[58] The series ran from his win in December 2007 until mid-2008. The series followed the press and television coverage, recording of his debut album, Right Now (released a year after), and the promotion of the album following his win on The X Factor.

Award show appearances[link]

In April 2008, Leon Jackson was awarded the Sunday Mail Young Scot Award at Glasgow City Hall for being a positive role model to young people.^[59] In 2011, Jackson was the host of the Sunday Mail 2011 Young Scot Awards which were held in August 2011 in Glasgow at the Glasgow International Hilton Hotel.

In May 2011, He was nominated at the Johnnie Walker Blue Label "Great" Awards.^[60]

Concert Tours[link]

Headlining

• The X Factor 2008 Tour (2008)
• Right Now (2009)
• Live & Acoustic 2010 Summer Tour (2010)
• Watchet music festival (2011)

Supporting

• Sandi Thom 2009 Homecoming Scotland Tour (Support act in Glasgow)

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Right Now (2008)
• Different Lives (TBA)

Extended plays

• The Different Lives Youtube EP (2011)^[50]

Filmography[link]

• Leon's Life (2007–2008): Himself^[1]

See also[link]

• List of artists who reached number one in Ireland
• List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Leon Jackson at the Internet Movie Database

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Leon Jackson

The King V is an electric guitar made by Jackson Guitars based on the Gibson Flying V. The Jackson King V was originally designed for Robbin Crosby of Ratt and he popularized the guitar throughout the 80s. Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine eventually became the guitarist most identified with using this model. After creating a custom King V for Mustaine (completed October 10, 1986), the company later began mass-producing a Dave Mustaine Signature Series King V, which would become one of their best selling guitars. This line continued into the early 2000s, when it underwent massive changes and became the Y2KV, a guitar based much more heavily on the Gibson Flying V. Mustaine then sold his entire personal collection of Jacksons, and subsequently signed endorsement deals with ESP Guitars then Dean Guitars.

Variants of the King V[link]

Listed below is the range of King V models.

Double Rhoads(never in mass production)[link]

The Double Rhoads was a symmetrical version of the Jackson Randy Rhoads with two longer horns, the first one was ordered from Overkill guitarist Dave Linsk. While the guitar was made, Ratt guitarist Robbin Crosby saw it and wanted a similar guitar.Jackson built him two, one red and one black (he later got his white DR).Circa 10 Double Rhoads' were built before the design was changed with smaller wings and became the King V, the first King V was silver with black bevels.

King V Custom (Custom Shop)[link]

From start to 1990 this was the name for a King V with sharkfin inlays, neck binding and ebony fretboard. Pickup and bridge options were anything the purchaser wanted.

King V Student (Custom Shop)[link]

Same as above, but with dot inlays, no binding, and jun fretboard.

KV1(Artist Signature Series) (no longer in production)[link]

The KV1 is a Dave Mustaine signature model and is the first commercially-sold model of the King V. Previously known as the King V Pro, the KV1 supersedes the King V Pro and eliminated the Cherryburst finish in favor of a natural Korina wood finish. The tuners were replaced with LSR locking tuners as well. The end-points were shortened from the prototype created for Robbin Crosby as it was created as a "Double-Rhoads" which has a longer point than this model (The "Double-Rhoads" has 2 equal length long points). All other variants below stemmed from this design. USA-made versions of this guitar are highly-coveted by metal guitarists and are typically difficult to locate for sale.

A KV1, same model played by Mustaine before the Y2KV was created.

Y2KV (Artist Signature Series) (no longer in production)[link]

The Y2KV is a Dave Mustaine signature model and differs from all other King Vs in that it has rounded ends which seem similar to that of the Gibson Flying V.

KV2 (USA Series)[link]

The KV2 is a variant of the King V which comes under the 'USA Select Series' of Jackson Guitars. The body is made of alder and is intersected by a neck-thru quartersawn maple neck with ebony fingerboard. It has Neck and Bridge humbucking pickups, both from Seymour Duncan, which are both the JB model. This model has 24 frets and a 2-point double locking Floyd Rose tremolo and is constructed in the US. The KV2 is one of the 2 USA Select Series guitars (alongside the KE2) built with the "Jackson Speed Neck" profile, a slim neck thickness for a fast playability.

KV2T (USA Series)[link]

The KV2T is a variant of the King V which comes under the 'USA Select Series' of Jackson Guitars. The body is made of mahogany and is intersected by a three piece neck-thru quartersawn mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard. It has neck and bridge humbucking pickups, both from Seymour Duncan, with a JB in the bridge and a '59 in the neck. This model has 24 frets but what is unique to this particular model is that it has a string through body, 'shark eye' fretboard inlay, an abalone Jackson logo on the headstock, the headstock itself is an SLS type rather than the traditional concorde Jackson headstock and has Sperzel locking tuners. Also to note is that the body is a flat top and lacks the bevels of the other Jackson King Vs. The guitar is also a 24 3/4" scale rather than the 25.5" scale that other Jackson King Vs have, though it was originally produced in a 25.5" scale.

KV3 (Pro Series) (no longer in production)[link]

The KV3 was produced in 98-01 in Japan. Features Duncan Designed pickups, Jackson JT580LP Tremolo, 22 frets, 1x volume, 1x tone, 1x 3way toggle, sharktooth inlays, bolt on maple neck, poplar body. Mother of pearl inlaid rosewood fret board. The jack output was situated upon the upper wing, just like in more expensive series.

KV4 (no longer in production)[link]

Since 1999 (Korean Series) / 2001 (USA Series), features Seymour Duncan JB Model SH-4 and TB-4 pickups, Floyd Rose Licensed Jackson JT580LP Tremolo, 24 frets, 1x volume, 1x tone, 1x 3way toggle, pearloid sharkfin inlays, maple neck-thru alder body w/ rosewood fretboard.

KV5(no longer in production)[link]

This is a Japanese made 'mid range' variant for the King V. The body is made of Alder and is intersected by a neck-thru quartersawn maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. It has Neck and Bridge humbucking pickups, both from Seymour Duncan. This model has 24 frets and a 2-point double locking Floyd Rose tremolo.

KVX10 (X series)[link]

Early models were alder w/ a bolt on maple neck, rosewood fretboard, and an adjustable bridge string-through-body design; post 2006 models are basswood. the pickups are Duncan Designed HB-103B in the bridge position and an HB-102N in the neck position. The standard model has 24 frets w/ sharkfin inlays and a Floyd Rose Licensed Jackson low profile tremolo. This model's first year was 2001 and was built in India for that year only. Subsequent models are all built in Japan.

JS30KV (JS Series)[link]

The JS30KV is a variant of the King V which comes under the 'JS series'; the entry-level series of Jackson Guitars. The body is made of Indian Cedro, connected to the maple neck, which is bolt-on. The fingerboard is made from Rosewood. The guitar has 24 frets and Jackson humbucking pickups. The bridge is an adjustable string-through-body, Jackson JT390 specification. This model is built in Indonesia.
A next generation version of the JS30KV are the JS32T King V (same as JS30, but sharkfin inlays) and the JS32R King V(same as JS32, but with Floyd Rose Licensed Jackson Low Profile JT580 LP Double Locking 2-Point Tremolo)

Jenna Jameson Model (Custom Shop Limited Run) (no longer in production)[link]

The Jenna Jameson model is an altered KVX10. The model is limited edition and features a Jenna Jameson graphic on the body, her signature below one of the humbuckers and a copy of her 'Heart-breaker' tattoo inlaid at the 12th fret. This model features an adjustable string-through-body bridge and slightly superior humbuckers like the older KVX10 model (pre-2006).

25th Anniversary Model (Custom Shop Limited Run)(no longer in production)[link]

The 25th Anniversary Model was announced to coincide with Jackson Guitars' 25th Anniversary, 2006. Two guitars were released, one a limited edition Kelly, the other a limited edition King V. The King V comes in Mercedes Silver only and is hand-signed by Mike Shannon, Senior Master Builder at the Jackson Custom Shop. The body is made from Poplar and is intersected by a quartersawn maple neck-thru three-piece neck. The fingerboard is made from ebony and has 22 frets. The guitar has neck and bridge humbucking pickups, both made by Seymour Duncan. The bridge is an original Floyd Rose 2 point double locking tremolo. This guitar was built in the Jackson custom shop and only 25 units were made.

Demmelition King V (Artist Signature Series)[link]

The first signature model since the Y2KV, the Demmelition King V is the signature model of guitarist Phil Demmel of Machine Head. Demmelition King Vs however are not built like traditional King Vs, as they have two cutaways in each wing on the guitar (used to only be available as custom shop option only). The guitar has an alder body, a maple neck, a 24 fret ebony fretboard with mother of pearl sharkfin inlays, an original Floyd Rose tremolo, EMG 81 active pickup at the bridge and an EMG 60 active pickup at the neck. The Demmelition King V is also factory tuned to Drop B tuning, the same tuning Demmel uses on most Machine Head songs (some are in C# Standard, such as Aesthetics of Hate). It is available in five color schemes (black with silver bevels, white with black bevels, red with black bevels, gold with black bevels and black with white polka dots).

King V KVXMG (X Series)[link]

KVXMG has a basswood body, neck through-body construction, maple neck and active EMG 85 and 81 humbucking pickups. Other features include Floyd Rose Special double-locking two-point tremolo, 24 jumbo frets, and three-way blade pickup switching. Available in Black, Kawasabi Green and Snow White.

External links[link]

• Official Jackson Guitars Website