Did Randy Jackson undergo surgery to lose weight? A look at ‘Name That Tune’ bandleader’s journey from fat to fit
Bassist, singer and producer, Randy Jackson, best known for being the longest-serving judge on talent reality show ‘American Idol’, will soon be seen on ‘Name That Tune’ as a bandleader of the iconic musical game show being revived by FOX. The versatile musician will be accompanied by host Jane Krakowski.
Randy Jackson’s new one-hour series will premiere on January 6 at 9 pm ET. The show will test contestants’ music knowledge, as they battle it out in an assortment of challenging musical games for cash and prizes. Each episode will consist of two stand-alone half-hour contests, each pitting two players against each other as they race against the clock to test their knowledge of songs, performed by the live band.
Speaking of his work, Jackson has recorded, produced and toured with several well-known artists and bands, ranging from Mariah Carey to 'N Sync and Whitney Houston. He has also worked with acclaimed global stars such as Céline Dion, Fergie, Stryper and Madonna. The 64-years-old musician surely has an impressive work CV but on a personal level, he dealt with his weight issues for a long time until he finally decided to get rid of it in 2003.
Did Randy Jackson undergo surgery to lose weight?
The former ‘American Idol’ judge spoke to People magazine about his weight loss in 2020 and said, “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.” Randy Jackson went for gastric bypass surgery to shed off his extra weight as he had Type II Diabetes.
The Grammy-nominated musician was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes in 2001 and according to the website WebMD, Jackson opted for the gastric bypass surgery in 2003, a procedure in which a surgeon creates a smaller stomach pouch to curb food intake by stapling a portion of the stomach, to energize his weight loss efforts and step on the path toward good health. With the help of the surgery, Jackson was able to lose 114lbs.
While speaking about how he tried different things to lose weight, he earlier told WebMD, “Liquid fasts. Bee stings. Urine of pregnant women. You name it. I have tried it. The problem is that those diets don't work for people who have the disease of obesity.”
What encouraged Randy Jackson to lose weight?
Speaking about how he got the push to get rid of the extra flab, he earlier told People magazine, “I think it was Season 2 on Idol. You come in and they go ‘Yeah dawg, you’re telling me I’m terrible but you’re fat!’ And I would go, ‘I am. I have mirrors in my house. I know!’ So I think that finally, it was that and also I had an emergency room visit that I thought I was really sick and had a cold or something.”
Even after losing weight, he started gaining weight back and to make sure this doesn’t happen, Jackson also focused on the right diet. Speaking about the same he told WebMD, “I grew up in the South where food and good times were king” adding that a high-profile job touring with celebrities only made it harder to eat healthy, “After the show, everybody hangs out and eats and drinks. There are all kinds of sandwiches plus chips, cheeses, cookies, cakes, candy, beer, wine.”
How Randy Jackson inspired others to stay healthy?
In order to inspire other people and to make sure they don’t go through the same confusion which he faced, Jackson -founded Unify Health Labs. Speaking about the same, he told People magazine, “This is me sort of giving back. Something that’s a simple solution because all of us probably have 50 bottles on the counter or 50 bottles in the bathroom of different vitamins and things that we take. The root causes of these certain diseases and trying to get your best health, it all starts in the gut. Gut health is really best health.”