R.I.P.: Chuck Jackson, R&B Soul Singer

Chuck Jackson (1938-2023)

R&B singer Chuck Jackson, who placed nearly 30 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the 1960s, died on Feb. 16, 2023. Best known for his 1962 hit “Any Day Now (My Wild Beautiful Bird),” which reached #2 on the trade magazine’s R&B chart and #23 on the Hot 100.

Jackson was 85, according to  Best Classic Band.com.

Neither the cause nor place of death have yet been revealed.

“Any Day Now” was co-written by Burt Bacharach (who passed on Feb. 8, 2023) and Bob Hilliard. Jackson’s other popular hits included “I Don’t Want to Cry,” his first chart placement, from 1961 (#5 R&B); “I Keep Forgettin’,” a 1962 hit written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller; and “Something You Got,” a duet with Maxine Brown that peaked at #10 on the R&B chart.

Jackson first came to attention as a member of the doo-wop group the Dell-Vikings, then signed as a solo artist to Wand Records, a subsidiary of Scepter Records. “I Don’t Want to Cry,” co-written by Jackson with songwriter-producer Luther Dixon, became the first of a solid string of singles to chart into late in the decade. 

At the end of the ’60s, Jackson signed with Motown Records, but the affiliation only produced two singles that made the R&B chart and barely dented the Hot 100. He continued to release singles on ABC, All Platinum and EMI America (the last of which came in 1980) before his run of chart singles ended.