After Dinner Speakers: Latoya Jackson, Simply Red, Mark Lamarr

b. 29 May 1956, Gary, Indiana, USA. As a member of the singing Jackson family, LaToya served her apprenticeship as a backing vocalist to the Jacksons group along with her sisters, Rebbie and Janet Jackson. LaToya embarked on a solo career in 1980, signing to the Polydor Records label. Despite the family connection, LaToya's solo career found difficulty in emulating the success of her younger sister Janet; her highest single chart position was with the US number 56, "Heart Don't Lie" (1984) on her new label, Private I/Epic. A later label change to RCA Records did not alter her fortunes. She later exacerbated family relations with a nude spread in Playboy magazine, a somewhat scurrilous autobiography in 1991, and by refusing to sanction the 1992 ABC mini-series The Jacksons: An American Dream. Driven on by her manager/husband Jack Gordon, her sporadic recording career nevertheless failed to cash in on the attention. A multi-million dollar contract to appear at the Moulin Rouge in Paris ended acrimoniously after only four months in summer 1992. Much more successful was the release of her Playboy video two years later. Further misguided career choices included a Nashville-recorded country album and a selection of Motown covers recorded in Scandinavia. Jackson divorced Jack Gordon in 1997 and began patching up relations with her estranged family. She settled down in Las Vegas to begin a new career.