Cheyenne David Jackson[1] (born July 12, 1975)[2] is an American actor and singer. His credits include leading roles in Broadway musicals and other stage roles, as well as film and television roles, concert singing, and music recordings.
In concert, Jackson has sold out Carnegie Hall twice: The Power of Two in 2010 and Music of the Mad Men Era in 2011. He also performs in cabarets. In addition to his Broadway cast albums, he has released three albums of popular music, including a joint album called The Power of Two with Michael Feinstein in 2008. In 2012, Jackson released two singles, "Drive" and "Before You", from his 2013 album I'm Blue, Skies. In 2016, Jackson released his third studio album, Renaissance,[7] an album adapted and expanded from his solo concert Music of the Mad Men Era.
Jackson was born in Spokane, Washington[2] to David and Sherri Jackson,[8] and was named by his father after the 1950s Western series Cheyenne.[9] The third of four children, he was raised in Oldtown, Idaho, a "teeny mill town" in a rural area in northern Idaho near the Washington border.[9] His father was a Vietnam veteran. His mother taught Jackson, his sister, and his two brothers to sing and regularly played music by Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and Elvis Presley at home. Throughout his childhood, Jackson lived with his family in a rural home that had an outhouse and no running water.[10] He moved to Spokane as a teenager.
In Seattle, Jackson worked as an ad executive at a magazine and did some theater work on the side, earning his Equity card.[9] He moved to New York City after 2001 to pursue an acting career.[11]
Jackson made his Broadway debut understudying both male leads in the Tony Award-winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. He later served as the standby for the character of Radames in Aida, then originated the role of Matthew in the NYMF production of Altar Boyz. In 2005, he originated his first Broadway leading role in the musical All Shook Up, a tribute to Elvis Presley. His performance as Chad earned him the Theatre World Award and nominations from the Drama League and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor.[12] In 2006, Jackson starred off-Broadway in playwright Nicky Silver's The Agony and The Agony with Victoria Clark. In June 2007, less than a week before the scheduled opening night, Jackson assumed the lead role of Sonny on Broadway in Xanadu, replacing James Carpinello who had been injured during rehearsal. Previous workshop productions of the musical starred Jackson and Jane Krakowski. However, both Jackson and Krakowski opted out of the initial Broadway run, citing schedule conflicts.[13] His performance as Sonny earned him nominations from the Drama League and Drama Desk for Outstanding Lead Actor. Xanadu had several Tony Award nominations including "Best New Musical" for which Jackson and the cast performed on the 62nd Tony Awards show.[14]
In October 2009, Jackson opened on Broadway reprising the role of Woody Mahoney in the revival of the 1947 musical Finian's Rainbow at the St. James Theatre, costarring with Jim Norton and Kate Baldwin.[19][20][21][22][23]The Wall Street Journal wrote, "The way that [Kate Baldwin] and Cheyenne Jackson sing "Old Devil Moon" is the stuff best-selling cast albums are made of."[24] The show closed on January 17, 2010. Along with the company of Finian's Rainbow, Jackson recorded the Broadway revival cast album in early December 2009, with a release date of February 2, 2010.[25]
From 2009 through 2013, Jackson had a recurring role on the award-winning series 30 Rock playing Danny Baker. Jackson also portrayed Dustin Goolsby, the coach of "Vocal Adrenaline", the main rival of "New Directions", on the second season of FOX's show Glee.[33]
He has guest starred on several television series, including Lipstick Jungle, Life on Mars, and Ugly Betty, and was featured in a prominent guest role during Season 8 of Curb Your Enthusiasm. His character "Terry" was the personal trainer to Larry David and Wanda Sykes. On March 15, 2010, Jackson made his guest-starring debut on the NBC series Law & Order in an episode entitled "Innocence".[34]
In 2008, Jackson played series lead Sebastian Kinglare for the Lifetime Television pilot Family Practice opposite Anne Archer and Beau Bridges.[35] The series was not picked up for distribution.
In 2010, Jackson filmed a sitcom pilot for ABC-TV called It Takes a Village, co-starring Leah Remini, which was not picked up for the fall 2010 season.[36]
In 2012, Jackson and Nathan Lane were cast as series leads in the USA Network comedy pilot Local Talent. The series was not picked up for distribution.
Additionally, Jackson guest starred on the pilot episode of NBC's revamp of The Munsters, Mockingbird Lane, written by Bryan Fuller and directed by Bryan Singer. Jackson portrayed Scout Master Steve, a competing love interest for Portia de Rossi's character Lily Munster; the show also stars Eddie Izzard and Jerry O'Connell.[37] NBC aired the pilot as a Halloween special on October 26, 2012.
Jackson also appeared in the fifth season of American Horror Story as one of the leads alongside Lady Gaga and Matt Bomer. Jackson returned to the show's sixth season to play Network Executive Sidney Aaron James as well as the seventh season to play psychiatrist Dr. Rudy Vincent Anderson and the eighth season of the show to play warlock John Henry Moore.
Jackson made several appearances on RuPaul's Drag Race. He also appeared in the tenth episode of Season 2 of Sense8 as Blake Huntington, an award-winning actor who is cast opposite Miguel Ángel Silvestre's Lito Rodríguez in a Hollywood film. In 2019, he played the role of Hades, Mal's father in the Disney Channel Original Movie Descendants 3.
In 2022, Jackson competed in season seven of The Masked Singer as "Prince" of Team Good who resembles a frog dressed as a prince. He finished in third place.[41]
In March 2009, Jackson made his nightclub debut at Feinstein's at Loews Regency with a sold-out one-man show titled Back to the Start.[9] He later teamed up with Michael Feinstein to create a nightclub act titled "The Power of Two".[44][45][46][47][48] A CD of the show was released on November 3, 2009.
The Power of Two, a concert reuniting Jackson and Feinstein, was presented at Carnegie Hall on October 29, 2010.[49][50] Jackson was the guest artist performing with the New York Pops in concert, Cheyenne Jackson's Cocktail Hour: Music of the Mad Men Era, at Carnegie Hall on November 18, 2011.[51] Joe Dziemianowicz of The New York Daily News wrote, "There, in Judy (Garland)'s spot singing Joni (Mitchell)'s song, (Cheyenne) Jackson turned the bittersweet ballad into a beautiful highlight in an evening filled with luscious moments with the New York Pops."[52]
On May 10, 2012, Jackson released his single "Drive", his first non-theatrical single and his first music video release. The video was directed by Austrian music video director Christian Hörlesberger and the track produced by Thomas "Tawgs" Salter. It was the first single released from I'm Blue, Skies, which was eventually released in June 2013. The album was co-written by Jackson with Sia, Stephen "Stevie" Aiello, and Charlotte Sometimes.[55]
On July 10, 2012, Jackson released his second single from I'm Blue, Skies, "Before You", also produced by Salter. In August 2012, "Before You" reached a peak of No. 31 on the Hot 100 AC chart.[56]
In 2013, he released three singles, "She's Pretty, She Lies", "Look at Me", and "I'm Blue, Skies", followed in 2015 with the single "Don't Wanna Know", all accompanied by music videos. On June 3, 2016, Jackson released Renaissance,[7] an album on the PS Classics record label, adapted and expanded from his solo concert Music of the Mad Men Era.
In the media
Jackson appeared on the March 26, 2008, cover of The Advocate. In 2008, he was named "Entertainer of the Year" by Out and appeared alongside Gus Van Sant, Katy Perry, and Sam Sparro on the cover of the magazine's commemorative 100th issue in December. In April 2010, he appeared on the cover of Canadian fab magazine under the title "Cheyenne Jackson: I Love New York" with photographs by Mike Ruiz. He also appeared on the cover of Out's November 2010 issue. In July 2012, he appeared on the cover of attitude.
Charity work
Jackson is an LGBT rights advocate. He is an international ambassador for amfAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research).[57]
Jackson is also a national ambassador and spokesperson for the Hetrick-Martin Institute, a non-profit organization devoted to serving the needs of LGBT youth.[58][59][60]
Personal life
Jackson is gay.[61] He began dating Monte Lapka, a physicist, in 2000. The two married on September 3, 2011, in New York City.[62][63][64] In July 2013, they announced plans to divorce.[65] They filed for divorce in September 2013.[66]
In October 2013, Jackson announced he was dating actor Jason Landau on his official Instagram account.[67] They announced their engagement in February 2014[68] and married in Encino, California, in September 2014.[69] Jackson and Landau became the parents of twins, a girl named Willow and boy named Ethan, in October 2016.[70]
Jackson has discussed his struggles with alcoholism,[71] and in 2023 said that he had relapsed after 10 years of sobriety.[72]
^ abJackson, Cheyenne (February 21, 2021). "Cheyenne Jackson: Depression, Identity & Broadway". Mayim Bialik's Breakdown (Interview). Interviewed by Mayim Bialik. Event occurs at 12:30; 18:13 – via YouTube. I remember sitting in the audience in Spokane, Washington, where I was born, by the way...; My birthday is July 12, 1975
^Teachout, Terry (October 30, 2009). "It's Funny But Is It Art?". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 30, 2009. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
^Jackson, Cheyenne (2004). "I Blame Liza ..."CheyenneJackson.com. Archived from the original on August 15, 2008. Retrieved September 14, 2008. i don't know if you will remember this liza, but i sang backup for you with the broadway inspirational voices a couple years ago? ... I do remember, Cheyenne, you were terrific! ... she shouted out!
^Suskin, Steven (June 26, 2009). "Cabarets Change Menu". Variety. Archived from the original on November 29, 2021. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
^Siegel, Barbara; Siegel, Scott (March 6, 2009). "The Power of Two". TheaterMania. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2009.
^Healy, Patrick (November 13, 2009). "Breaks of the Game". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 17, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
