Joe Jackson was born on August 11, 1954, in Burton-on-Trent, England, but grew up in the South Coast naval port city of Portsmouth.

At age 16, Jackson played his first paying gig as a pianist in a pub next door to a glue factory just outside of Portsmouth. This was followed by other pub gigs (in which he was often trying to entertain crowds of drunken, bottle-throwing sailors) and accompanying a bouzouki player in a Greek restaurant.

At age 18, Jackson won a scholarship to study composition, piano, and percussion at London’s Royal Academy of Music. By 1978, Jackson was living in London and hawking an album-length demo, with his own band (Graham Maby, bass; Dave Houghton, drums; Gary Sanford, guitar) standing by. That demo—already called Look Sharp—eventually found its way to American producer David Kershenbaum, who was in London in the capacity of talent scout for A&M Records. Jackson was immediately signed, and Look Sharp was more professionally re-recorded in August ‘78. The Joe Jackson Band finally started to play regular gigs, and the album was released in January 1979.

Jackson’s story up to this point is much more fully, fascinatingly, and hilariously recounted in his book A Cure for Gravity. From here on, though, it becomes more a matter of public record. Look Sharp was followed within a year by the very similar I’m the Man, and in 1980 by the darker, more reggae-influenced Beat Crazy. At the end of 1980, drummer Houghton decided to quit, and Jackson decided to dissolve the band and try something new.

In 1981, Jackson recorded Jumpin’ Jive, a "musical vacation" paying tribute to swing and jump blues artists such as Louis Jordan and Cab Calloway. Returning to songwriting, Jackson spent a large chunk of 1982 in New York. The result was Night and Day, a more sophisticated and melodic record built around keyboards and Latin percussion, rather than guitars. With a new guitar-less band, Jackson hit the road for a whole year, and the album became his biggest success, going platinum in the U.S. During the tour, Jackson also somehow found time to write his first film score for James Bridges’ Mike’s Murder. (He would go on to write several more, including most notably for Francis Ford Coppola’s Tucker in 1988).

Jackson’s next album, Body and Soul (1984), was in a similar vein to Night and Day but featured a horn section (which, along with the Blue Note-inspired cover art, led many people to wrongly assume he’d made a jazz record). For Big World (1986), Jackson stripped everything down to a 4-piece again and recorded live, direct to a two-track master. In 1989, he went in the opposite direction with the majestic, semi-autobiographical Blaze of Glory and toured with an 11-piece band. Laughter and Lust (1991) was more like a mainstream (though still idiosyncratic) rock record, but another lengthy world tour left Jackson exhausted and at a creative dead end. As he sees it, his workaholic phase—which also included several film scores, a live album (Live 1980–86), an instrumental album (Will Power, 1987), guest appearances with Suzanne Vega, Ruben Blades, and Joan Armatrading, and endless touring—was over.

The 1990s brought some of his most challenging and eclectic works: the gentle, soul-searching Night Music (1994), the ambitious and original song-cycle based on the Seven Deadly Sins, Heaven and Hell (1997), and the album Jackson considers his best (and most underrated): Night and Day II (2000). The turn of the century saw a burst of creativity: Jackson won his first Grammy (Best Pop Instrumental Album for the non-traditional, non-orchestral Symphony No. 1) and published his book A Cure for Gravity.

In 2003, Jackson re-formed the original Joe Jackson Band for a stunning new album, Volume 4, and a lengthy tour. The reunion was always intended as a one-off, but it also produced a live album, Afterlife, in 2004.

By this time, Jackson was living mostly back in London. He made quite a few solo appearances, including on an unusual triple-bill tour with Todd Rundgren and the string quartet Ethel. He sang and played piano on Rickie Lee Jones’ It’s Like That and William Shatner’s Has Been (produced, arranged, and co-written by Ben Folds). He was also awarded a Fellowship by the Royal Academy of Music and an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Portsmouth.

In 2006, Jackson turned his attention back to pure songwriting and did a short trio tour with Graham Maby and Dave Houghton. Having failed to happily re-establish himself in London, he moved to Berlin, where his next album, Rain, was recorded in 2007. Consisting of ten powerful, timeless new songs, Rain creates a surprisingly epic sound with just voices, piano, bass, and drums. The trio toured for the next three years. A live album, Live Music, was released in 2011.

In 2012, Jackson released a tribute to one of his greatest musical heroes, Duke Ellington. The Duke is an often-radical re-interpretation of fifteen Ellington classics, arranged into ten tracks, and featuring an eclectic roster of guest artists including Iggy Pop, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and other members of The Roots, Sharon Jones, Steve Vai, and jazz violin star Regina Carter, who joined Jackson on the subsequent tour.

In 2015, Jackson announced the completion of his follow-up to The Duke via his official website. The album’s title, Fast Forward, and track list were confirmed in addition to North American tour dates. The titular first single was released for streaming via his official SoundCloud page.

On January 18, 2019, Jackson released the album Fool. Jackson said about the album on his website: "One of my inspirations for this album was the band I’ve been touring with on and off for the last 3 years. I’ve had many different line-ups, but this one is special." Jackson and the band performed "Fabulously Absolute" on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show on January 21, 2019. Fool debuted in the top 20 album charts in Holland, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland. In the U.S., it debuted at No. 25 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales Chart. In the UK, it entered the Indie Albums Chart at No. 13.

After a Covid-induced layoff, Jackson toured the U.S. and Europe in 2022 for a tour named "Sing, You Sinners!" featuring songs from his catalog plus a few select covers. The tour featured his band Graham Maby, bass; Teddy Kumpel, guitar; and Doug Yowell, drums.

November 24, 2023, saw the release of Mr. Joe Jackson Presents "What a Racket": The Music of Max Champion, a collection of songs written by the long-forgotten music hall performer Max Champion.

Jackson toured in 2024, touring the U.S. and Europe performing a two-part set. The first part featured solo performances from his catalog. The second part featured songs from the What a Racket album performed with a 9-piece band.

Jackson released his most recent album, Hope and Fury, in April 2026.

Jackson splits his time between New York, Portsmouth, UK, and Berlin.

Grant funding has been provided by the Middlesex County Board of County Commissioners through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund. For information on events, go to MiddlesexCountyCulture.com