Born and raised in Toronto, Shawne Jackson is best known for her 1974 single “Just As Bad As You” and for fronting The Majestics with her brother, Jay Jackson. Their 13-piece R&B band helped define the ‘Toronto Sound’ in the late 1960s. Together, they were inspired by the Stax and Motown labels. Their few albums were recorded at Arc Sound in Scarborough. Jay Jackson originally led vocals for The Pharaohs, but Shawne recruited him since his band wasn’t gaining traction.
Her most well-recognized song, “Just As Bad As You”, was written and produced by her husband Domenic Troiano. The song reached #6 in Cashbox’s 1974 Top 10 Songs in Canada, made #9 on the spring Canadian Charts, and earned herself a Juno nomination for Female Artist of the Year. As a Playboy Recording Artist, she toured with Sweet Blindness (another Toronto band) that same year.

Her musical background began when she started singing in her church choir as a young girl, before continuing onto other productions and eventually CBC TV’s Music Hop program. After The Majestics went their ways, she joined the Stone Soul Children before that ended too. She moved to New York, pursuing clothing design and modelling while she disappeared from the limelight other than light TV soundtrack and commercial gigs. In 1973, she returned home to Toronto, performing in clubs around the city and signing a deal with Playboy Records. During this time, she met her husband Troiano. In 1980, she released “Can’t Stop Thinking About You” with El Mocambo Records.

Jackson began to dip her toes into acting during the mid 1980s. She was in Night Heat, Counterstrike, and Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood. After her husband died of cancer in 2005, she began working with Toronto East General Hospital Foundation, initiating an annual tribute to him.

Shawne and Jay Jackson’s great-grandfather, Albert Jackson, was Toronto’s first Black letter carrier. On the 135th anniversary of his first day of work, he was commemorated by the community with a plaque.