In 1980, Jackson released her self-titled debut. Besides the top 40 R&B and dance success of her first single, If You Feel The Funk, the album failed to generate an audience. Her three subsequent albums afterwards also showcased similar limited success, although she scored a Billboard Hot 100 hit with 1984's Heart Don't Lie, which peaked at ..56.In 1988, Jackson released the album La Toya, which featured the single, You're Gonna Get Rocked!. Neither the album nor the single managed to make an impact even though it was Jackson's first album without the leadership of her father, who was manager of her career until that year. The album also included a track called Just Say No, which was written for the "Just Say No" campaign.
In 1989, the Bad Girl album was released. Her poor management, headed by her abusive husband Jack Gordon, issued the album to countless record labels. To this day, the Bad Girl album is one of the only albums in her catalog that is still in print, and it can be found under various titles and covers.
Jackson constantly struggled to make a dent musically releasing several cover albums of country music and Motown standards in the mid-1990s. She plans to release her first album in over a decade with Startin' Over. The album had been pushed back several times; Her record label, Ja-Tail Records, LLC, distributed through Universal Music Group has issued various excuses but the release date has been moved several times and there has yet to be a concrete firm release date. The last official release date has been stated as Summer 2006.
