Choosing music over family cost Don Jazzy his first marriage at 22

In a whirlwind confession on his Instagram page, Michael Collins Ajereh, known professionally as Don Jazzy, revealed that he had been married before but lost his wife because he chose to pursue music. Here is all you need to know about Don Jazzy first marriage to Michelle Jackson.

Many of the stories about Ajereh have been publicly available over the years, except his relationship(s) with the opposite sex. It was the one aspect of his life that the public has never been privy to.

Of course, for someone as big as Don Jazzy in the Nigerian entertainment industry, there has been a fair share of rumours and speculations about his private affairs.

Women Don Jazzy has been linked with

Freda Fancis

The ace music producer, and CEO of Mavin record label, was linked with an Edo State beauty queen and entrepreneur known as Freda Francis. When the two showed up at Tiwa Savage’s wedding in Dubai, the media went into a frenzy with wild stories.

Freda had shown up as Ajereh’s plus-one at the event, and later, he posted a picture of himself in bed with a woman whose face was hidden. The guesses were that this mystery woman was Freda Francis.

Yet, amidst these rumours, Don Jazzy never admitted to dating her and only called her a friend in another Instagram post. It did not stop there.

Tonto Dikeh

Next, it was Tonto Dikeh that was touted as Don Jazzy’s girlfriend. Dikeh herself is not one who shied away from controversy. In November 2012, she even claimed that the music producer had been the first man she slept with, according to a Nairaland article. The ever comic music icon had replied by claiming that he was even a virgin.

The story was that they dated for a short period before breaking up but, Don Jazzy never admitted that he was in a relationship with Tonto Dikeh.

Tiwa Savage

The rumours will not be complete without him and the gorgeous singer Tiwa Savage being linked. She was under his record label Mavin before leaving it for Universal Music Group.

They were said to have been in a secret relationship because she was married to Tunji “Tee Billz” Balogun between 2013 and 2016. However, both of them have denied having any sort of relationship besides the professional one. Although, Don Jazzy did once confess having a crush on her.

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Don Jazzy’s crushes are not secret, and he has been very vocal about his crush on American singer Rihanna for the past couple of years.

This is what Riri says to me all the time but I get coconut head I no Dey hear word.

? #Away by @ayrastarr pic.twitter.com/y4n5ARUzjC

— SUPREMOS ?? (@DONJAZZY) January 24, 2021

Don Jazzy first marriage at 20

Now, away from the jokes and rumours, Don Jazzy has revealed that he was once married to a woman named Michelle Jackson about 18 years ago, in 2003. This is the most significant personal news that the singer has ever shared concerning the opposite sex.

In his Instagram post, he wrote, “for so long everyone keeps asking me when am I getting married? Well truth is almost 18 years ago I was 20 and I got married to my best friend Michelle @yarnstaswitch and it was beautiful. I loved love and I loved marriage. Michelle is soooo beautiful inside and outside with such a soft heart. [sic]”

Then, why did the marriage come to an end within just two years? The producer revealed that it was his fault and blamed it on ‘being so young and full of dreams’.

“… I went and f*cked it up cos I was giving all my time to my Music. Music became priority instead of my family,” he continued. “We got divorced when I was 22 and it hurt.”

He says that he is still ‘very much in love with’ music and that is why he is taking his time with marriage. “I wouldn’t want to marry another and fuck it up again,” he added.

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Who is Michelle Jackson that was married to Don Jazzy?

Who is Michelle Jackson, Don Jazzy ex-wife? According to the information available via her Instagram page @yarnstaswitch, Michelle Jackson is a face and headshot model based in the UK. She also works as a hair, beauty and fashion brand ambassador as well.

She is also a writer and following Don Jazzy’s announcement of her being his ex-wife, her Instagram followers grew to tp 26.6K.

Bounce interview with Ebuka

Don Jazzy says that this revelation is not just a spur of the moment thing but was borne out of his desire to be as open as possible. He said that he felt bad for not saying it on The Bounce interview he had with Ebuka which should have been a ‘tell all’.

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While he had left out the fact that he was once married, Ajereh had also opened up about some other private details on the interview that premiered on the YouTube page of Bounce radio on 1 April 2021. One such information was that he is somewhat related to legendary Galala singer Daddy Showkey.

‘Music is a jealous game’

Don Jazzy is not the first musician to mention how demanding music can be. In an interview with Afrobeats pioneer Ay.com, he had explained; “music is a jealous game, if you are doing music, you have to follow it wholeheartedly, you have to follow it 100 per cent.”

Ay.com said that he could not have continued giving fans his best and still be there for his family. Thus, he chose his family and let the music take a back seat. You can watch the full interview with Ay.com here:

When you consider other Nigerian artists like Wizkid, Davido, Burna Boy, a pattern emerges; they have chosen to remain unmarried. However, some of them have children with different partners, but the commitment to the ‘model’ or society family is lacking.

This does not mean that there are no examples of Nigerian singers who are married and still facing their music. You don’t have to look any further than the recently married Adekunle Gold and Simi or Small Doctor and his wife, and there is Olamide and Adebukunmi Aisha Suleiman as well.

Yet, the percentage of those who have failed marriages and numerous partners swing the argument in Don Jazzy and Ay.com’s favour.