Starting out as a teenage songwriter, Jackson Browne found success writing songs for bands such as Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and The Eagles. He eventually released a self-titled debut album in 1972 and rose to immense fame with his 1997's album Running On Empty.

Throughout his life, Browne has written and sung songs about everything from politics, and love to nature. In his prime, he was known as a heart-throb.  And even at the age of 74, he is still actively making music, having released his latest work, Downhill from Everywhere, in 2021. 

Here’s a look at his personal life, including his upbringing, past marital relationships, children, current family, and dating history.

What happened to Jackson Browne in April 2023?

In April 2023, Browne's two tour shows dated April 15 (Saturday) and April 16 (Sunday)  that was supposed to be held in Sydney and Melbourne were postponed due to an unnamed illness. He made the announcement only hours prior to his performance scheduled at Sydney Supper Theatre and also canceled the next day's Melbourne concert. His statement read:

Though I have been taking antibiotics, and have had three days of vocal rest, that has not produced the results I was hoping for. In fact, I don't actually know what kind of infection I have. This means I must postpone the rescheduled Melbourne show also. I'm very disappointed, because our shows have been going so well, and we have all been so excited to play for you. I'm disappointed too, not to get to hear [supporting act] Liz Stringer. I promise to get back here at the first opportunity, and play these two shows.

How old is Jackson Browne?

As of writing, the Somebody's Baby singer is 74 years old. He was born on 9 October 1958 in Heidelberg Germany to American serviceman father Clyde Jack Browne, who worked in the U.S. Army Newspaper, The Stars And Stripes, and American of Norwegian ancestry Beatrice Amanda, a teacher by profession. Jackson has three siblings, two sisters,s and a brother. 

Who is Jackson Browne dating now?

Browne currently lives in Los Angeles with his longtime partner, Diana Cohen, @diannnaimpli, who is in her 50's, and his two children from previous marriages. Dailymail reports that he touched on mortality while seemingly connecting his girlfriend Cohen in the lyrics of Minutes To Downtown. He sings, "The years I’ve seen that fell between my date of birth and yours fade beyond the altered shore of a river changing course."

Cohen is his longtime girlfriend and a well-known environmental activist and visual artist. She is a co-founder of the Plastic Pollution Coalition, @plasticpollutes, a non-profit advocacy organization fighting globally against plastic pollution and its toxic effects. 

How many children does Jackson Browne have?

Browne has two children, both sons, from his two past marital relationships. He also has a grandson.

Jackson Browne's First Wife Committed Suicide

Browne got married to his first wife, actress, and wife Phyllis Major, in December 1975. The two had welcomed son Ethan Zane Browne two years prior to their marriage, on 2 November 1973. The young son was featured alongside Jackson Browne at six-month-old on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine in May 1974. Ethan would later work as a model and also work in the movies Hackers and Raising Helen.

Unfortunately, On 25 March 1976, Ethan lost his mother as she committed suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills while Jackson was busy on tour. He was only three years old at the time.

Jackson Brown'e Second Wife was also a model  

Browne moved on with Lynne Sweeney, whom he met in Australia during a poolside bash. The two tied the knot on January 17, 1981, and had a son, Ryan Daniel Browne, a year later.

However, Browne and Sweeney’s relationship did not last long, and they split in November 1984, after he started a public romance with actress Daryl Hannah, who was 12 years younger than him. He spoke about his failing relationship when talking with Craig Doerge.

Lynne and I are getting a divorce. We still love each other; we'll still be friends - that's not going to change. And if I told you all of this, you'd ask 'Well, then why are you breaking up?' And I just don't know what to say.

Hannah, a teen at the time, and Jackson had met during his concert in Chicago. Their separation after 10 years in 1992 was violent as the confrontation between the two left Hannah with a swollen lip, a black eye, and a broken finger. 

And although Browne accused him of beating her, she didn't press charges as Browne diene any wrongdoing. 

In 1998, Hannah told Notorious that she would love to "have someone with no problems" after admitting that she liked men of "certain darkness."   

Joni Mitchell’s Allegations Against Jackson Browne

After parting ways with Daryl Hannah, one of the women Browne got romantically involved with was singer Joni Mitchell. Things didn’t work out between the two and she later wrote the song Not to Blame, where she made several vicious claims.

A part of the lyrics read:

I heard your baby say

When he was only three

'Daddy let's get some girls One for you and one for me

 His mother had the frailty you despise

And the looks you love to drive to suicide 

The song made several remarks about Browne, including him being violent towards Hannah, driving his first wife to suicide, and painting a bad image of his then-three-year-old son.

Browne shot back at Mitchell 11 years after her song’s release, stating that what she said was 100% wrong.

Joni Mitchell is, unfortunately, she’s not really well… She’s not a happy person, and what she says in that song is absolutely, 100 percent wrong. And it’s very nasty, very, very ill, you know, very bad-spirited of her to make this kind of conjecture when in fact as she and every one of her friends know it’s all about carrying a torch for 20 years.

Browne further added that he was sick of people thinking she knew much about him, especially since they hadn’t known each other in the past 20 years. He also spoke about how it was abusive of her to write about his three-year-old son as someone who would take his mother’s death lightly.

He also accused her of physically attacking him when they were together.