Jax (singer)

Jackie Miskanic (born May 5, 1996), known professionally as Jax, is an American singer from East Brunswick, New Jersey. She finished third on the fourteenth season of American Idol, an American singing competition series.

Early life
Jax was raised in Atlantic Beach, New York, and moved with her family in 2005 to East Brunswick, New Jersey. She began singing at age 5. Her father is a firefighter, injured on duty during the September 11 attacks, and her mother is a New York City school teacher. After attending the East Brunswick Public Schools, Jax was homeschooled starting in eighth grade, in order to allow her sufficient time for voice lessons, performances and recording.

In mid-2014, she studied at New York University in London, where she won the John Lennon Scholarship in songwriting via the BMI Foundation.

American Idol
Jax auditioned for the fourteenth season of American Idol, with the song "I Want To Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles. She sang "Toxic" by Britney Spears for her first solo audition during Hollywood Week. Jax sang The Beatles' "Let It Be" for her final solo performance. She was the only contestant out of 80 to be declared safe immediately after the performance. In April 2015, Jax became New Jersey's most successful American Idol contestant. In March 2015, she performed at the Filmore in Detroit, Michigan wearing #thedress. She performed Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart" with Steven Tyler during the show's season finale. Jax finished third in the competition, and her first single, "Forcefield", was released following the finale. In July 2015, Jax and the other top five American Idol contestants began the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2015. The tour began in Clearwater, Florida and ended on August 28, 2015 in Riverside, California. The top 3 all released a single each, the top 4 all released an extended play each, American Idol Season 14: Best of Jax - EP, and the season 14 top 9, 8, 7, 6, and 5 all released a contribution each.

Post-Idol
Jax's first post-Idol recording, "La La Land", was released on January 6, 2016. Her first music video was released later that day, for "La La Land". The song is lyrically about her experience on American Idol.

In August 2016, Jax revealed that she was battling thyroid cancer, but has been declared cancer-free since then.

In 2017 she released the EP Funny which charted at #17 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums.

In January 2021, she signed a record deal with Atlantic Records. In October 2021, her song "Like My Father" debut at #38 on the Billboard Adult Pop Airplay, her first song to chart on Billboard charts.

In November 2021, Jax posted a dramatic TikTok reading of her ex-boyfriend's apology text messages after he cheated on her. The reading was accompanied by sad violin music by Lindsey Stirling. Jax and Stirling say they received hundreds of similar text messages from fans, and plan to turn them into a TikTok series.