Jackie Akinyi (Jackline Odhiambo Aringo) was born in Buturi village, Rorya District in Mara Province (Tanzania) on the 20th August 1974.
She started primary school education in 1982 up to 1989, when she joined Isango secondary school in Kinesi, Rorya District, Mara Province from Form One .
She completed her fourth form in 1992, but was not able to pursue higher education, and that’s when she started her career as an artist.
She has always loved music, especially traditional drums and songs. This love for music started way back in primary school when she used to sing in a traditional music choir and continued even after joining Secondary School.
In 1998, she started singing with Jambo Star Band of Mwanza Town, and while with them, she composed her song known as “Wawili Wawili” in the year 2000. After this song did very well on the Kenyan market, she decided to move to Kenya.
It was during the years 2004 and 2005 that she met Tabu Osusa (a music producer), who invited her to Ketebul Studios, where she recorded her first album titled KUNDI, featuring 8 tracks.