This paper proposes an effective classification method named Rider Chicken Optimization Algorithm-based Recurrent Neural Network (RCOA-based RNN) to perform big data classification in spark architecture. Initially, the input data are collected from the network by the master node and then forwarded to the slave node. These nodes are responsible for storing the data and performing computations. The features are effectively selected in the slave node using the proposed RCOA. The selected features are forwarded to the master node. The big data classification is achieved in the master node by using the RNN classifier, and the training of the classifier is done using the proposed RCOA algorithm, which is the integration of the Rider optimization algorithm (ROA) with the standard Chicken Swarm Optimization (CSO). The experimentation is done by using the Switzerland dataset, Cleveland dataset, Hungarian dataset and Skin disease dataset, in which the proposed RCOA-based RNN attained better performance based on the quantitative properties, such as sensitivity, accuracy and specificity with the values of 9.3E+01%, 9.4E+01% and 9.3E+01% using Hungarian dataset. The existing learning methods failed to address the complex classification problems at a reasonable time, which is overcome by the proposed method.