Janet Jackson in a promotional photo for the album 20 Y.O. (2006).
Gary, Indiana, United States1982–present (musician/actress)
Virgin (1993–present)
| Janet Jackson | ||
|---|---|---|
Janet Jackson in a promotional photo for the album 20 Y.O. (2006).
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Janet Damita Jo Jackson | |
| Born | May 16, 1966 | |
| Origin | Gary, Indiana, United States |
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| Genre(s) | R&B, pop, dance | |
| Years active | 1977–present (actress) 1982–present (musician/actress) |
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| Label(s) | A&M (1982–1992) Virgin (1993–present) |
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| Website | JanetJackson.com | |
Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, dancer and actress. She is the youngest child of the Jackson music family and the sister of pop icon Michael Jackson. Breaking away from the shadow of her famous brother, Janet Jackson now ranks as the ninth most successful artist in the history of rock and roll according to Billboard in 2004. Jackson initially stepped into the limelight as a young actress, appearing in television shows. Jackson is well-known for her detailed dance choreography and music videos.
Jackson set out to find her own identity. She collaborated with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and the trio created Jackson's breakout album, Control (1986) and the socially-focused follow-up, Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989). In the early 1990s, Jackson signed a record-breaking recording deal with Virgin Records for the sexually-charged album janet. (1993), which was a greater success than its two predecessors. Jackson also returned to acting, starring in Poetic Justice (1993). A greatest-hits album, Design of a Decade 1986/1996 was released in 1995, and her second album released under Virgin Records, The Velvet Rope, was released in 1997.
While filming Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), Jackson continued to work on All for You (2001), which gained success on the Billboard charts.
In 2004, Jackson made headlines for her Super Bowl halftime show performance during a duet with Justin Timberlake when he exposed Jackson's right breast—Timberlake later apologized. The event became a media controversy and put a damper on the release of her album Damita Jo (2004), which failed to yield any hit singles. Jackson is currently dating and collaborating with producer Jermaine Dupri, with whom she worked on her latest album, 20 Y.O., which was released in September 2006.
In 2006, it was announced that Jackson was the "Most Searched on the Internet," and, "The Most Searched for News Item," in the Guinness Book of World Records.[1]
Janet was born the youngest of nine Jackson children in Gary, Indiana to parents Joseph and Katherine Jackson. She lived in a two-bedroom house with eight older siblings. Janet's father, Joseph, worked as a crane operator in a steel mill, and before she became a devout Jehovah's Witness, her mother, Katherine, worked as a store clerk for Sears. Before Janet's birth, her father decided to try a hand at a music career fronting the R&B band The Falcons, but never got as far as the top nightclubs in Indiana. According to reports, Janet's father was gregarious and stern, whereas her mother was deeply religious and saintly.
By the time she was a toddler, Janet's older brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael had already begun to perform on stage at nightclubs and theaters as the Jackson 5. In March 1969, the group signed to Motown Records, and by the end of the year, the group recorded their first of their four consecutive number-one singles. By the time the Jackson 5 had achieved success, the entire family re-located to Southern California, and eventually settled in a gated mansion they named Hayvenhurst in Encino, CA in 1971.
Aspiring to be a horse jockey, Janet had no intention of entering show business. However, after the success of the Jackson 5 began to diminish, Joseph decided to bring the rest of his children into the spotlight. On April 9, 1974, Janet made her public debut performance at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with nearly all nine members of the Jackson family. Janet quickly became the star of the show, emulating various celebrities of the day such as Cher, Marie Osmond, Toni Tennille, and Mae West.
By 1976, the Jackson family's Vegas act had caught the attention of CBS president Fred Silverman. The network was desperately trying to find a new variety act to replace the recently ended Sonny & Cher Show, since ABC had a competing show featuring Donny and Marie Osmond. Debuting on June 16, 1976, The Jacksons show became the first African-American family to have a variety show on TV. The show lasted only two seasons and was canceled in 1977.
Jackson always had an interest in music, writing her first song at the age of nine, but she never aspired to be a professional singer. Nonetheless, she agreed to participate in music to help her family. Her first ever recording was a duet with her brother Randy on a song titled 'Love Song for Kids' in 1978. She participated in her family's other recordings particularly with sister LaToya and brother Michael.
In 1981, Jackson and her two older sisters LaToya and Rebbie wanted to start their own musical group, but disagreements between the older sisters forced the group to disband before ever making a record. Instead, Janet was featured on LaToya's 1981 album called My Special Love on the song Camp Kuchi Kaiai.
Although she was asked by her father Joseph to start a singing career, Jackson was uncomfortable with being in the recording studio; she felt she was not as vocally talented as her sister Rebbie or her brother Michael, who was becoming a solo pop superstar. Nonetheless, at the age of sixteen, she released her debut album, entitled simply Janet Jackson (1982), though the teenager protested that her last name should not have been on the cover. Produced by soul singers Angela Winbush, Rene Moore, and Leon Sylvers of the famed Sylvers family music group, the album reached the top ten of the Billboard R&B album charts, and spent forty-five weeks in the top fifty of that chart but was much less successful on the Billboard pop albums chart. The album yielded three singles, Young Love, Say You Do and Come Give Your Love to Me. The album Janet Jackson sold over 250 thousand copies at the time of its release.
In 1984, Jackson, then 18, released her second album, titled Dream Street. It marked a musical progression from her debut, with funkier, up-tempo production by brother Marlon and famed disco producer Giorgio Moroder, producer of songs for artists such as Donna Summer. The album failed to make the top one hundred of the Billboard pop album charts but did reach number nineteen on the R&B chart. Though Dream Street scored a Top 10 R&B hit with Don't Stand Another Chance, sales of Dream Street were about half of her debut's. Critics soon began to dismiss Jackson's career as a pop star.
Around the same time, Jackson fell in love and eloped with James DeBarge, a member of the Motown family group DeBarge. The marriage was annulled in March 1985 with DeBarge's drug habit often cited as the reason. It has long been alleged, but not conclusively proven, that Jackson and DeBarge produced a daughter who was born after their breakup. Also it is alleged that the child lives with Rebbie Jackson, her sister. After the marriage was annulled and after years of dealing with being a member of a world-famous family, Jackson began to search for independence.
After the limited success of her first album, A&M A&R John McClain hired producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to enliven the music career of the nineteen-year-old Jackson. Before leaving for Minneapolis, however, the producers were given the blessing of Jackson's father, who was her manager at the time, after they promised him that Jackson would not sound anything like Prince. Within months, Jackson, Jam, and Lewis crafted the record Control, through which Jackson told her life story.
| When I was seventeen, I did what people told me. |
Control, released February 1986, became a hit, spawning five Top 5 singles, including her first number one single When I Think Of You. The album became a breakthrough record for Jackson partly due to the singles' music videos that showcased dynamic dance moves choreographed by Paula Abdul.
Control featured What Have You Done For Me Lately, The Pleasure Principle, and the ballad Let's Wait Awhile. The album went to the top of the Billboard 200 album chart and sold over five million copies in America by the end of 1986. Control was awarded a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year, six Billboard Music Awards, four American Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards, and three Soul Train Music Awards including Album of the Year. That same year, Jackson took a step towards her independence: she fired her father-manager, Joseph Jackson.
In 1989, Jackson began recording her fourth album, Rhythm Nation 1814—1814 is the year the song "The Star Spangled Banner" was written; also, 'R' is the 18th letter of the alphabet and 'N' is the 14th, hence 1814. Executives at A&M wanted a record that was similar to Control, but Jackson was determined to do the exact opposite. She presented a mixed bag of socially-conscious tracks (inspired by the work of Marvin Gaye and Joni Mitchell), danceable New Jack Swing tunes, a rare rock number, and several romantic ballads.
Producers Jimmy Jam, and Terry Lewis, originally wanted the album's more upbeat tracks to be housed on the first half on the album, with the socially-conscious material featured on the second half. Jackson disagreed. She thought the album had an important message and pushed it to be the record's main focus.
| We are a nation with no geographic boundaries, bound together through our beliefs, we are like-minded individuals, sharing a common vision, pushing toward a world rid of color-lines. |
Released in September 1989, Rhythm Nation 1814 went to number one on the Billboard 200 album chart, and R&B album chart. The first single, Miss You Much, went to number one. A long-form video which included Miss You Much, The Knowledge and Rhythm Nation was shot by director Domenic Sena (See also Rhythm Nation 1814 Film). The video represented a coming together of all people, and took a social stance on issues such as bigotry, ignorance, and education. Miss You Much and Rhythm Nation were shot in black and white and featured elaborate military-style choreography and costumes. The set went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Long Form Video.
Rhythm Nation 1814 sold six million copies by the end of the following year, and became the first album to spawn seven Top 5 singles Alright and Come Back To Me, as well as four number one singles: Miss You Much, Escapade, Black Cat, and Love Will Never Do (Without You).
In 1990, Billboard awarded the album with the #1 Selling Album of the Year award. Jackson won multiple awards including fifteen Billboard Music Awards, five American Music Awards, four Soul Train Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards, and her first Grammy Award.
Jackson went on a tour, Rhythm Nation 1814 Tour, to promote the album. Seen by over 2 million people, it is still the most successful premiere tour ever. She became the first artist to score a #1 hit simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100 and Mainstream Rock singles chart with Black Cat in 1990. The song's rock influence was a departure from her other work. The video served as a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the Rhythm Nation 1814 Tour. The album scored four number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, and the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart and three number one singles on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.
In an effort to take a turn with her image, Jackson decided to shoot a sexy video with photographer Herb Ritts, for the final single, Love Will Never Do (Without You). The video proved to be a turning point for Jackson. She was no longer the shy little girl that the public had known. Instead, she was a fully developed woman who had carved out her place in music history.
In 1991, Jackson and long-time boyfriend, Rene Elizondo Jr., were secretly married in a private ceremony. Both hid their marriage from the public for almost a decade.
Before Jackson released her follow-up to Rhythm Nation 1814, she was freed from her contract with A&M Records. When Jackson signed to Virgin Records in 1992, it was a media event. Her $40 million deal was the largest recording deal in history. It set the stage for her Virgin debut, the album, titled janet., or janet period. The eclectic set featured everything from pop, to rock, to dance and funk, and even opera. Janet's long-time partner, Rene Elizondo, was quoted as saying, "this album is so hot, it should be packaged with a condom." Janet, wanting to be recognized in her own right, dropped the surname 'Jackson.' The album became the first by a female artist to debut at number #1 during the soundscan era.
Janet decided to return "through the back door", as she described it, kicking off the album's lead single with a slow sensual ballad, rather than a dance track like she had done previously. The first single, That's The Way Love Goes, became the first and only single in radio history to enter the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart at number one. Within weeks it became number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Janet returned with a new look, which included her signature tight abdomen.
In July 1993, Janet made her screen debut in the John Singleton directed, Poetic Justice. Janet's most successful ballad, Again, was featured on the film's soundtrack. The single went to number one and garnered Janet a Golden Globe and Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song From A Motion Picture.[2]
janet became the first album of the Nielsen SoundScan era to debut in the U.S. at number one, and it reached number one in twenty-two countries, sold seventeen million copies, and won several awards, including a Grammy Award. It was the fourth best-selling album of the year in the U.S., and the eighth biggest selling album of the following year on the year end Billboard Top Albums chart.
The album spawned other five Top 10 hit singles: If, You Want This, Again, Any Time, Any Place, and Because of Love. Janet produced a racy video for the single Any Time, Any Place featuring herself in numerous sexual positions with another actor. Jackson included a message of safe sex in the video. The song stayed afloat at the top of the R&B charts for 10 weeks.
In September 1993, Janet appeared topless on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. The cover became one of the most celebrated photos ever taken of a rock artist, and Rolling Stone named it their 'Most Popular Cover Ever' in 2000. In a precursor of her Super Bowl controversy, Janet was criticized for the explicitness of the photograph, but she shyly insisted that the male hands covering her breasts belonged to her husband.
| We have the kind of night when morning comes too soon. We use the light from a flickering candle across the room to make the kind of shadows that only one thing could make.... Love. |
The janet. Tour began in November 1993 and played for 12 full months to packed audiences all around the globe, ending in April 1995.
After years of reservations, Janet decided to collaborate with her brother, Michael Jackson, on the 1995 single, Scream, the lead single from his first greatest hits collection. The song lashed out at the media, and a futuristic music video was created with the help of director Mark Romanek, showing off both artists' style of dance and fashion.
In October 1995, she released her first Greatest Hits package, Design of a Decade 1986/1996. The album focused primarily on her A&M period, but contained one Virgin Records track, That's the Way Love Goes. Two new songs were recorded for the package, Runaway, and Twenty Foreplay.
| Twisted elegance... It's my belief, that we all have the need to feel special... and it's this need that can bring out the best in us... yet the worst in us... this need created... The Velvet Rope. |
In 1996, Janet re-signed with Virgin for a reported $80 million,[3] which made her the highest paid female recording artist of all time. Around the same time, she was trying to create a concept for her sixth album, and had suffered clinical depression. The result was a dark, self-revealing project, The Velvet Rope (1997). In September 1997, the album's lead single, Got 'Til It's Gone was released. The single sampled the Joni Mitchell classic, Big Yellow Taxi and featured a guest spot by rapper, Q-Tip.
Janet returned with a new image, which included piercing, and tattoos, one of which, the Sankofa, an Akan symbol meaning, we must go back and reclaim our past so we can move forward,[4] was featured on the inside of her wrist.
Fans were taken aback by the album's content. Songs dealing with domestic abuse, depression, low self-esteem, isolation, and S&M, made up the bulk of the album's content. Velvet Rope's cover, shot by photographer Ellen von Unwerth, featured Janet with her head down, in a defeated-like pose, with only the word, Janet, glazed over top of the image—the glazed letters were invisible except in reflections, so they do not appear in pictures of the cover; they were not included on later pressings of the album. Many speculated stories behind the songs, but Janet has remained quiet. Rope became her fourth number-one album on the Billboard 200.[5] In 1998, Janet set out on a world tour, The Velvet Rope Tour, hitting Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia.
The album yielded a total of four hit singles. The second single Together Again, an upbeat, musical tribute to her friends who had died of AIDS, became a hit. A portion of the sales from the single, were donated to AIDS research. The funky, Go Deep, and I Get Lonely, were both successful. The last single, Every Time, produced a stunning music video, with Jackson being filmed underwater.
Around the release of The Velvet Rope the media speculated that Jackson's relationship with Rene Elizondo, had fallen apart. Both Jackson and Elizondo admitted later, that they had become more business partners than a couple, cultivating the sounds that made Jackson's music popular. By 1999, their secret marriage was over although it was not made public until the following year. Janet explained in interviews that, having been in the public spotlight herself at a young age, she felt that announcing her marriage publicly would have a negative effect on the relationship, which was already struggling.
As her world tour in 1999 came to a close, Janet guest-vocaled on songs, Luv Me, Luv Me, with Shaggy, for the How Stella Got Her Groove Back soundtrack, and the Grammy-nominated, God's Stepchild, (Down on the Delta),What's It Gonna Be, with Busta Rhymes. Janet also contributed vocals on the Blackstreet song, Girlfriend/Boyfriend, and dueted with Elton John for the song, I Know The Truth. With her newfound exposure to Hip Hop, Jackson toyed with the idea of doing a full album focusing musically on the genre. As 1999 ended, Billboard Magazine ranked Jackson as the second most successful artist of the 1990s, behind Mariah Carey.
In mid-2000, Janet returned to the big screen, with her second film, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, with Eddie Murphy. Jackson also contributed to the film's soundtrack with the hit, Doesn't Really Matter. During this period, the public learned of Janet's secret longtime marriage to Rene Elizondo. The couple announced that they were separating.
In March 2001, Janet was awarded a top honor American Music Award 'Award of Merit,' and was named MTV's first 'Icon', which resulted in performances featuring Destiny's Child, N'Sync, Christina Aguilera, Usher, Britney Spears and others.[6]
| I'm 'bout to change my vibe. Today the sun's gon' shine. 'Cause I made up my mind that today will be the start of better days. Leavin' old sh.. behind and move on with my life. The blindfold's off my eyes and now all I see for me is better days. |
Shortly after, Janet's seventh album, All for You, was released in that same year. The album's number-one title track helped the album debut at number one, her fifth, in its first week of sales with more than 605,000 copies sold in the U.S. All for You would go on to sell more than three million copies in America, and spawned the Billboard hit Someone To Call My Lover. By the end of the year, All for You won Jackson her fifth Grammy Award.[7]
In 2001, Rene Elizondo later sued Janet for spousal support.[8] Their court battle ended in 2003 with the divorce finalized and Elizondo receiving half the multi-million dollar pay-off he was hoping for.[9]
After scoring a top forty single with Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song is About You)—featuring Carly Simon, the last off the album, remixed by rapper Missy Elliot—and performing her concert All for You Tour in Hawaii in 2002, she collaborated with reggae singer Beenie Man on the song Feel It Boy. Janet began working on her next album the following year, and accepted an invitation to join that following year's Super Bowl festivities.
In 2002, Janet began a relationship with hip-hop producer Jermaine Dupri.
During the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII on February 1, 2004, Jackson performed with Justin Timberlake to a live audience of more than one hundred million people. During the performance, Janet sang along with Timberlake on his song Rock Your Body. When Timberlake sang the lyric "gonna have you naked by the end of this song," he tore open Janet's top exposing her right breast, which was partially covered by a nipple shield. Timberlake called the incident a "wardrobe malfunction..." Janet apologized,[10] calling it an accident and that Timberlake was supposed to pull away the bustier and leave the red-lace bra intact; however, she later said to an interviewer for Genre magazine that she wishes she had not apologized at all.
CBS, the NFL, and MTV (then one of CBS's corporate siblings), which produced the halftime show, denied all responsibility under a hail of controversy. Janet and Timberlake confirmed those denials, but the FCC continued an investigation. As a result, CBS invited Janet to appear at the 2004 Grammy Awards ceremony to make another public apology. She declined, but Justin Timberlake apologized and appeared as both a performer and a presenter.
Jermaine Dupri, Janet's boyfriend, left his post on the Grammy Awards committee after Janet refused to apologize again for what happened at the Super Bowl. Since 2004, there have been rumors that the couple married, though they have consistently denied these reports. Dupri appeared in Janet's video for I Want You, while Janet returned the favor by appearing in Dupri's video for his 2005 single, Gotta Getcha.
In April 2004, she released her eighth studio effort, Damita Jo, with a debut at number two and opening week sales of nearly 400,000 copies. The songs released from the album, including the Prince-inspired Just a Little While, the Motown/Supremes-inspired ballad I Want You, and All Nite (Don't Stop), also performed modestly on the charts. Janet described the album as a portrait of the many personalities living inside her.[11] Damita Jo sold less than 2 million copies world wide and received nominations from the American Music Awards, Billboard Awards, Source Music Awards, BET Music Awards, and Grammy Awards including Contemporary R&B Album of the Year.
| We're vulnerable. We're sensitive and we're complicated people too. So many people rolled into one. We contain so much. So much creativity. So much energy. So many contradictions. So much confusion. So much clarity. So many moments of faith and fear. So many different characters live within us. All looking for love. |
Janet appeared as a host on Saturday Night Live on April 10, 2004, where she performed a skit that parodied the Super Bowl incident. Janet also appeared in the sitcom Will & Grace playing herself as Jack auditioned to be her back-up dancer.
Janet became the most-searched for person on the Internet in 2004.[12] Jackson was also the most-searched of 2005 on Google.com.[13]
On June 15, 2005, Janet was awarded a Humanitarian Award by the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization on behalf of her work and involvement in raising money for AIDS charities. She accepted the award saying, "what I've learned in these recent months is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it's real, it's a beautiful light that both comforts our minds and strengthens our souls. Tonight my heart is filled with gratitude for that light. I'm so grateful that prayers are answered, that faith is rewarded and tolerance is celebrated as a virtue. I'm grateful that God is of unconditional love."[14]
Janet released her ninth album September 26, 2006. The album debut at Number 2 on the Billboard 200 charts selling 296,873 copies in its first week. Jermaine Dupri, one of the executive producers, said the new album would be titled 20 Years Old, a nod to the 20th anniversary of Control, and references to how old Janet "currently feels".[15] Janet officially changed the title of the album to 20 Y.O. after a fan's suggestion during the "Design Me" contest to design a cover for a limited release.
On May 1, 2006, Janet revealed a remade song, Weekend, on her official website, along with a message stating that she had finished working on 20 Y.O. The next day, Janet left a new message saying that Weekend would not appear on 20 Y.O., and that the first single Call on Me, a duet with Nelly which became a #1 R&B hit, would be released on June 19, 2006. The single eventually premiered on Z100 radio on June 17, 2006. It was reported that a tour in support of the album is being planned.
Janet celebrated her 40th birthday on May 16, 2006, with a birthday bash at Shereen Arazms Shag in Los Angeles. Many of her former dancers attended. Janet was serenaded by singer Stevie Wonder.[16]
In May 2006, Janet was quoted saying, "I love this album, and I hate to say, 'expect an album that you'll love'—which I just said, but I love this, so hopefully everyone else will enjoy it ... and it's different, it's a little reminiscent, yet it's new and fresh."[17] Jackson's appeared on the cover of Us Weekly in June 2006 and it became the magazine's best selling issue ever, beating issues with Angelina Jolie and Jessica Simpson on the cover.[18]
On July 11, 2006, in a live radio interview on Los Angeles radio station Power 106, Janet, along with producer Jermaine Dupri, revealed that a show is being planned where Janet would perform only songs from the Control album in celebration of its twentieth anniversary. No specific date was given. A reality show for Janet's Myspace page, which has since launched, was also discussed.
On July 18, 2006, Janet launched a contest giving fans an opportunity to create the artwork for her ninth studio album 20 Y.O. The Design Me contest requires participants to download images of Janet, create proposed album covers, and to post the creations on the contest page. Janet hand-picked dozens of images, new and old, to be used in the contest. Janet is now selecting her top four favorites, which will be used for the first one million copies of 20 Y.O.[19]
In a live appearance on the BET show 106 & Park, Jackson revealed that she plans to release a fitness book and video, following the steps of sister Latoya Jackson, detailing how she has lost weight.[20]
So Excited, the second single from 20 Y.O., was released on August 28, 2006. The single is a heavy dance track, which features production designed to show off Janet's famous dance moves.
Jackson's tour in support of 20 Y.O. will begin in March 2007.[21] Rehearsals begin December 2006.
20 Y.O completes Janet's album commitment with Virgin Records. Janet says she intends on touring for decades to come: "Tina Turner does it, and look at the Rolling Stones—what are they, 95?” she said. “As long as it’s still fun for me I’ll do it—unless, God forbid, I break a hip."[22]
For complete discography and sales information see Janet Jackson discography.
