Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson was born into one of the most famous families in show business, and established herself as a successful singer with a string of hits. Janet was born in 1966 in Indiana, to Katherine Jackson and Joseph Jackson, the youngest of nine children. Janet’s ambition was to be an actress, and she appeared in TV shows such as Different Strokes and Fame, but her Father was determined that she make it in the music business.

The Jackson 5 was riding high, with the original line-up of Janet’s brothers. They were Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and of course, Michael Jackson. Their younger brother, Randy, was a later addition. In 1974 it was their fame that allowed Janet Jackson to do her first public performance on stage. The family had their own television show two years later, in which Janet also appeared. The Jackson’s Show was the first variety show featuring an African American family. The Show was for CBS who wanted a show to compete with Donny and Marie Osmond who were doing a show for rival ABC.

In 1982, Janet Jackson released her first album. It was produced by soul singers, Rene Moore and Angela Winbush, and did well in the R&B charts. The second album was co-produced by Marlon Jackson and Giorgio Moroder, who had found fame as producer to Donna Summer, but it was only moderately successful. The album that really got her noticed was Control in 1986, produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The videos for the album received a lot of attention as well, and were admired for the choreography by Paula Abdul.

Janet Jackson has collaborated with other family members from time to time. She featured on an album made by her sister, La Toya Jackson and made the single “Scream” with brother Michael Jackson. She’s also been involved in recordings for Shaggy, Busta Rhymes, and Beenie Man. Jackson performed duets with Elton John, Nelly, and Carly Simon.

Janet Jackson shocked a lot of fans in 1997 with the release of her album titled The Velvet Rope. The songs dealt with serious and downbeat issues, and even Janet had changed her personal image with the addition of tattoos and piercings. The rapper Q-Tip performed on one of the tracks and another song sampled “Big Yellow Taxi,” the Joni Mitchell song.

Janet has also been able to return to her love of acting. In 1993, she starred in Poetic Justice, directed by John Singleton. Her co-stars were Tupac Shakur and Billy Zane. Peter Segal cast Janet Jackson opposite Eddie Murphy in Nutty Professor II: The Klumps.

The Super Bowl in 2004 will always be remembered for the performance put on by Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. During their duet, a so called “wardrobe malfunction” revealed part of Jackson’s nipple, causing a huge stir. Timberlake said it was an accident and apologized for the incident. There has since been speculation that the incident was actually intensional. After the incident all live award ceremonies were put on a 5 second delays in order to prevent any further displays on live television.

Janet was briefly married to the R&B singer James DeBarge, but the marriage was annulled in 1985. She was also divorced from a second marriage in 2000.

In the past few years, the public has been closely watching Janet as she dramatically gains and loses weight.

In 2004 Janet became engaged to boyfriend Jermaine Dupri when he presented her with a 20-carat yellow diamond ring surrounded by white diamonds.

Janet released her ninth studio album, 20 Years Old, in September of 2006 and was preparing for on a world tour when, according to her, her record company stopped her.

Following the release of yet another album, Discipline, in early 2008 to a less than positive reception from her fans, Janet made the decision to embark on a world tour and in May 2008 released the start date as September 20th beginning in Vancouver, Canada.

In June 2009 Janet faced the press at the annual BET awards ceremony which was dedicated to the death of her brother, Michael Jackson, who passed away just 4 days earlier in Los Angeles at the age of 50. Janet told the audience that to the world Michael was an icon, to the Jackson's he was a family member. Also attending the awards was Janet's father Joe Jackson who also spoke of the sorrow of the family at losing what he called 'the world's biggest icon'.

YUDDY