Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. An influential figure in popular culture, she is known for her innovative works that incorporate socially conscious and sexually provocative themes, as well as her elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreography became a catalyst in the growth of MTV, breaking American gender and racial barriers and enabling her rise to prominence. Lyrical content that concerned social issues and deeply felt experiences contributed to the appeal of Jackson's work to the youth audience.
The tenth and youngest child of the Jackson family, Jackson was a child actress, starring in the television shows Good Times (1977–1979), Diff'rent Strokes (1980–1984) and Fame (1984–1985). After signing with A&M Records in 1982 and terminating business affairs with her family, she achieved global stardom with Control (1986) and Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989). The albums led to crossover success in popular music and influenced the development of the new jack swing fusion genre. In the 1990s, Jackson became one of the highest-paid musicians, signing two of the largest music deals of all time with Virgin Records. She cemented her sex symbol status with a leading role in the film Poetic Justice (1993), and the albums Janet (1993) and The Velvet Rope (1997).
Jackson achieved her tenth US number-one single with the title track from her seventh studio album, All for You (2001). Following the controversy surrounding her 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, Jackson experienced a career decline. She faced an industry blacklisting under the direction of Les Moonves, then-CEO of CBS, resulting in reduced radio airplay, televised promotion, and sales figures of her music catalog. The aftermath impacted the commercial performance of her eighth studio album, Damita Jo (2004). Over the next decades, Jackson continued to perform and release new music, including the studio albums 20 Y.O. (2006), Discipline (2008), and Unbreakable (2015). Her tenth concert tour, Together Again Tour (2023–2024), became the highest-grossing tour of her career.
Jackson is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of over 100 million records. One of the highest-charting musicians in the history of the Billboard charts, she holds the record for the most consecutive top-ten entries on the US Billboard Hot 100 by a female artist (18) and remains the only artist in history to have seven singles from one album—Rhythm Nation 1814—peak within the top five positions. Her accolades include five Grammy Awards, 11 Billboard Music Awards, 11 American Music Awards, 10 MTV Video Music Awards, eight Guinness World Records entries, and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Life and career
1966–1985: Early life and career beginnings
Janet Damita Jo Jackson was born on May 16, 1966, in Gary, Indiana. She was the youngest of ten children in the Jackson family, a working-class African-American family living in a two-bedroom house on Jackson Street. Her mother, Katherine Esther Jackson (née Scruse), played clarinet, cello, and piano, had aspired to be a country-and-western performer, and worked part-time at Sears. Her father, Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson, a former boxer, was a crane operator at U.S. Steel and played guitar with a local rhythm and blues band, the Falcons, to supplement the family's income. Janet's great-great-grandfather, July "Jack" Gale, was a US Army scout. Family lore held that he was also a Native American medicine man. Janet grew up with two sisters (Rebbie and La Toya) and six brothers (Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Michael and Randy). Another brother, Marlon's twin Brandon, died shortly after birth. The Jacksons were devout Jehovah's Witnesses, although Janet would later refrain from organized religion.
At a young age, Jackson's brothers began performing as the Jackson 5 in the Chicago-Gary area. In March 1969, they signed a record deal with Motown, and soon had their first number-one hit. The family then moved to the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles. Jackson had initially desired to become a horse racing jockey or entertainment lawyer, with plans to support herself through acting. Despite this, she was anticipated to pursue a career in entertainment and considered the idea after recording herself in the studio.
At age seven, Jackson and her sisters performed with the Jackson 5 for their revue at the MGM Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. A biography revealed her father, Joseph, was emotionally withdrawn and told her to address him solely by his first name as a child. She began acting in the variety show The Jacksons in 1976.
In 1977, she was selected to have a starring role as Penny Gordon Woods in the sitcom Good Times. She later starred in A New Kind of Family and later got a recurring role on Diff'rent Strokes, portraying Charlene Duprey from seasons three to six. Jackson also played the role of Cleo Hewitt during the fourth season of Fame, but expressed indifference towards the series, largely due to the emotional stress of her secret marriage to R&B singer James DeBarge. Jackson later elaborated on her time on the show in an interview with Anderson Cooper, revealing that the cast would occasionally play pranks on her, but she spoke fondly of them.
When Jackson was fifteen, her father and manager Joseph Jackson arranged a contract for her with A&M Records. Her debut album, Janet Jackson, was released in 1982. It was produced by Angela Winbush, René Moore, Bobby Watson of Rufus and Leon Sylvers III, and overseen by her father Joseph. It peaked at number 63 on the Billboard 200, and number six on the publication's R&B albums chart, receiving little promotion. The album appeared on the Billboard Top Black Albums of 1983, while Jackson herself was the highest-ranking female vocalist on the Billboard Year-End Black Album Artists.
At the 1983 American Music Awards, Jackson was seen wearing a hoop earring with a key attached to it. She explained that one of her chores at the Hayvenhurst family home was to clean the cages of the wild animals that Michael adopted. As she never used a keychain, she kept the cage key on a hoop earring. Since then, Jackson has worn variants of the hoop earring with key on her music videos and live performances. The hoop and key earring she used from 1987 to 1990 is currently on display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Jackson's second album, Dream Street, was released two years later. Dream Street reached number 147 on the Billboard 200, and number 19 on the R&B albums chart. The lead single "Don't Stand Another Chance" peaked at number nine on Billboards R&B singles chart. Both albums consisted primarily of bubblegum pop music.
1986–1988: Control
After her second album, Jackson terminated business affairs with her family, commenting "I just wanted to get out of the house, get out from under my father, which was one of the most difficult things that I had to do." Attempting a third album, Jackson teamed with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. They set out to achieve crossover pop appeal, while also creating a strong foundation within the urban market. Within six weeks, Jackson and the duo crafted her third studio album, Control, released in February 1986. The album shot to number one on the Billboard 200, and was certified fivefold Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), selling over ten million copies worldwide.
Control was declared "remarkably nervy and mature" for a teenage act, also considered "an alternative to the sentimental balladry" which permeated radio, likening Jackson to Donna Summer's position of "unwilling to accept novelty status and taking her own steps to rise above it." The album spawned five top five singles, "What Have You Done for Me Lately", "Nasty", "When I Think of You", "Control", and "Let's Wait Awhile", and a top 15 hit with "The Pleasure Principle". "When I Think of You" became her first number one hit on the Hot 100. Control received six Billboard Awards, including "Top Pop Singles Artist", and three Grammy nominations, such as Album of the Year. It also won three American Music Awards from twelve nominations.
At this point, Jackson was successfully "shaking off the experience of being a shadow Jackson child", becoming "an artist in her own right". The album's lyrical content included several themes of empowerment, inspired by an incident of sexual harassment, with Jackson recalling "the danger hit home when a couple of guys started stalking me on the street and instead of running to Jimmy or Terry for protection, I took a stand. I backed them down. That's how songs like 'Nasty' and 'What Have You Done for Me Lately' were born, out of a sense of self-defense."
Its innovative fusion of dance-pop and industrial music with hip-hop and R&B undertones influenced the development of the new jack swing genre by bridging the gap between the latter two styles. The accompanying music videos shot for the album's singles became popular on MTV, and obtained a then-unknown Paula Abdul a recording contract for her choreography work with Jackson. Billboard stated "[Jackson's] accessible sound and spectacularly choreographed videos were irresistible to MTV, and helped the channel evolve from rock programming to a broader, beat-driven musical mix."
In retrospect of her influence on the channel, Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly commented: "The videos from Control were all over MTV, and Janet established herself as an instantly dominant pop figure talked about in the same sentences as Madonna and her older brother Michael." MTV's Meaghan Garvey asserted "it's hard to overstate the significance of Control, whether in terms of the pop landscape, the evolution of the music video as a vessel for promotion and expression, or Top 40 feminist anthems." She also argued "it's important to note that Control self-actualization anthems were expressions of black female pride. Control spawned a whopping six videos—great ones, at that—which played an immeasurable role in the shift toward visible black pop."
1989–1992: Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 Jackson released her fourth album, Rhythm Nation 1814, in September 1989. Although her record label desired a direct sequel to Control, Jackson chose to include a socially conscious theme among various musical styles. She stated, "I know an album or a song can't change the world. I just want my music and my dance to catch the audience's attention, and to hold it long enough for them to listen to the lyrics." The album's central theme of unity was developed in response to various crimes and tragedies reported in the media.
Peaking at number one on the Billboard 200, the album was certified sixfold Platinum by the RIAA and sold over 12 million copies worldwide. Rolling Stone observed Jackson's artistic growth shifted from "personal freedom to more universal concerns—injustice, illiteracy, crime, drugs—without missing a beat." The album was also considered "the exclamation point on her career", consisting of a "diverse collection of songs flowing with the natural talent Jackson possesses", which effectively "expanded Janet's range in every conceivable direction", being "more credibly feminine, more crucially masculine, more viably adult, more believably childlike." With singles "Miss You Much", "Rhythm Nation", "Escapade", "Alright", "Come Back to Me", "Black Cat" and "Love Will Never Do (Without You)", it became the only album to achieve seven top five singles on the Hot 100. Additionally, "Miss You Much", "Escapade", "Black Cat", and "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" made it the first album in history to produce number one hits in three separate calendar years.