Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson (born May 16, 1966, Gary, Indiana, U.S.) is an American singer and actress and the youngest member of Motown’s famed Jackson family. Starting out in the 1970s as a child actor who occasionally performed music with her siblings, Jackson parlayed her family’s success into an independent career that spanned recordings, television, and film. In the 1980s and ’90s her increasingly mature version of dance-pop music made her one of the most popular recording artists of the era and a superstar in her own right, rivaling the success of her brother Michael Jackson.

Quick Facts

Janet Jackson

• Full name: Janet Damita Jo Jackson
• Born: May 16, 1966, Gary, Indiana, U.S.
• Occupation: Pop singer and actress
• Notable albums: Control (1986), Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989), janet. (1993), Design of a Decade (1995)
• Notable films and TV shows: Good Times (1974–79), Poetic Justice (1993), Why Did I Get Married? (2007)
• Awards: 5 Grammy Awards, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2019)

The youngest Jackson sibling

Janet Jackson was born in 1966, the youngest of nine siblings in the Jackson family. At the time, the Jacksons were still living in working-class Gary, Indiana, although five of Janet’s brothers had already formed the Jackson 5, a rhythm-and-blues (R&B) group that would soon join the impressive roster of Motown talents and launch her brother Michael into pop music stardom.

In time, all the Jackson children would become involved in the entertainment industry, including Janet. As a child she appeared as a regular on the television comedy series Good Times (1974–79), and later as a teenager she had roles in the family sitcom Diff’rent Strokes (1978–86) and the dance-oriented series Fame (1982–87).

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Taking control with Control

Following an unremarkable self-titled recording debut in 1982 and a 1984 follow-up album called Dream Street, Jackson took control of her career, moved out on her own, and developed her own sound and influential style.

She reemerged in 1986 with her breakthrough record Control, which featured five singles that topped the R&B charts, including two top 10 pop hits, “What Have You Done for Me Lately” and “Nasty.” Her collaborations with the production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (based in Minneapolis) produced bold, beat-heavy, catchy songs that defined the punch and power of 1980s dance and pop music. Her lyrics conveyed that Jackson would no longer live in the shadow of her brothers, including Michael.

Jackson’s fierce independence struck a chord with the youth of the day, and she successfully established her own creative identity, releasing music videos that featured choreography and narratives that matched the celebrated video work of her most famous sibling.

Rhythm Nation 1814

Jackson returned in 1989 with her most diverse work, Rhythm Nation 1814, another collaboration with Jam and Lewis. The album delivered seven pop top 10 hit singles, including “Miss You Much,” “Escapade,” and “Love Will Never Do (Without You).” Taking a cue from the socially conscious style of Marvin Gaye and George Clinton, several songs addressed such themes as racism, drugs, illiteracy, and hunger. In a 1990 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Jackson explained her views on songwriting and her relationship with her fan base, which consisted mostly of young Black fans:

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I feel that most socially conscious artists—like Tracy Chapman, U2—I love their music, but I feel their audience is already socially conscious. It’s like college kids, that whole thing. I feel that I could reach a different audience, let them know what’s going on and that you have to be a little bit wiser than you are and watch yourself.

From janet. to a Super Bowl “wardrobe malfunction”

Jackson continued to enjoy worldwide popularity and critical acclaim in the 1990s with the albums janet. (1993), Design of a Decade (1995), and The Velvet Rope (1997). The first of these releases featured songs that expressed Jackson’s sexual confidence, with intimate and even erotic lyrics. That album’s single “That’s the Way Love Goes” garnered Jackson her first Grammy Award, for best R&B song. In 1995 Jackson and her brother Michael memorably teamed up on the song “Scream,” the video for which won them a Grammy.

Between the release of All for You (2001), which continued in the sensual vein of janet., and Damita Jo (2004), Jackson was at the center of a debate on decency standards on television. A “wardrobe malfunction” (that some argued was accidental and others said was premeditated) caused a scandal during her live performance with Justin Timberlake at the halftime show of the 2004 Super Bowl.

The scandal involved the exposure of part of Jackson’s right breast—wearing only a tassel covering her nipple—when Timberlake deliberately ripped open her top during the performance. Timberlake, CBS (the TV network that aired the Super Bowl), and MTV (which produced the halftime show) issued public apologies, and Timberlake claimed that Jackson had been wearing a red bustier under her top during rehearsal. Jackson also apologized, but she suffered much more backlash compared with her costar: Her performance at that year’s Grammy ceremony was canceled, and her videos and songs were blacklisted or restricted from playing on MTV and many radio stations. Many fans faulted Timberlake for not defending Jackson more strongly after the incident.

Later albums and acting roles

Jackson’s later albums included 20 Y.O. (2006) and Discipline (2008). Unbreakable (2015), billed as a comeback album, used contemporary electronic arrangements to bolster the velvety vocals that had established Jackson as an R&B star.

In addition to her music career, Jackson continued to act. In 1993 she made her film debut in Poetic Justice, which was directed by John Singleton and also starred rapper Tupac Shakur and actress Regina King. Jackson’s later movie credits included The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000) and Why Did I Get Married? (2007) and its sequel, Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010), both written and directed by Tyler Perry. She also appeared in For Colored Girls (2010), Perry’s adaptation of Ntozake Shange’s 1975 theater piece For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf.

In 2022 the singer’s life and career were the subject of the four-part docuseries Janet Jackson. In the series she addressed the notorious Super Bowl incident and its fallout:

Of course, it was an accident. That should not have happened, but everyone is looking for someone to blame, and that’s got to stop. Justin and I are very good friends, and we will always be very good friends. We spoke just a few days ago, and he and I have moved on, and it’s time for everyone else to do the same.

Personal life and honors

Jackson married singer James DeBarge in 1984 when she was 18 years old, but the marriage was quickly annulled. In 1991 she secretly wed dancer and music video director René Elizondo, Jr., who cowrote many of the songs on The Velvet Rope. Although their romantic relationship was known to the public, their marriage was not revealed until after the couple separated in 1999; their divorce was finalized in 2003. Jackson then married businessman Wissam Al Mana in 2012. The couple had a son, Eissa, in 2017; shortly after his birth, Jackson and Al Mana separated.

In 2019 Jackson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The following year the U.S. Library of Congress added Rhythm Nation 1814 to the National Recording Registry, a list of audio recordings deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Discover more

Jackson family tree

Michael Jackson

The Jackson 5

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