Janet Jackson was born May 16, 1966 in Gary, Indiana. She's the youngest of 9 children born to Joe and Katherine Jackson- including Michael, Tito, Marlon, LaToya, and Jermaine. She was always a tomboy as a child- a little chubby, and given to giving her brothers as good as they got. Being the small one however did not stop her one little bit.
Growing up in the Jackson family, Janet must have felt the allure of the stage early on . Since the Jackson 5 were already stars by the time Janet was an adolescent. Her brothers already being famous caused her to probably have a significantly different lifestyle than her older brothers and sister did. This was of course due to the fact that she was born into the already famous family after the fact. Yet she would go on to easily distinguish herself even from her most famous brother.
As she got older like all adolescents she began to discover she had an apititude for many things including, dancing, acting, singing. She first appeared on stage in her brothers' show in 1973- at the age of seven. In 1977 she was offered a job as Penny on Good, on CBS. After that, she appeared on a few shows like Different Strokes She was doing sitcom acting: not terribly hard hitting but it was a job.....a highly paid job.
In 1982, she released her first album, Janet Jackson. Which was her first effort and being only sixteen years old it was quite an intersting first effort. During her first tour, she went with her mom to see The Time perform. This band ironically included- Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis- will become major contributors to her career and good friends.
In 1983, she got a role on Fame. The show, which is rather difficult to find on TV these days yet its positive upbeat mood emulated her well. With its theme of persevering even under great strain such as performance to keep trying fit Janets personality and message perfectly.
In 1984, Janet, aged 18, eloped with James DeBarge and married him. But the marriage was just not meant to be as great pressure descended on the young janet from all sources, from her budding record company, her marriage, and even her own youth. By the following March, she moved back in with her parents and had the marriage annulled. (phew) Also in 1984, Janet released her second album, Dream Street. This rather upbeat selection of dance tunes however was slightly less than well received by the public. Janet had yet to find her audience, but this was valuable experience for her as we all know her next album would catapult her into her own very bright spotlight.
The album that pulled these things together was 1986's Control. It was her first album with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis those two curious gentlemen from the Times. It transformed all of their careers. It hit number one, putting six singles on various charts. Among the charts that Janet simultaneously occupied the #1 position described the rousing welcome the album received.
The Control album signified that Janet Jackson had arrived. With her own voice and her own style "What Have You Done For Me Lately" is the voice of a woman taking control of her voice and her man, "Control" (the title track) being what the album is all about. The album was all about Janet- and who she wanted to be. Control was also significantly more sexy than her past efforts this helped to emphasize her need to be on her own taking care of herself. The singles from the album just kept coming: five of the tracks from the album became top 5 pop hits.A review for Rolling Stone magazine review called Control "a better album than Diana Ross has made in five years." Ms. magazine named the album one of the musical landmarks of the past 20 years.
By 1989, Janet released her next album, Rhythm Nation 1814. What exactly did 1814 mean? Well, R and N are the 18th and 14th letters of the alphabet, respectively... but that wasn't quite it. If, as People reviewer Ralph Novak claimed, Janet was "making a strident declaration of independence" with Control, Rhythm Nation was a few years down the road. 1814 refers to the year that Francis Scott Key wrote the "Star Spangled Banner," and the album was about some of the troubles of this Rhythm Nation. She said at the time, "Control was about my life; Rhythm Nation is about what's going on in the world around us."
Rhythm Nation was accompanied by a long-form video project, encompassing a number of the songs from the album, in a conceptually coherent form. which director Dominic Sena tried to film in the joundra of the musical dance number. It was a of course very successful as many of janets videos like "Escapade" which very nicely combined subtley surrealist scenery with a lively dance number in the foreground. It was things like this which distinguished janets work from any other.
If some tracks on Control and Rhythm Nation 1814 were hard for mother Katherine to take, janet, her 1993 follow-up, album broke all molds and expectations past. The album retains the assertiveness of Control, the political awareness of Rhythm Nation, and adds a quite frank sexual tone. Which even further distinguised janet from her earlier works. emphasizing that Janet is always growing always changing. In a way this signified Janets coming of age.
Around the same time janet was released, she starred in John Singleton's Poetic Justice. The film, about the meaning of poetry in an urban setting, gained Janet some respect for her acting abilities. We hope to see more of her film career in the future.
Since then, she's spent time building her acting skills, writing songs, and maintaining relationships. She remains close with Michael still helping him through his own ups and downs and recently worked on a the "Scream" video a land mark in both there careers as both mega stars brother and sister work side by side.
In 1995, she released Design of a Decade, which looked back on the past 10 years of music- groundbreaking then, and compelling still. It contained the obligatory few new songs- but the past hits remain the attractions they've always been. Rumor has it that janet is already writing the songs and beginning pre production for her new album rumored to be ready for the late 97. We wish her all the best. You come a long way beautiful.
The Nemesis