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Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson is a visionary and trendsetting, international music icon who has created some of the most innovative, electrifying and highly personal work in pop music history.

"I like to think that my future and my past meet in my present, Janet says. They merge to make me who I am. For half of my forty years on the planet, I've been an independent artist. For good or bad, I've made my own choices. That's a beautiful blessing. And this is a beautiful moment to consider where I've been, where I'm going and, most of all, where I am now."

In 1986, Janet Jackson exploded on the international pop music scene, enlisting Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis to help her gain Control. As a child, teen and adult actress, she has acted in a variety of sitcoms and TV dramas including Good Times, A New Kind of Family, Diff'rent Strokes, Fame, The Love Boat, and Saturday Night Live. Jackson has also appeared in feature films such POETIC JUSTICE with Tupac Shakur, and NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS with Eddie Murphy.

Her second album, Rhythm Nation added to Janet's public persona something new: a fierce social conscience that addressed the issues of racism and societal intolerance. She dominated the Grammys with her slew of number one hits and her Rhythm Nation tour, the first of her career, set box office records around the world. Her superstardom was firmly established. Her first record of the nineties Janet, widened her musical aesthetic to include the exploration of deep and lyrical sensuality. A Rolling Stone cover photograph quickly earned iconic status. With its wall-to-wall hits, Janet became the biggest record of her career. Again a #1 single from the album, was nominated for a Golden Globe and Academy Award.

Later in the nineties, the Velvet Rope became the most introspective of her albums. Another runaway smash, it was time for Janet to fearlessly take her fans behind the Velvet Rope of her private thoughts, dreams and desires. The new century produced two platinum-selling successes: All For You and Damita Jo, bold ventures into her unique style of autobiographical storytelling.

"I'm proud that for twenty years people have responded to my work, Janet says reflectively. I'm proud to have stayed in the game and survived. And I'm proud that I've remained true to myself..." Janet gave us extraordinary range of her talent in 20 Y.O., her last album. As she has done for the past two decades, she not only co-wrote the songs but co-produced the record as well. 20 Y.O. moves ahead, even as it borrows from hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa in Get It Out Me, a song that, according to Jackson, deals directly with freakery.

"I'm excited—and so lucky—to have fans whose devotion has sustained me over two amazing decades," she says. Janet is currently at work on her next album.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2008.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

Janet Jackson Facts

Birth NameJanet Dameta Jackson
OccupationMusician, Actress
BirthdayMay 16, 1966 (57)
SignTaurus
BirthplaceGary, Indiana, USA
Height5' 4" (1m63)  How tall is Janet Jackson compared to you?
Awards1994 MTV Movie Awards: Best Female Performance (for Poetic Justice)
1994 MTV Movie Awards: Most Desirable Female (for Poetic Justice)

Selected Filmography

Janet Jackson
Janet
Ep 1
Ep 14
Ep 1- Movin' In
Poetic Justice
Ep 38
Continue » Find more details on the Janet Jackson Movies page