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Born
Janet Damita Jackson, May 16, 1966, Gary, Indiana
As the
baby of pop music’s best-known family, Janet Jackson
could have spent her career in the shadow of her eight
siblings, particularly brother Michael. Instead, with the
help of some savvy creative and professional advisors
outside the family, Janet established herself as the
preeminent pop-funk diva of the late Eighties and early
Nineties. Her wispy voice was a pale echo of Michael’s,
but on Janet Jackson’s albums -- and in her videos and
live performances, which revealed a crisp, athletic dance
technique not unlike her brother’s -- singing wasn’t
the point. Janet’s slamming beats, infectious hooks, and
impeccable production values were perfectly suited to the
breezy zeal with which she declared her social and sexual
independence.
As a
young child, Jackson was a tomboy who aspired to be a
jockey. When she was seven, though, her father, Joseph,
encouraged her to join her brothers -- by then famous as
the Jackson 5 -- in their music and variety act [see
entry]. (Sister LaToya joined them for several shows in
1974; the following year, La Toya, eldest sister Rebbie,
and brother Randy were all in on the act, while brother
Jermaine bowed out.) Shows in Las Vegas resulted in a
summer-replacement TV show in 1976 (on CBS), which led
Janet to roles on the popular sitcoms Good Times and
Diff’rent
Strokes.
Next,
Jackson secured a contract with A&M Records, and in
1982, while still managed and creatively guided by her
father, she released a forgettable debut album, Janet
Jackson. The album did yield a #6 R&B single,
"Young Love." Another TV role, on the series Fame,
followed, as did another unremarkable album, 1984’s Dream
Street, and another R&B hit, "Don’t Stand
Another Chance" (#9). Also in 1984, Jackson defied
her family by marrying singer James DeBarge, whose R&B
sibling act DeBarge was being hyped as a successor to the
Jacksons. The marriage was annulled after less than a
year, but the seeds of Jackson’s independence from the
family dynasty, and her father in particular, were firmly
planted.
Then John
McClain, an A&M executive and family friend, suggested
that Jackson work with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis of the
Time. Collaborating with these musicians, writers, and
producers, Jackson had her breakthrough album, 1986’s Control,
which topped the pop and R&B album charts and
spawned numerous hits: "What Have You Done For Me
Lately" (#4 pop, #1 R&B), "Nasty" (#3
pop, #1 R&B), "When I Think of You" (#1 pop,
#3 R&B), and in 1987, "Control" (#5 pop, #1
R&B), "Let’s Wait Awhile" (#2 pop, #1
R&B), and "The Pleasure Principle" (#14 pop,
#1 R&B). Helping fuel these singles were Jackson’s
highly energized, elaborately staged videos, most of which
featured movie-musical-inspired choreography by Paula
Abdul, who was discovered by Jackie Jackson, Abdul’s
boyfriend during her Los Angeles Lakers cheerleading days.
Having
asserted her adulthood and self-reliance with Control, by
1987 Jackson had dismissed her father as manager (as other
siblings had done before her) before recording Rhythm
Nation 1814. Controls successor dealt with larger
social issues, like the need for tolerance, and found Jam
and Lewis assuming more of the song- writing duties. Rhythm
Nation hit #1 in the pop and R&B charts in 1989
and generated the smash singles "Miss You Much"
(#1, pop and R&B) and, in 1990, "Rhythm
Nation" (#2 pop, #1 R&B), "Escapade"
(#1 pop, #1 R&B), ‘Alright" (#4 pop, #2
R&B), "Come Back to Me" (#2 pop, #2
R&B), "Black Cat" (#1 pop, #10 R&B), and
"Love Will Never Do (Without You)" (#1 pop, #3
R&B). To promote the album, Jackson embarked on her
first major tour, which matched the energy and spectacle
of her videos.
In 1991
Virgin Records’ owner Richard Branson lured Jackson away
from A&M with a contract worth more than $30 million.
Her final A&M project was a 1992 duet with Luther
Vandross, "The Best Things in Life Are Free"
(#10 pop, #1 R&B), recorded for the soundtrack to the
film Mo Money. In 1993 Jackson made her own movie
debut as the heroine (opposite rapper Tupac Shakur) of
director/screenwriter John Singleton’s Poetic
Justice, for which she received lukewarm reviews. That
same year, Jackson’s Virgin album, janet., shot
to the top of the pop and R&B charts, as did the
single "That’s the Way Love Goes." More Top
Ten singles followed, including "If" (#4 pop, #3
R&B, 1993) and "Again" (#1 pop, #7 R&B,
1994). Her new material was just as confrontational as,
and more aggressively sexual than, her previous work had
been; ditto for the accompanying tour, which featured
Jackson in midriff-baring costumes, interacting
suggestively with male dancers -- indeed, more reminiscent
of Madonna than of Michael. While Janet’s once
squeaky-clean image wasn’t shattered by scandal as her
brother’s was, it was clear by the early Nineties that
the littlest Jackson was nobody’s baby, and very much
her own woman.
1982 -- Janet
Jackson (A&M)
1984 -- Dream Street 1986 -- Control
1989 -- Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814
1993 -- janet. (Virgin)
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