Janet Jackson Write-up

Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16 1966), better known as Janet Jackson or simply Janet, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actress. Jackson is one of the top ten selling artists in the history of contemporary music; ranked by Billboard magazine as the ninth most successful act in rock and roll history, and the second most successful female artist in pop music history, selling over 100 million albums worldwide. Guinness World Records lists her as the world's most searched-for person in Internet history. Her recent film Why Did I Get Married?, for which she won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, became her third consecutive film to open at number one at the box office, following Poetic Justice (1993) and Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), while her recent album Discipline became her sixth number one album placing her in second place among female artists for the most number one albums behind Barbra Streisand's eight chart-toppers.

Since 1986, Jackson has scored thirty-one number-one singles on various Billboard charts, and is the only recording artist ever to score five or more top ten singles from three consecutive albums. Jackson has also scored eighteen top ten singles in Europe. In addition to her commercial accomplishments, Jackson has won five Grammy Awards, received a nomination at the 66th Academy Awards, and had a star placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1990. Recently, she was placed on Forbes Top 10 Richest Women in Entertainment list.

Early life

Janet Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana, the daughter of Katherine Esther (née Scruse) and Joseph Walter Jackson. She is the youngest of the nine Jackson children. The family was of lower-middle-class and devout Jehovah's Witnesses. By the time she was a toddler, Janet's older brothers: Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael had already begun to perform on stage at nightclubs and theaters as the Jackson 5. In March 1969, the group had a record deal with Motown Records, and by the end of the year the group recorded the first of their four consecutive number-one singles. The Jackson 5's success allowed the entire family to move to the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles, California in 1971. The Jacksons settled in a gated mansion that they referred to as "Hayvenhurst."

Recording career

1982-1985: Janet Jackson and Dream Street era

While Janet initially had apprehensions about starting a music career, she did agree to participate in recording sessions with her family. Her first recording was a duet with brother Randy on a song titled "Love Song for Kids" in 1978. When Janet was fifteen, Joe launched her recording career by arranging a contract with A&M Records. Her debut album Janet Jackson was released in 1982 and produced by soul singers Angela Winbush, René Moore and noted producer Leon F. Sylvers III (who had previously worked with the The Whispers, Lakeside, Shalamar, Dynasty) of the famed Sylvers family music group. In 1984, Jackson's second album, Dream Street was released. The album peaked at number nineteen on the R&B albums chart, however, sales of Dream Street were less than that of Jackson's debut album, selling about 200,000 units in the U.S. at its time of release, and spawning no hit singles. Current sales are approximately 400,000 worldwide.

1986-1992: Control and Rhythm Nation 1814 era

After the limited successes of her first two albums, A&M Records hired producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to jump-start Jackson's music career, figuring that musically, she would be a great match with the duo. Within months, Jackson, Jam, and Lewis crafted Jackson's breakthrough album, Control. Released in February 1986, Control spun off six major Hot 100 hits in the U.S., five landing in the Top 5: "What Have You Done for Me Lately," "Nasty," "When I Think of You" (Jackson's first number one single on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart), "Control," and "Let's Wait Awhile" and the Top 20 hit "The Pleasure Principle." Most of the Control music videos, meanwhile, were choreographed by Paula Abdul.

In 1989, Jackson began recording her fourth album, Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814. 1814 referred to the year "The Star Spangled Banner" was written; in addition, 'R' is the 18th letter of the alphabet and 'N' the 14th, hence 1814. Though executives at A&M wanted an album similar to Control, Jackson instead created an album that, in addition to songs about love and relationships, had heady socially-conscious message. In 1990, Janet became the first artist to score a number-one hit simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100 and Mainstream Rock singles charts with "Black Cat." Billboard named Rhythm Nation 1814 the number-one selling album of the year. Jackson went on to win her first Grammy Award, and also won fifteen Billboard Music Awards, five American Music Awards, four Soul Train Music Awards, and three MTV Video Music Awards. The Rhythm Nation 1814 Tour had an impressive attendance of more than two million people and remains the most successful debut tour by any female artist.

1993-1999: janet. and The Velvet Rope era

With the release of the Rhythm Nation 1814 album, Jackson fulfilled her contract with A&M Records, signing a new deal with Virgin Records. In May 1992 Janet recorded a song with Luther Vandross and featuring Bell Biv Devoe and Ralph Tresvant entitled "The Best Things in Life Are Free" for the Mo' Money original motion picture soundtrack. The soundtrack single would be the sole recording from Jackson until the following spring when the first single from her fifth studio album would be released. Janet simply entitled her fifth studio album janet. Released on May 18, 1993 on Virgin Records, the album became the first by a female artist to debut at number one during the Nielsen SoundScan era. The album reached number one in twenty-two countries, selling eight million copies worldwide at its time of release with four million of those in the U.S. Jackson also won several awards, including a Grammy. In less than a year it had reached worldwide sales of over ten million copies . It was the fourth best-selling album of the year in the United States, and the eighth best-selling album on the year-end Billboard Top Albums chart during the following year. In July 1993, Jackson made her big-screen debut in the John Singleton directed, Poetic Justice. Jackson's ballad, "Again" was featured on the film's soundtrack, and garnered a Golden Globe and Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song From A Motion Picture.

In September 1993, Jackson appeared topless on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine with hands covering her breast. The cover became one of the most celebrated photos ever taken of a rock artist, also widely imitated worldwide in entertainment, notably in Bollywood for Stardust magazine; and Rolling Stone named it their 'Most Popular Cover Ever' in 2000. Jackson was criticized for the explicitness of the photograph. Janet Jackson collaborated with her brother Michael Jackson on the 1995 single, "Scream," the lead single from his album HIStory. The song debuted at #5 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart becoming the first song ever to debut in the top 5. In October 1995, Jackson's first hits compilation, Design of a Decade 1986/1996, was released via A&M Records. In 1996, Jackson renewed her contract with Virgin Records for a reported $80 million, which, at the time, made her the highest paid female recording artist of all time until Whitney Houston's deal in 2001 with Arista Records.

During the recording of Jackson's sixth studio album, she reportedly suffered from depression and anxiety—which fueled the concept behind 1997's The Velvet Rope. In August 1997, the album's lead single, "Got 'Til It's Gone" was released to radio and was moderately successful. The single sampled the Joni Mitchell classic, "Big Yellow Taxi" and featured a cameo appearance by rapper, Q-Tip. Songs dealing with domestic abuse, depression, self-esteem issues, homophobia, isolation, and S&M, made up the bulk of the album's design. The album's second single "Together Again" topped the charts. Jackson would have moderate success with the third and fourth singles; "I Get Lonely" and "Go Deep". The album became Jackson's fourth number-one album on the Billboard 200 and sold respectably at its time of release, about 2.8 million in the United States, although sales were significantly less than that of the janet. album. The album spent 74 consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, thanks to the success of the second single "Together Again". In 1998, Janet set out on the The Velvet Rope Tour—which took her on an international trek that included: Europe, North America, Africa, Asia, New Zealand and Australia. As her world tour came to a close in 1999, Jackson lent guest vocals to a number of songs by other artists, including: Shaggy's "Luv Me, Luv Me," for the soundtrack to How Stella Got Her Groove Back, the Grammy-nominated "God's Stepchild," from the Down on the Delta soundtrack, "Girlfriend/Boyfriend" with BLACKstreet, and "What's It Gonna Be?!" with Busta Rhymes. Janet also dueted with Elton John for the song, "I Know The Truth." As 1999 ended, Billboard Magazine ranked Jackson as the second most successful artist of the decade, behind Mariah Carey.

2000-2007: All for You, Damita Jo and 20 Y.O. era

In July 2000, Jackson returned to the big screen, with her second film, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, opposite Eddie Murphy. She also contributed to the film's soundtrack with the track, "Doesn't Really Matter", which became Jackson's ninth number one pop hit. In March 2001, Jackson was awarded a top honor American Music Award 'Award of Merit,' and became the first honoree of MTV's Icon celebration, which resulted in performances featuring Destiny's Child, N'Sync, Pink, Mýa, Usher, Macy Gray, Britney Spears and others. Jackson's seventh album, All for You, was released on April 24, 2001. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 selling 605,128 copies making All For You the biggest first-week sales total of Janet's career and would go on to sell more than three million copies in America. The album's title track debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart at #14, the highest debut ever for a single that wasn't commercially available. and topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for seven weeks. "All For You" also made radio and chart history when it was added to every pop, rhythmic and urban radio station that reports to the national trade magazine Radio & Records. The video for "All For You", directed by David Meyers, was a real life cartoonic setting of Los Angeles. The second single, "Someone to Call My Lover", which contained a heavy guitar loop of America's "Ventura Highway", peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. She would have just moderate success with "Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)" featuring Carly Simon (remixed by rapper Missy Elliott) which would become a Top 30 hit. It would be the third and final single from the album.

In 2002, "All for You" won Jackson her fifth Grammy Award for "Best Dance Recording". She then collaborated with reggae singer Beenie Man on the song "Feel It Boy" with moderate success, although this alienated many of Jackson's gay fans as Beenie Man has been widely condemned for his homophobic views and the lyrics of his songs which have been criticised for inciting hatred and violence against the LGBT communities. Jackson then accepted an invitation to join the 2004 Super Bowl festivities. In March 2004, Jackson's eighth studio album, Damita Jo, was released, debuting at number two. Despite the album's strong debut, its three singles: "Just a Little While," "I Want You," and "All Nite (Don't Stop)," all failed to become Top 40 hits. "Damita Jo" would continue a sales slide in Jackson's album releases. Janet had described the album as 'a portrait of the many personalities living inside her.' Damita Jo sold 1.5 million worldwide with one million of those in the U.S. Janet appeared as a host of Saturday Night Live on April 10, 2004, where she performed a skit that parodied the Super Bowl incident. She also appeared in the popular television sitcom Will & Grace playing herself, interacting with sitcom characters Karen Walker and Jack McFarland as Jack was auditioning to be one of her back-up dancers. On June 15, 2005, Janet was awarded a Humanitarian Award by the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization on behalf of her work and involvement in raising money for AIDS charities. She accepted the award saying

Janet celebrated her 40th birthday with a birthday bash at Shereen Arazms Shag in Los Angeles. In attendance were many of her former female dancers as well as singer Stevie Wonder, who serenaded her. Jackson also appeared on the cover of Us Weekly in June 2006. This issue became the magazine's best selling issue ever. Virgin Records released Jackson's ninth studio album, 20 Y.O., on September 26, 2006. 20 Years Old, a nod to the twentieth anniversary of Control (and said to reference to how young Janet feels). The album debuted at number two on Billboard's albums charts, selling over 296,000 copies in its first week. Janet launched a contest, the "Design Me" cover contest, giving fans an opportunity to create the artwork for the album by downloading images of Janet and creating proposed covers for the album. Janet hand-picked dozens of images to be used in the contest. She selected her top four favorites which were used for the first one million pressings of 20 Y.O. 20 Y.O.'s first single "Call on Me", a duet with rapper Nelly, became a moderate hit, hitting #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart; peaking higher than any release from "Damita Jo". The single also topped the R&B Chart. The second single "So Excited", however, failed on the pop charts. It did hit number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart, becoming Jackson's seventeenth number one on that chart. "With U" was the third and final single off the album but because of low album sales and lack of airplay, Virgin Records did not make a music video to support it. 20 Y.O. was eventually certified platinum but sold less than its predecessor Damita Jo. 20 Y.O. was nominated for a Grammy for "Best Contemporary R&B Album but did not win the award. The release of 20 Y.O. satisfied Jackson's contract with Virgin. In 2006, it was announced that Jackson was the "Most Searched in Internet History," and the "Most Searched for News Item," in the Guinness Book of World Records. In 2007, Jackson was ranked the 7th richest woman in the entertainment business by Forbes Magazine, amassing a fortune of over $150 million.

2008-Present: Discipline era

Jackson starred in Tyler Perry's film, Why Did I Get Married?. Filming began on March 5, 2007 and the film was released on October 12, 2007. The movie opened at number one at the box office, grossing $21.4 million in its first week, and in total, $55 million. In Feb. 2008, Jackson was nominated and won the award for NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her role in Why Did I Get Married?. In July 2007, Jackson changed labels and signed a new record contract with Island Records- under the same ownership as her first label A&M Records. Jackson's tenth studio album, Discipline, was released on February 26, 2008, under the supervision of label head Antonio "L.A." Reid. She is accompanied by Reid and Jermaine Dupri. It will be her first album for the Island Def Jam Music Group. On December 12 2007, the first single from the album, "Feedback", was leaked to select radio stations in the United States, with advertisements on some radio station websites allowing you to hear the full version of the song on demand. On December 26, 2007, the single was released on iTunes. The music video for "Feedback" premiered on BET's 106th & Park and on-line on January 8, 2008; it debuted on MTV's TRL on January 14 2008. On the Billboard Hot 100, "Feedback" started slow, but after the albums release has rebounded to #19 on the Hot 100. Jackson will receive the Vanguard Award from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) at the 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards on April 26th at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. Jackson is also working on a book that will chronicle the yo-yo weight struggle that has been a major issue in her life. The new Album peaked in America on the Billboard 200 at #1 with over 181,000 copies sold, it is her first #1 Album since All For You in 2001.

Super Bowl controversy

During the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII on February 1, 2004, Jackson performed with Justin Timberlake to a live audience of more than one hundred million people. During the performance, Janet sang along with Timberlake on his song "Rock Your Body." When Timberlake sang the lyric 'gonna have you naked by the end of this song,' he tore open Janet's top exposing her right breast, which was partially covered by a nipple shield.

Timberlake called the incident a "wardrobe malfunction." Janet apologized, although not to the network directly, calling it an accident, and saying that Timberlake was supposed to pull away the bustier and leave the red-lace bra intact. However, she would later say to an interviewer for Genre magazine that she wished she had not apologized, due to the fact that it made her seem guilty. CBS, the NFL, and MTV (CBS's sister network), which produced the halftime show, denied any knowledge and all responsibility of the incident under a hail of criticism but the FCC continued an investigation. In addition to her initial written statement, Jackson also issued a public apology during a video broadcast stating:

In 2007, CBS asserted there was no wardrobe malfunction and they believed Jackson and Timberlake had "independently and clandestinely" planned the stunt without authorization. CBS would only let Jackson and Timberlake appear on the 2004 46th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony if they each made a public apology to the network itself and not under the ruse it was a "wardrobe malfunction"; Timberlake issued an apology, Jackson did not. Jermaine Dupri, Janet's boyfriend, left his post on the Grammy Awards committee after Jackson refused to apologize again for the Super Bowl incident. The controversy surrounding the incident halted plans for Jackson to star in a made-for-TV biopic on the life on legendary singer Lena Horne for ABC-TV. Horne reportedly was displeased with the Super Bowl halftime antics and insisted that ABC pull Jackson from the project, which they did.

Television series

• 1977-1979: Good Times
• 1980-1984: Diff'rent Strokes
• 1984-1985: Fame

Films

• 1993: Poetic Justice
• 2000: Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
• 2007: Why Did I Get Married?

DVD/VHS

• 1987: Control: The Videos Part One and Control: The Videos Part Two
• 1989: Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation
• 1990: The Rhythm Nation Compilation
• 1994: Janet. (The Videos)
• 1995: Design of a Decade 1986/1996
• 1998: The Velvet Rope Tour – Live in Concert
• 2002: All for You (Special edition CD+DVD)
• 2002: Live in Hawaii
• 2004: From janet. to Damita Jo: The Videos
• 2005: Collector's Edition: Live In Hawaii + The Velvet Rope Tour
• 2007: Janet Jackson: Exposed [Unofficial]

Tours

• 1990: Rhythm Nation 1814 Tour
• 1993-1995: janet. Tour
• 1998-1999: The Velvet Rope Tour
• 2001-2002: All for You Tour
• 2008:TBA

Achievements

• In 2007, Jackson's Control and janet. were listed by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as two of the 200 Definitive Albums of All Time, coming in at #87 and #151, respectively.

• In 2007, Jackson was named by Forbes and E! Entertainment Television as one of the twenty richest women in entertainment, coming in at #7.

• According to the 2007 edition of the Guinness Book of Records, Jackson is the most-searched person on the web.

• According to Forbes Magazine, Janet has a net worth of $150 million, conservatively estimated.

• Jackson has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide and 70 million singles worldwide.

• In 2003, Jackson's Design of a Decade 1986/1996, Rhythm Nation 1814, Control, janet. and The Velvet Rope were listed on the BMG Music Club's 100 Biggest Selling Albums in the U.S. coming in at #9, #35, #58, #63 and #95, respectively.

• In 2003, Jackson's The Velvet Rope and Rhythm Nation 1814 were named by Rolling Stone Magazine as two of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, coming in at #256 and #275, respectively.

• Jackson's "Scream", with brother Michael, is featured in the Guinness Book of Records as the Most Expensive Music Video Ever Made. The video is the most expensive of all time at a cost of USD 7 million.

• "Scream" also became the first single in Billboard history to debut in the Top 5 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart. The single also made the highest debut on the Hot Dance Club Play chart at number twelve.

• Jackson's HBO special, The Velvet Rope: Live in Madison Square Garden, was watched by more than 15 million viewers. The two-hour concert crushed the ratings of all four major networks in homes that subscribed to HBO.

• Debuting at #19 on Billboard Radio Monitor R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, Jackson's "Call on Me" is the highest debuting single on that chart since TLC's "No Scrubs" debuted at no.13 in February, 1999.

• Releasing three albums in the 1990s, Jackson was named by Billboard as the second biggest female artist of the decade.

• Jackson is the only female artist in history to have five back-to-back #1 studio albums on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart.

• Jackson is the first artist to have #1 singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

• Jackson is the only artist to have seven top five singles on the Hot 100 from one album , specifically Rhythm Nation 1814.

• With sixteen #1 hits on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, Jackson is the female artist with the second most #1 singles on that chart, second only to Aretha Franklin who has eighteen.

• Janet's biggest selling single worldwide is "Together Again"; in 1998 it was the 4th biggest selling single of the year in Europe (2nd biggest for a female, only outsold by Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On"). Worldwide sales according to Virgin Records are over 6 million copies, one of the largest selling singles ever from a female artist. "Together Again" spent nearly 50 weeks in the Top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100, it also remains one of the longest charting hits in Billboard history. "Together Again" sold over 760,000 in the UK making it one of the biggest selling singles ever in the UK from a female artist, "Together Again" sold over 600,000 copies in Germany also earned a Platinum certification just 2 months after it was released. "Together Again", also went Platinum in the Netherlands, France, Belgium, South Africa, Italy, and even went Double Platinum in New Zealand.