The Evolution of Janet Jackson
Celebrating Damita Jo's birthday with a look at her career.
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That's the Way Love Goes - Happy birthday, Janet Jackson! The singer turns 48 years old today, May 16. And what years they've been: millions of records sold (over 140 million worldwide), millions of dollars made (including record-breaking contracts), Grammys, sold-out tours, controversy, love, rumors — you name it.Read on to take a look at her legendary journey from child star to Queen of Pop.(Photo: Rob Verhorst/ Redferns/ GettyImages)
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Birth of a Rhythm Nation - Janet Damita Jo Jackson was born May 16, 1966, in Gary, Ind., the youngest of nine.(Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
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Famous Family - But of course, Janet wasn’t born into just any family. Her siblings were the Jackson 5, and she broke into showbiz by performing with them in Las Vegas at the age of seven. In 1976, she made her acting debut as co-star of the CBS variety show The Jacksons.(Photo: Courtesy CBS)
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Good Times - Janet became a star in her own right in 1977 with her recurring role as Penny on the classic sitcom Good Times, which led to a series of roles on other prominent shows, including Diff’rent Strokes and Fame.(Photo: CBS/Landov)
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Her First Album - Janet wasn’t sure she wanted to go into music, but after her father and manager, the notoriously controlling Joe Jackson, secured her a deal with A&M Records, she released her self-titled debut in 1982. The album was produced by singers Angela Winbush, René Moore and Leon F. Sylvers III under the supervision of her father, but it failed to make much of an impact.(Photo: Courtesy A&M Records)
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Dream Street - After her second album, Dream Street, more or less flopped, Janet began breaking away from her father’s iron grip. Her newfound independence from the Jackson name was symbolized perfectly by her eloping with R&B singer James Debarge in 1984 — though the marriage was annulled a year later.(Photo: Ron Galella/WireImage)
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Control - After firing her father as manager, a rapidly maturing Janet sequestered herself in Minneapolis with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to record her 1986 breakthrough, the appropriately titled Control. With sassy, aggressive songs like "Nasty," "What Have You Done for Me Lately" and "Pleasure Principle," the album, a fusion of R&B, rap, funk and pop, hit No. 1 stateside and sold over 14 million copies worldwide.(Photo: Courtesy A&M Records)
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World Tour - Janet continued to illustrate progression with her next album. When Rhythm Nation 1814 was released in 1989, it featured socially conscious lyrics, a stark, militaristic image and an industrial new jack swing sound influenced by Public Enemy producers The Bomb Squad. The album, which was accompanied by Janet's first solo world tour, sold over 14 million copies worldwide.(Photo: Courtesy A&M Records)
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Pushing Boundaries - A few years later, this 1993 Rolling Stone cover, featuring a topless Janet and the hands of her then-husband, Rene Elizondo Jr., became one of the most iconic magazine covers of all time and firmly cemented her newfound sexual boldness.(Photo: Courtesy Rolling Stone)
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Ms. Jackson, If You're Nasty - On May 18, 1993, Jackson dropped janet., her third straight No. 1 album. The album sold over 20 million copies worldwide, bolstered by her emergence as a sex symbol with hits like "That's the Way Love Goes," and solidified her as a celebrity in her own right (without the famous last name, period).Just before the album's release, she was the center of a bidding war, eventually earning a $40 million contract with Virgin Records, the highest paid agreement in music at the time. Just three years later, the contract was renewed for a reported $80 million.(Photo: Courtesy Virgin Records)
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Poetic Justice - Later that year, Janet made her big screen debut with the John Singleton-directed, Tupac-co-starring, cult classic Poetic Justice. Although it received mixed reviews, the movie opened at No. 1 at the box office and her contribution to the soundtrack, "Again," is among her most loved songs.(Photo: Courtesy Columbia Pictures)
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Scream - After nearly matching her legendary brother's superstardom with her own career, Janet guested on "Scream," the lead single to Michael Jackson's 1995 HIStory album. The eye-catching, futuristic accompanying video cost $7 million, one of the most expensive ever made.(Photo: Courtesy EPIC Records)
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The Velvet Rope - In the wake of a record-breaking $80 million contract with Virgin, Jackson blew away critics and topped the charts yet again with her sixth studio album, 1997’s The Velvet Rope, led by the hit Q-Tip /J. Dilla collabo “Got ‘Til It’s Gone.”(Photo: Courtesy Virgin Records)
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All for You - Jackson veered back to pop and dance music for her 2001 album All for You, which sold 605,000 copies its first week — a record for Janet — led by the smash title track.(Photo: Courtesy Virgin Records)
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The Malfunction - During a much-hyped performance with Justin Timberlake for the Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show in 2004, Janet had her infamous "wardrobe malfunction," accidentally exposing her breast on live TV. (Photo: Donald Miralle/Getty Images)
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Damita Jo - Just months after the controversial incident, Janet dropped her eighth studio album, the sexually charged Damita Jo, selling over 3 million copies worldwide.(Photo: Courtesy Virgin Records)
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JJ and JD - Janet and rapper-producer Jermaine Dupri shocked everybody when they started dating in 2002. The two not only made music together (although not everyone appreciated JD's influence on her 20 Y.O., released in 2006), but they also forged a personal relationship that lasted nine years, and ended amicably.(Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
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On Top - With more than two decades in the music industry, Janet has accumulated her share of No. 1 hits. In November 2009, she accordingly released Number Ones, which featured 34 of her best songs ever.(Photo: A&M, Universal Music Group)
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Tyler Perry Films - Janet made her way back to the big screen in 2010. She starred in a series of successful Tyler Perry-directed films, including Why Did I Get Married, its sequel and For Colored Girls.(Photo: Courtesy Lions Gate)
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Up Close and Personal - Janet made a triumphant return to the stage in 2011 with her Numbers Ones: Up Close and Personal worldwide tour, in support of a greatest hits album. The promotional single, "Make Me," produced by her longtime collaborator Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, became her nineteenth No. 1 on the Hot Dance Chart and made her the first artist have a No. 1 single in four different decades.(Photo: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
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Book Author - She already empowered and enlightened the world with her music, but it was time for Damita Jo to tell her story in print. In her book, True You: A Journey to Finding and Loving Yourself, Janet shared her struggles with self-esteem and emerging from the shadows of her famous older brother.(Photo: Gallery Books/Karen Hunter Publishing)
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Spokeswoman and Philanthropist - Although she spent her life in the public eye, Jackson struggled with her weight. She gained a significant amount and was being slammed by tabloids across the globe, but socked it to her critics when she signed on as a NutriSystem spokeswoman and revealed a 60-pound weight loss in 2012.Besides her own health, Janet also starred in a UNICEF PSA to help starving children, and she's been honored for her controbutions to AIDS Research, specifically, amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, for which she helped raise more than $1 million in one evening.(Photo: Nutrisystem)
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In Love - Janet announced her marriage to her third husband, Qatari businessman Wissam Al Mana, in February 2013. The couple, who married in an extremely private ceremony, had been dating for a few years and mostly kept their relationship under wraps from the paparazzi (with the occasional yacht vacation photo popping up).(Photo: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)