Janet Jackson Biography - Profile
Birth name: Janet Damita Jo Jackson
Birthday: May 16, 1966
Place of birth: Gary, Indiana, USA
Nationality: USA
Natural hair color: Black
Eye color: Brown
Height: 163 cm (5'4)
Nicknames: Dunk, Booty, Boo, J., Mama Yoke
Education / Profession:Actress, Musician, Composer,
Singer
Labels: Virgin, A&M, EMI, Alex, Import, Polygram
Music styles:
Club, Dance, Pop
First Release: Janet Jackson - 1982
Claim to fame: "Control" - 1986
Awards:
> Grammy Awards: 1989 (Rhythm Nation - Video), 1995
(Scream - Video), 2001 (All for you - Recording)
> BMI Pop Awards: 1999 (Together again)
> MTV Video Music Awards: 1987 (Nasty), 1988
(The Pleasure Principle), 1990 (Rhythm Nation), 1991 (Love Will
Never Do Without You), 1994 (If), 1995 (Scream)
> MTV Europe Music Awards: 1997
> American Music Awards:
1988, 1990, 1991, 1999, 2002
How it all started: Janet Damita Jo Jackson
was born on May 16, 1966 as the youngest of nine children in
Gary, Indiana, to devout Jehova’s Witnesses parents, Katherine
Esther Jackson and Joseph Walter Jackson. The family was
famously musical, with The Jackson 5 already performing in
nightclubs and theaters when she was still a toddler.
She herself reportedly had
no desire to become a musician, much prefering a career as a
race-horse jockey, however, as she later stated in an interview,
it wasn’t a question, it was expected – and she first joined The
Jackson 5 on stage when she was 7 on a show at MGM Casino.
In 1976, she also got acting
experience under her belt, starring with her siblings in a CBS
variety show The Jacksons and appearing in various sitcoms and
TV series, such as Good Times (1977), A New Kind of Family
(1979–1980) or Diff’rent Strokes (1981–1982).
When she was 16, in 1982,
she signed a deal with A&M arranged through her father and
released her self-titled debut, which met with a positive though
rather down-to-earth success, that however got her touring and
performing throughout the country.
Turning 18 in 1984, she
eloped contrary to the family wishes with James DeBarge –
anulling the marriage less than a year later – and also
published her sophomore album, Dream Street. This album’s
results were lower than her debut’s, according to some comments
being more of a “presence statement”.
Janet retreated to consider
her next music – and decided she has to take a different path.
She told her father she doesn’t want him to be her manager
anymore – a step she recalls in her interviews as quite
demanding – and started her long-term cooperation with producers
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The result of her taking things into
her own hands was a different kind of album – it was Control in
1986. It was sharper, aggressive, a statement on life as well as
music, and also very successful, being cited by Ms magazine as
one of the musical landmarks of the past 20 years, finally
winning Janet Jackson a full fledged, independent place in the
world of music.
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1982 - "Janet Jackson"
1 What Have You Done
For Me Lately?
