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JANET JACKSON BIOGRAPHY |
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Janet Jackson was born on May 16, 1966 into a well known musical
family. She was the youngest of nine children. Janet, not
wanting to grow up in the shadow of her siblings, got some help
from creative and professional advisors outside the family.
Janet was seen as the pop funk diva of the late Eighties and
early Nineties. Janet's live performances revealed a crisp,
athletic dance technique not unlike her brother’s. Singing
wasn’t the point. Janet’s beats, and impeccable production
values were perfectly suited together, and through her music she
reveled her social and sexual independence.
In 1976 Janet made her first appearence on the popular sitcoms
Good Times and Diff’rent Strokes. In 1982, her career took a
turn when she secured a contract with A&M Records. Her father
guided and managed her. The debut album, Janet Jackson, did
yield a #6 R&B single, "Young Love." From there 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". 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 damage was done and it led to
her independence.
Janets real success came from 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", "Nasty", "When
I Think of You" and in 1987, "Control", "Let’s Wait Awhile" and
"The Pleasure Principle". In 1987 Janet dismissed her father as
manager. Her next album "Rhythm Nation" came in 1989 and
generated many more hit singles. To promote the album, Janet
embarked on her first major tour.In 1991 Virgin Records’ lured
Janet 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", recorded for the soundtrack to
the film Mo Money.
In 1993 Janet 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, her Virgin album, "janet", shot to the top of the pop
and R&B charts. |
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