The youngest Jackson who decided to run her own show

Janet Jackson was born in 1966 in Gary, Indiana, the youngest of ten children in a working-class family that lived in a two-bedroom house on Jackson Street. Her mother, Katherine, played clarinet, cello and piano and once hoped to be a country-and-western performer. Her father, Joe, a former boxer, operated a crane at U.S. Steel and played guitar in a local rhythm and blues band to bring in extra money for the household.

Her first fame came on television. As a child she appeared in Good Times, Diff’rent Strokes and Fame. In 1982 she signed with A&M Records and ended her business affairs with her family, a decision that set the terms for everything after. Control arrived in 1986 and Rhythm Nation 1814 in 1989, and together they brought crossover success and helped shape the fusion style known as new jack swing. Her sound and choreography fed the growth of MTV, and her lyrics took in social issues and deeply felt experience.

The 1990s brought two of the largest recording deals ever signed, both with Virgin Records. She took a leading role in the film Poetic Justice, and the albums Janet and The Velvet Rope followed. In 2001 the title track of All for You gave her a tenth US number one single.

Then came the controversy around her 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. According to the account in her biography, she faced an industry blacklisting directed by Les Moonves, then head of CBS, which cut her radio play, televised promotion and sales. She kept recording regardless, releasing albums in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2015, and her Together Again Tour of 2023 and 2024 became the highest-grossing of her career. Seven singles from Rhythm Nation 1814 reached the top five, a feat no other artist has matched, and she holds the record for the most consecutive top-ten entries on the Hot 100 by a woman.