Janet Jackson - Cast Member of the Month

 

Janet Damita Jo Jackson is the youngest child of nine born to Joseph and Katherine Jackson. Janet was born on May 17th 1966 in Gary Indiana making her star sign Taurus.

Taurus's can be described as Smart, ambitious,  unwavering, hardworking, honest and trustworthy. 

Whilst Janet was young her brothers were enjoying success as The Jackson 5.  By the time Janet was 7 she was performing in the family variety show, singing and doing impressions of Mae West.

By the time she was 10 Janet starred in  her first TV series in the role of Penny in the series Good Times.

In 1982 she would guest star multiple times on the series Good Times and under her Father's management would sign a record deal with A&M records who would release her self titled debut album layer that year.

In 1984 with the release of her second album Dream Street, Janet's Father negotiated for Janet to join the cast of Fame for the shows 4th Season in the role of Cleo Hewitt.

At the same time Janet had eloped and secretly married singer James Debarge. 

Janet didn't enjoy her time on Fame and James' drug problems caused Janet to be absent from filming meaning she only appeared in 14 of the shows 25 episodes.

Unhappy, Janet asked to be let out of her contract, had her marriage annulled and fired her Father as her manager.

She went to Minneapolis and started working with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The result was her hugely successful worldwide album Control  turning Janet into a megastar.

Hit album after album followed: Rhythm Nation 1814, janet., The Velvet Rope and All for You.

In 1990 her first tour was the most successful  debut tour of any recording artist at the time.

Janet was again secretly married,  this time to Rene Elizondo Jr, which would last until they separated in 1999 and were finally divorced in 2003.

Number one singles and film roles continued until 2004. Janet released her Damita Jo album and appeared at the Super Bowl with Justin Timberlake. A wardrobe malfunction, which resulted in part of her breast being on display live on American TV resulted in a huge backlash and album sales suffered.

Further albums 20yo and Discipline never reached the heights of her biggest albums and Janet took a break from recording music. Concentrating ln more film roles and touring.

By now Janet was now married for the third time in 2012 to Wissam Al Mana.

She released her album Unbreakable in 2016 and embarked on the Unbreakable World Tour.

The tour got short when Janet announced she was pregnant. Aged 50  in January 2017 Janet gave birth to her son Eissa. Saying that Motherhood is her number one job.

Janet and Wissam divorced in 2019.

In 2022 A&E and Lifetime released a 4 hour documentary which was 5 years in the making, with personal footage and discussion about Janet's whole life.

2023 see a new tour and more promised long awaited new music.