JANET
Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. Considered a pop icon, she is known for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreography became a catalyst in the growth of MTV, enabling her to rise to prominence while breaking gender and racial barriers in the process. Lyrical content that concerned social issues and deeply felt experiences contributed to the appeal of her work to the youth audience.
The tenth and youngest child of the Jackson family, Jackson starred in multiple television shows throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, including Good Times, Diff'rent Strokes and Fame. After signing with A&M Records in 1982, Jackson achieved global stardom with her third and fourth studio albums, Control (1986) and Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989). These projects led to crossover success in popular music, influenced the development of the new jack swing fusion genre, and established her provocative image. In the 1990s, Jackson became one of the highest-paid artists in the industry, signing two of the largest music deals of all time with Virgin Records. She cemented her status as a sex symbol with a leading role in the film Poetic Justice (1993), along with her next two studio albums, Janet (1993) and The Velvet Rope (1997). Billboard named her the second most successful artist of the decade in the United States.
In 2001, Jackson achieved her tenth US number-one single with the title track from her seventh studio album, All for You. Following the controversy surrounding her 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, Jackson experienced a career decline. She faced an industry blacklisting under the direction of Les Moonves, then-CEO of CBS, resulting in reduced radio airplay, televised promotion, and sales figures of her music catalog. The aftermath impacted the commercial performance of her eighth studio album, Damita Jo (2004). Over the next decades, Jackson continued to perform and release new music, including the studio albums 20 Y.O. (2006), Discipline (2008), and Unbreakable (2015). Her tenth concert tour, Together Again Tour (2023–2024), became the highest-grossing tour of her career.
Jackson has sold over 100 million records, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. She holds the record for the most consecutive top-ten entries on the US Billboard Hot 100 by a female artist (18) and remains the only artist in the history of the chart to have seven singles from one album (Rhythm Nation 1814) peak within the top five positions. In 2008, Billboard placed her number seven on its list of the Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists, and in 2010 ranked her fifth among the "Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years". In 2016, the magazine named her the second most successful dance club artist. Her accolades include five Grammy Awards, eleven Billboard Music Awards, eleven American Music Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and eight Guinness World Records entries. In 2019, she was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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