Pop icon Janet Jackson turned 60 over the weekend, but how much do you know about this artist who has sold more than 100 million records in her career?
Janet Jackson is regarded as an icon of pop music. She was the youngest of the Jackson siblings, which also included the Jackson Five and Michael, but Janet went on to become one of the biggest recording artists in the world in her own right in the 1980s and 90s.
Over the weekend, Janet celebrated her 60th birthday, but how much do you know about her? Here are some facts that you might not know about Janet Jackson.
She has held a Billboard record for more than 30 years
Janet was already a star by the time she released her fourth album, Rhythm Nation 1814, in 1989, but this set her stratospheric – and claimed a record yet to be beaten.
The album went to number one on the Billboard 200, and over the years has sold more than 12 million copies. The album spawned seven singles, all of which went top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 – a feat that has yet to be beaten. It also became the first album to produce hit singles in three different calendar years – 1989, 90 and 91.
Janet’s first taste of stardom was in TV
Janet’s first brush with fame didn’t come in the recording studio – it was in a TV studio. In her childhood, Janet was a successful actress, including playing Penny Gordon in the hit sitcom Good Times from 1977. Janet also had roles in A New Kind of Family and a recurring role in Diff’rent Strokes playing Charlene Duprey in seasons three to six. She also had a role in the fourth season on dance-based drama series Fame.
Janet didn’t always want to be singer
When Janet was a child, she didn’t originally dream of being a singer like her elder brothers. Instead, Janet wanted to go to college and study law.
However, things changed when her father found a recording that she had made of her singing in her brothers’ studio. After that, he insisted she should follow her brothers’ path and go into singing – which she did.
Although it is said that Janet retains an interest in law and would still like to study it someday.
She’s the only female singer to score five back-to-back number one studio albums
Janet holds another significant recording record in the pantheon of US popular music. She is the only female solo singer of the modern era (post-1955) to score five consecutive number one studio albums on the Billboard 200. Those albums are: Control, Rhythm Nation 1814, Janet, The Velvet Rope and All for You.
She’s in a famous video – but unrecognisable
The video to Michael Jackson’s 1984 hit Thriller is one of the most famous of all time. Featuring Jackson in a B-movie horror-type world, it included a famous scene of Jackson dancing with a troupe of zombies – one that has since been referenced and parodied many times in popular culture.
But what isn’t so well known is that one of the zombies in the video was Janet. She was an extra on this, and just part of the dancers, and obviously heavily made up. But if you look carefully, she is there.
Janet was the highest-paid recording artist in the 90s
Following the success of Rhythm Nation 1814, Janet had the world at her feet. As her recording deal with A&M had ended, she was free to sign a new deal, and there were no shortage of offers. Virgin Records won out, and she signed a deal worth an estimated $32-35 million, which made her the highest paid recording artist in the world at the time.
Then in 1996, Janet renewed her deal with Virgin, this time for a reported $80 million – again making her the highest paid artist in the world, ahead of the $60 million deals that Madonna and brother Michael had signed.
