Singer

Janet Jackson stepped out from the shadow of her famous musical brothers, including superstar Michael Jackson, with the release of her 1986 album, Control. Though she had recorded two albums previously, and acted in several television series, she was primarily regarded as Michael's baby sister until her two hits, "What Have You Done for Me Lately" and "Nasty," began vanishing from record stores, propelling Control to the top of Billboard's album charts. Proving that she was no fluke, Jackson handily followed her 1986 success with the critically acclaimed 1989 album Rhythm Nation 1814, which featured the popular "Miss You Much."

Born in the mid-1960s in Gary, Indiana, Janet was the last of Joseph and Katherine Jackson's nine children. By the time she was four, five of her brothers had risen to nationwide fame as the Jackson Five; eventually this fame led to the family's move to a suburb of Los Angeles, California. According to Aldore Collier in Ebony, Janet's childhood desire to become "a horseracing jockey" was quickly pushed to the side after her father heard her voice on tape. But singing was not the first avenue that brought her to the attention of audiences. When Janet was nine, a television appearance on one of her brothers' variety specials led to producer Norman Lear's recruiting her for his situation comedy, "Good Times." On the show she played Penny, an abused child adopted by one of the regular characters. Later Janet portrayed Charlene, the girlfriend of Willis on "Diff'rent Strokes." And in her late teens, she joined the cast of the syndicated television series "Fame." As Collier phrased it, Janet grew up "before the television-viewing public, almost like a slowly blooming rose."

Meanwhile, Janet Jackson also released two albums. But they were both, in the words of People reporter Suzanne Stevens, "coolly received... co-produced by the Jackson family machine and aimed at the bubble gum set." Jackson made the first break from her whole-some, teen-idol image in 1984, however, when she surprised her family by eloping with James DeBarge. A member of another family singing group, DeBarge had been a friend of Janet since she was ten years old. Nevertheless, the marriage ended in less than a year. Speculations as to the cause of the breakup included Jackson's youth, but she told Collier: "That had nothing to do with it." Stevens claimed that "after eight months of hounding," John McClain, an executive at A&M Records, "persuaded [Janet] to annul the pact" for fear the marriage would hurt her career. Jackson blamed the heavy demands of both her and her spouse's work. She confided to Collier: "It was really hard and it just couldn't go on that way. You have to really have that free time together."

Shortly after she left DeBarge, Jackson began work on Control. According to Stevens, the new image that permeates the album and the accompanying videos was a lot of work: "McClain put Janet on a diet, sent her to voice and dance coaches for three months and shipped her to Minneapolis to record under the tutelage of [singer/songwriter] Prince proteges Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis." The result, however, was worth it. In addition to quickly selling a million copies, Control was labeled "a better album than Diana Ross has made in five years" by Rolling Stone reviewer Rob Hoerburger. Though People reviewer Ralph Novak complained of what he perceived as the album's over-instrumentation, he did comment that Jackson "can sing with such sweet clarity that it's a puzzle why anyone would insist on burying her." He also concluded that she was "clearly making a strident declaration of independence" with Control.

That "declaration," however, did not prevent Jackson from moving back to the family home after her marriage ended. She told Collier that she enjoys early morning conversations with her brother Michael, and shares his enthusiasm for exotic pets. Collier also cited Janet's "close relationship with her mother" as a benefit of this living arrangement, despite Katherine Jackson's misgivings about her daughter's sexier image. One of Control's songs in particular, "Funny How Time Flies" provoked Mrs. Jackson to remark: "I don't like that moaning at the end. I don't like it when my baby does that," according to Collier.

Though it is difficult to measure up to an album as successful as Control, Jackson appears to have done so with her fourth effort, Rhythm Nation 1814. In addition to selling well, Rhythm Nation was given an excellent rating by critic Vince Aletti of Rolling Stone. The disc is a concept album that takes on the issues of illiteracy, prejudice, homelessness, and other social problems interspersed with dance tunes; Jackson's music and themes on Rhythm Nation have evoked comparisons with Sly and the Family Stone and the late Marvin Gaye. Aletti praised the record's "simplicity and directness" and concluded that "nothing sounds slight, and everything clicks."

—Elizabeth Thomas