As the youngest of the nine Jackson children, Janet Damita Jo Jackson, came into the world in 1966 just three years before her brothers were setting the stage on fire as the Jackson 5. Janet never really had any plans to enter show business, but her father, Joe Jackson, insisted she perform in the Jackson 5’s variety show at the MGM Casino in Las Vegas. Just to think that people were buying tickets to see her at the age of seven is incredible.

While her brothers became famous on the stage, Janet Jackson went in a different direction. She started playing reoccurring roles on shows like Good Times. She then played major roles in A New Kind of Family, Diff’rent Strokes, and Fame. Eventually-really do to her father’s will- she began to try to become a recording artist. With Joe Jackson served as her manager, the 15-year-old Janet Jackson released her debut album in 1982. The album reached number six on the R&B charts, but did not sell particularly well. Jackson’s second album, Dream Street, hit even lower on the charts and again failed to sell. Unable to sell records or make Janet Jackson a big ticket name, A&M Records hired Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis in 1985 to work on her next album.

Six weeks later, the duo had created Janet Jackson’s breakthrough record, Control. The album had six Hot 100 hits including “What Have You Done for Me Lately”, “Nasty”, “When I Think of You”, “Control”, and “Let’s Wait Awhile”. The album was such a success that it was nominated for 12 American Music Awards and won four. Janet had established herself as a star at the age of 20. She took control of her own career and her own music schedule on the next album.

Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 moved away from the lyrics geared toward making her a young respectful role model for young women that sold tickets in 1986 and moved closer to delivering sweeping socially charged lyrics. The album spoke about injustice, illiteracy, crime, and drugs. For two years the album could be heard on the radio and on tour, and Janet Jackson had three number one singles in three years {“Miss You Much” in 1989, “Escapade” and “Black Cat” in 1990, and “Love Will Never Do (Without You)” in 1991).The tour had more than two million people buying tickets to see her debut tour.

Her hit album finished the contract with A&R and in May 1992, Janet Jackson signed with Virgin Records. Her first album with her new record company and her fifth overall, janet, was released in 1993 and debuted at number one, making her the first female artists ever to do so. It took less than half a year for the album to reach 10 million in record sales. “That’s the Way Love Goes” reached number one o the singles list and “If”, “Because of Love”, “You Want This”, and “Any Time, Any Place” all reached the top ten.

Janet Jackson then, for the first time since she was a small child, performed with her older brother, Michael. The two sang on his first single from his album, HIStory, in 1995. “Scream” featured the siblings ion a much talked about, amazingly expensive video set on a space station. Janet Jackson proved that she was as big as a draw he could be when she renewed her contract with Virgin Records for nearly $80 million in 1996. The record company felt safe signing her for such a large sum of money because she was guaranteed to sell albums and tickets.

Janet Jackson continued her incredible success into the 21st century. Every career has its missteps and regrets and hers came during the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVII. She was performing on stage with Justin Timberlake when he pulled her bustier to reveal her right breast. Timberlake and Jackson have repeatedly apologized, explaining that a red lace bra was supposed to be underneath. The famed “wardrobe malfunction” allegedly hurt her record and ticket sales, as her next album, Damita Jo debuted at number two but only sold 942,000 albums by the end of 2004. Although most artists would consider that an excellent number, Janet Jackson had become accustomed to numbers far greater.

Her next two albums, 20 Y.O. and Discipline, had similar sales, but her concerts and tours have continued to sell tickets. Janet Jackson is sure to schedule another tour soon. Purchase your Janet Jackson tickets with the Ticket Specialists. We have the latest tour information, including schedules and seating charts for every concert.