Janet Jackson recounts how she rose to fame as a child singer and the role her father and other brothers played in her career.
Janet Jackson can still recall the first song she ever wrote.
It was a rainy afternoon in 1975 when she was just nine years old and feeling bored.
Her older brothers, already global superstars, had returned from a grueling world tour and were resting, leaving Janet with nothing to do.
Finding herself with time on her hands, Janet sneaked into the family’s backyard recording studio in Encino, California, and began to compose a tune she named Fantasy.
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American singer and producer, Janet Jackson
“I laid down the drum track, did the background vocals, sang, and played every instrument,” she reminisces.
After filling her empty day with creativity, she left the tape playing and went to bed without much thought. The following day after school, to her surprise, the song blared through the driveway speakers.
“I was so embarrassed. The studio door was open, and Mike was listening to it,” she recalls, referring to her brother Michael Jackson.
“Randy was there too, and my father,” she adds.
“Then my father said, ‘You’re going to sing.’
“I protested, ‘No, no, no, I want to go to college and study business law.'”
But when Joe Jackson, their father gave his instructions, his children followed.
“It was difficult to argue because look where he led my brothers,” she acknowledges.
“So I said, ‘Okay, I’ll give it a try.'”
Nearly 50 years later, Janet Jackson stands as one of the most successful recording artists in history.
With so much excitement as a child singer then Janet Jackson emulated her older brothers’ success being one of the hot shots in the music industry in America and beyond.
Janet Jackson as a child singer and now a fully blown successful adult
With groundbreaking albums like Control and Janet, she has sold over 100 million records, earned the title of MTV Icon, and, in 1990, shattered barriers by becoming the first woman nominated for Best Producer at the Grammys.
“That moment was astonishing for me,” she admits. “You’d think it would have happened long before.”
We meet backstage at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where Janet is preparing for the 73rd show of her Together Again tour, set to reach the UK in September.
Her most triumphant concert series yet, it spans her entire career, from the energetic R&B beats of “Nasty” and “Rhythm Nation” to the sultry slow jams like “That’s The Way Love Goes” and “Any Time, Any Place”—all delivered with her distinctive, sharp choreography.
Onstage, she commands attention. Offstage, she reveals a shy, softly-spoken demeanor.
“I’m not fond of talking,” she confesses. “And I’m not keen on interviews. I don’t think I’m very good at them.”
