by Sarah Huth

Created on: May 27, 2008

By the time Janet was born into the Jackson family, her older brothers had already formed "The Jackson 5". As the youngest member of the Jackson clan, Janet was expected to follow in the footsteps of the children that had come before her, though she initially wanted nothing to do with show business. Years later, Janet Jackson is hailed as one of the most successful female vocalists of all time. She has made her name in both the film and television industries as well, and has established a career completely separate from that of her family. Six of her albums have debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, and she has received multiple Grammy nominations and awards. Janet Jackson is an inspirational powerhouse of talent, and has been for over twenty years.

Janet was born May 16th, 1966 in Gary, Indiana; the ninth child of Katherine and Joseph Jackson. Janet was still a baby during the early success of "The Jackson 5", and the family moved to California when she was five years old. Though she was surrounded by music, Janet longed to be a race-horse jockey. Her father, however, had other ideas, and at the age of seven she appeared on stage with her brothers in Las Vegas. She began acting in the variety show, "The Jacksons", and began playing a reoccurring role on the show "Good Times" when she was ten. She starred in "A New Kind of Family" between 1979 and 1980 and was on "Diff'rent Strokes" in 1981 and 1982. She also played Cleo Hewitt during the fourth season of the show based on the film "Fame".

Not too keen on getting into the family business, it took a while for Janet to enter the recording studio. Eventually Janet agreed to do a recording session with her brother Randy, singing the song, "Love Song for Kids" in 1978. When she was only fifteen, her father got her a contract with A&M records, and her debut album "Janet Jackson" was released in 1982. It did moderately well, and reached number six on the Billboard Hot R&B charts. Her second album, "Dream Street" came out in 1984, and its sales were far worse than her first album. That year, eighteen year old Janet eloped with her childhood friend James DeBarge, but the marriage didn't last. They divorced soon afterwords, and the marriage was annulled.

It may have seemed at first that Janet wasn't destined to walk in her older brother Michael's footsteps, but things would change with the release of her next album. In 1986, Janet released "Control", which had six major hits, including, "What Have You Done for

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