Superstar Janet Damita Jo Jackson has thrilled audiences around the world. Most recently, Ms. Jackson was on hand to present Blige with the 2022 Billboard Icon Award, an award she herself received in 2018.
When Blige then walked out to deliver her own speech, she returned the love, telling Jackson: “Speaking of icons, you were always one of our biggest inspirations growing up.”
As the tenth and youngest child of the Jackson family, she began her career performing at the MGM Grand. Later she began acting in the variety series The Jacksons in 1976 and went on to appear in other television shows throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, including Good Times, Diff'rent Strokes, and Fame.
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After signing a recording contract with A&M Records in 1982, she became a pop icon following the release of her third and fourth studio albums Control (1986) and Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989).
Her collaborations with record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis incorporated elements of rhythm and blues, funk, disco, rap, and industrial beats, which led to crossover success in popular music.
Not only on screen in her videos, but Janet has also been killing it live, in person, on tour. Janet's tours are in fact some of the most-grossing tours of all time.
The Janet World Tour, the second tour by Janet had her performing on 4 continents 18 countries within the span of 17 months with 123 shows--the most shows Janet has done for any concert.
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Total attendance for this tour is around 2.5 Million. And the Velvet Rope World Tour, Janet's third tour supporting her 6th studio album of the same name. She visited 5 continents and did 120 shows. The worldwide gross for velvet rope is... $78,000,000.
So many of us grew up watching Michael's little sister on "Good Times." Her acting talent made her stand out from the rest of the musically talented Jackson family.
At the same time, we loved when she decided to follow in her older sibling's footsteps but did it her own way. With her third album, "Control," it was clear that Ms. Jackson was now in charge.
And even now in 2016, at 50 years old, she continues to reinvent herself on and off the stage. How does she do it? Here are 5 steps Janet lives by:
1. Change up your routine often:
“I don’t like to work out, and I get bored easily,” Jackson says. “Tony [my trainer] is great. He comes up with something new all the time. When I’m getting ready for a tour, I’ll work out with the dancers to build my endurance. He’ll put us in teams, and we’ll do all sorts of drills and races. Everybody is drenched with sweat before we start one dance step.”
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2. Get slim with sports: “Tony knows that I love sports, so that’s what we’ll often do,” Jackson says. “There are times when I don’t want to run on the beach, so to get me to run on the beach, he'll bring a football. I’m just like a dog with a tennis ball—I get so excited. And we do drills. Sometimes we go to the batting cages and hit balls. He switches it up all the time. And that's what I love.”
3. Losing weight isn’t just counting calories. “For me, it's [about] being an emotional eater and learning how to deal with that,” Jackson says, noting that her past weight gain was often the result of binge eating brought on by sadness, boredom, or stress.
4. Find a trainer who gets you. “[Tony] is wonderful. He's not one of those guys always in your ear, yelling, yelling, yelling. I can't take that. That will make me say, ‘You know what? You can take all that and stick it.’ So, yeah, he's really good with me and he's very sweet.”
5. Keep workouts short, but sweat like you mean it. When prepping for a tour, Jackson works out six days a week to build up her stamina for the nonstop dance numbers. While that sounds like a lot, she doesn’t spend hours in the gym. “We'll work out for 30 minutes, 20 minutes,” she says. "And it'll be a full-blown, serious workout, with cardio and strength training.”
