Happy Birthday to the Queen of Pop! Janet Turns 50!

[Nikki B.]

Today is a special day in pop music: Happy Birthday to the blueprint of today's popular music, Janet Jackson!

 

[sickwithsin]

Happy birthday!

 

[kvnwrhl]

 

_{madonna says hi}

[Mrs Yoon]

     

[Nikki B.]

Janet Jackson's Legacy & The Artists She Influenced

 

You can't deny what she did; she created this template on how to be a superstar.      

 

[Nikki B.]

Happy 50th Birthday, Janet Jackson! Here's Why This Year Will Be Her Best One Yet

 

 

Janet Jackson has spent over 30 years giving us the gift of music, but this year is all about giving her the best gift of her life.

 

Today marks the pop icon's 50th birthday, and something tells us that this is the mark to her best year yet. Along with continuing to deliver music that gets fans excited and singing into their hair brush, and putting together a world tour, Jackson is about to embark on the greatest journey she's ever been on—motherhood.

 

Earlier this month, E! News confirmed that the singer is pregnant and expecting her first child with hubby Wissam Al Mana. A source told E! News at the time that Janet is in her second trimester of pregnancy and that she and Al Mana have been working with a fertility specialist.

 

Jackson's made it no secret over the years that this is something she's wanted for quite some time.

 

"And I think that if I'm really supposed to have kids, it will happen, if that's God's plan for me," she told Harpers Bazaar in 2009.

 

Jackson

in 2010 at the For Colored Girls junket that people had been asking her whether the Rhythm Nation would be hearing the pitter-patter of little feet anytime soon "for a long time, for years," and once again, she directed the question to a higher power.

 

"You have to ask God," she smiled, somewhat coyly. "And once you ask Him, will you let me know what he says?

 

"I would love to, I would love to have a family," she continued, "but it's in God's hands. So if it's meant to be, it'll happen. I hope it does."

 

And here we are. Happy birthday, Janet, and may you enjoy this new chapter that will lead you to one of the greatest gifts you've received.

 

E! News

[Nikki B.]

Janet Jackson Turns 50! That Grape Juice’s Top 5 Videos

 

We Celebrate Queen of Pop's Milestone Birthday With Countdown...

 

 

Janet Jackson, music’s reigning Queen of Pop, has hit a monumental milestone. The youngest of the legendary Jackson clan celebrates her 50th birthday today!

 

A trailblazer, a pioneer, and the boldest of blueprints for countless artists after her, Janet’s success narrative is rendered all-the-more resonating because she still possess “it†in abundance.

 

To mark the momentous occasion, we here at That Grape Juice are counting down our all-time top 5 Janet videos. With a career spanning over four decades and so many classics to choose from, it was no easy task.

 

Check out our list below and let us know what you think…

 

5) TIE!

 

‘All For You’ [2001]

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFnPBiAk5JA

 

By the year 2001, Janet had amassed a flavour of acclaim that would have easily rendered her a legend had she not released anything else. Yet, instead of resting on her catalogue of classic hits, she instead added another to the lengthy list with the title track to her 7th studio album.

 

A #1 for 7 weeks on the Hot 100, the song’s success was fuelled by its colorful visual. Flirty, fun, and filled with fierce choreography, this still slays today.

 

‘Rock With U’ [2008]

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY7Qc_VMKmk

 

This â€˜Discipline’ dance jam isn’t even a particular favourite of ours as a song. Yet to deny the brilliance that was its accompanying video would be criminal.

 

The definition of “ahead of its time,†the clip earns the honour of being one of (if not the first) modern video to employ the “one-take†edit. Note that there aren’t any transitions, no cuts, or jumps – a fact which only adds to its epic-ness.

 

We love us some â€˜Dammn Baby,’ but “this†serves as the definitive mould of what Janet at this stage of her career is capable of churning out. Innovative, effortlessly sexy, and authentically edgy.

 

4) ‘ The Pleasure Principle’ [1986]

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-gu1KETjVY

 

Before becoming famed for her military-like dance formations, ‘Pleasure’ emphasized Ms. Jackson’s ability as a solo force.

 

Paired with little else than a mirror and a chair, this classic video is one that has been emulated many times. But, as the age old adage goes, nothing tops the original!

 

 3) ‘Alright’ [1989]

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrpwU4sDTrU

 

The visual for ‘Alright’ was one of the first (of many) instances when every component that made Janet a superstar aligned in the most mesmerizing of ways. Indeed, its potent blend of dance, theatrics, and untouchable charisma showcased Ms. Janet as the other-worldly star she is.
 

2) If [1993]

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6-RRoDL9YA

 

Come the release Janet’s eponymous effort in 1993, she had delivered such compelling content visually that talk turned to whether she could top herself.

 

‘If’ silenced the speculation – and then some.

 

Gothic, grand, and gorgeous, the video delivered Janet in dynamite diva mode.

 

Despite the clip’s moody mise en scène, Jackson remained the sole focus – as a seductress, as a provocateur, and, without doubt, the dominator.

 

It’s widely accepted that ‘If’ boasts the most legendary dance-break of all-time too.

 

     1) ‘Rhythm Nation’ [1989]

 

 

Need we say more? Every credible artist possess a magnum opus and for Ms. Jackson it’s undoubtedly ‘Rhythm Nation.’

 

As a song, as an album, and as a movement, it’s her most impactful and enduring output.

 

Its video served as a visual exclamation mark of the fact that Janet Jackson is not only a singer, dancer, and all-round performer. She is a purpose-filled force!

 

Happy Birthday!

 

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Honourable Mention

 

 

This veered oh-so-close the #1 spot in our discussions, yet given that it was largely serviced as a Michael Jackson single “featuring Janet†(despite being co-billed), we opted for an exclusively Janet list. Did we make the right choice?

 

******************

What do you think of our picks?

 

Your thoughts?

 

ThatGrapeJuice

[Nikki B.]

Entertainment Weekly: 50 Janet Jackson Photos For Her 50th Birthday 

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[Gyujin]

Happy birthday.

[Nikki B.]

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[Nikki B.]

How Pregnant Janet Jackson Celebrated Her 50th Birthday

 

Happy belated birthday, Janet Jackson!

The pregnant musician turned 50 on Monday and celebrated with a low-key affair with only close friends and her husband, a source tells E! News exclusively. Janet is expecting her first child with husband Wissam Al Mana after working with a fertility specialist. Although she's 50, the insider tells us that the "Dammn Baby" songstress is feeling great thanks to the people she has around her.

"Her support system is extremely strong. Janet received many calls from her loved ones that couldn't be there with her on her birthday," the insider shares. "She is taking things easy these days and is feeling well but not over doing it in any capacity of her life. Janet is staying healthy for her and her baby."

News of Janet's pregnancy broke earlier this month, when another source said she was in the second trimester. The talented singer always made it clear that she wanted to have a family of her own but was never in any rush to get it started.

"I would hope my legacy would be bringing smiles to faces," she also told Harper's Bazaar magazine. "Happiness with my music. Also, to make babies. I've had so many people come up to me and say, 'My child was conceived by listening to your music.'"

"And I think that if I'm really supposed to have kids, it will happen, if that's God's plan for me," she added.

Now that she's finally pregnant, Janet "can't wait" to get started. "She's been praying for a child for a very long time," the source tells us. "She's already in the process of thinking of baby names."

Should she be blessed with a baby boy, our source says Michael Jackson's name "may be part" of the child's moniker as a tribute to her late brother. Janet's older brother, Jermaine Jackson, opened up shortly after his sister's exciting news broke and gushed about her skills as a mom. "She'll be a great mother because she is very tough, very strict," he told reporters at the AltaMed's Power Up We Are the Future Gala in Los Angeles.

"My sister Janet is my baby. She is fine but she is having a baby. A baby having a baby. We look at her like our little baby and now she's grown and having a baby," the proud brother shared before adding that Janet is "feeling fine."

Congratulations again, Janet!

E! News