Who is Janet Jackson?
Janet Jackson is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is popularly known for her hit songs like “Nasty”, “When I Think and of You” and “What Have You Done For Me Lately.” Janet Jackson’s music is characterized by lyrical content which focuses on social issues and her personal experiences. She is also known for her sexually provocative records and elaborate shows.
Janet Jackson’s full name is Janet Damita Jo Jackson. She was born on May 16, 1966, in Gary, Indiana, the United States to her parents – Joe Jackson (father) and Katherine Jackson (mother). Janet Jackson is the tenth and youngest child of the Jackson family. She was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness but she later distanced herself from organized religion. As of December 2022, Janet Jackson is 56 years old.
About Janet Jackson’s parents
a. Joe Jackson
Janet Jackson’s father, Joe Jackson (born Joseph Walter Jackson) was an American talent manager and the patriarch of the Jackson family. He was born on July 26, 1928, in Fountain Hill, Arkansas, USA.
In 1949, while he was in his early 20s, Joe Jackson met and married Katherine Jackson (née Scruse). Joe Jackson was said to have had an extramarital affair with a woman called Cheryle Terrell from 1973 to 1998. This led to Katherine Jackson filing for divorce in March 1973, the year the affair allegedly began. She, however, later decided not to go through with the proceedings.
Once again, in 1982, Katherine Jackson tried to divorce Joe Jackson but she later dropped the charges again. Despite living separately, Katherine Jackson and Joe Jackson remained legally married. During the course of their marriage, Joe and Katherine Jackson had ten children together and Joe Jackson had one child with his lover, Cheryle Terrell. Joe Jackson died on June 27, 2018, after battling pancreatic cancer. At the time of his death, Joe Jackson was 89 years old.
b. Katherine Jackson
Janet Jackson’s mother, Katherine Esther Jackson is an American author and the matriarch of the Jackson family. She was born on May 4, 1930, in Clayton, Alabama, the United States and is currently 90 years old. She is popularly known for her autobiographical book, “My Family, The Jacksons.”
About Janet Jackson’s siblings
Janet Jackson has nine older siblings in total from her parents’ marriage and one half-sister from her father’s long-term affair with Cheryle Terrell.
List of Janet Jackson’s siblings
- Maureen Reillette “Rebbie” Jackson (b. May 29, 1950)
- Sigmund Esco “Jackie” Jackson (b. May 4, 1951)
- Toriano Adaryll “Tito” Jackson (b. October 15, 1953)
- Jermaine La Jaune Jackson (b. December 11, 1954)
- La Toya Yvonne Jackson (b. May 29, 1956)
- Marlon David Jackson (b. March 12, 1957)
- Brandon David Jackson (born and died March 12, 1957)
- Michael Joseph Jackson (b. August 29, 1958 – died on June 25, 2009)
- Steven Randall “Randy” Jackson (b. October 29, 1961)
- Janet Damita Jo Jackson (b. May 16, 1966)
About Joh’Vonnie Jackson – Janet Jackson’s half-sister
Joh’Vonnie Nakia Jeboo Jackson is Janet Jackson’s half-sister. She was born on August 30, 1974, to Joe Jackson and his lover Cheryle Terrell. She is currently 48 years old. In 2018, Joh’Vonnie Jackson revealed that she was snubbed by the Jacksons at music concerts and other family events.
She said:
“I have met every single last one of them, but for some reason, there has been something stopping them from accepting me, from being close to me. Of course, when I was around, there was a show of love, but once I was gone, there was no phone calls asking how I’m doing or how my daughter is doing. It’s upsetting, real hurtful and I still feel rejected. Even when my mother died in 2014, the first person who called me was their mother, Katherine and the only sibling to call was Rebbie. She’s the only one who really cares.”
Joh’Vonnie Jackson met Michael Jackson at his Neverland Ranch in 2003. At the time, she was 29 years old. About the encounter, Joh’Vonnie Jackson said:
“It was a big moment for me. But Michael was looking at me and seemed cold and standoffish. He just said hi and then he saw my daughter, Yasmine, and he was just fascinated with her, in awe. He said, ‘Hi, Jasmine,’ and I said, ‘No, Michael, her name is Yasmine with a Y’. He said, ‘Okay, Yasmine with a Y’. Then that was it. He never acknowledged that I was his sister. There was no hug or kiss, not even a handshake, no physical contact at all.”
Joh’Vonnie Jackson went on to say that while Michael Jackson was impassive towards her, he was the exact opposite with her daughter, Yasmine. She added that the preferential treatment made her jealous.
About Brandon David Jackson
Brandon David Jackson was Marlon Jackson’s twin brother. They were born on the same day on March 12, 1957, in Gary, Indiana. While Marlon survived, Brandon died some hours after birth from respiratory complications. The twins were born several weeks premature.
About Janet Jackson’s marriage and wedding
As of December 2022, Janet Jackson is a three-time divorced woman. Janet has been married and divorced three times. She was first married to James DeBarge in 1984, then to René Elizondo Jr. in 1991, and then to Wissam Al Mana in 2012. Janet Jackson was also in a relationship with Jermaine Dupri from 2002 to 2009.
List of men Janet Jackson has dated
Below is a list of Janet Jackson’s past and present boyfriends and the men she has been romantically linked with.
- Janet Jackson married James DeBarge in 1984.
- Janet Jackson dated Bobby Brown in 1988.
- Janet Jackson secretly married René Elizondo Jr. in 1991.
- Janet Jackson reportedly dated Wanya Morris in 2002.
- Janet Jackson dated Jermaine Dupri in 2002.
- Janet Jackson was rumoured to have dated Justin Timberlake.
- Janet Jackson was rumoured to have dated Magic Johnson.
- Janet Jackson and Q-Tip were rumoured to have dated. The time of this alleged affair is still obscure.
- Janet Jackson reportedly went out with Matthew McConaughey in 2002.
- Janet Jackson was rumoured to have dated Lee Ryan.
- Janet Jackson married Wissam Al Mana in 2012.
About Janet Jackson’s marriage to James DeBarge
James DeBarge (born James Curtis DeBarge) is an American R&B and soul singer. He is popularly known for being a member of the family band, “DeBarge.” James DeBarge was born on August 22, 1963, in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He is currently 59 years old.
James DeBarge and Janet Jackson met when the band, “DeBarge” made its debut on “Soul Train” and Janet Jackson was there with her sister, La Toya and her brother, Jermaine. They started dating when Janet Jackson was just 16 years old and James DeBarge was 19 years old. Eventually, they got married in 1984, when Jackson was 18 years old.
In 1984, Janet Jackson and DeBarge eloped to Grand Rapids, Michigan, the United States, where they were married by DeBarge’s uncle. On the night of their wedding, DeBarge left Janet Jackson alone in their hotel room and disappeared for about three hours. DeBarge’s drug abuse caused a lot of trouble for the couple and they finally had their marriage annulled in 1985, only a year after.
While talking about her marriage to DeBarge, Janet Jackson said:
“There were a lot of nights that I would go searching the streets, looking for him. 8 o’clock in the morning, 4 o’clock in the morning. I remember times when I would find the pills and I would take them and try to flush them down the toilet, and we would be rolling around on the floor fighting for them … I cared so much for him, and I saw the good in him as well, and I just wanted that to take precedence as opposed to this ugliness, ’cause I knew that he needed help. But I wasn’t the help that he needed.”
It was also speculated that Janet Jackson had a child with James DeBarge but chose to hide the child from their father. DeBarge fueled the rumours in 2017 when he said that the existence of his child with Janet Jackson was not a secret and that a woman had contacted him, claiming to be his daughter. However, a paternity test later confirmed that DeBarge was not related to this woman.
Speaking about the rumours of having a baby with James DeBarge, Janet Jackson said:
“Back in the day, they were saying that I had a child and I kept it secret. I could never keep a child away from James. How could I keep a child from their father? I could never do that, that’s not right.”
About Janet Jackson’s marriage to René Elizondo Jr
René Elizondo Jr is a Mexican dancer, songwriter and music video director. He was born on July 16, 1962, in Durango, Mexico and is currently 60 years old.
Janet Jackson started dating Rent Elizondo Jr in 1986, after meeting him through her sister, La Toya Jackson. They got married in 1991 but kept their marriage a secret from the public. Elizondo Jr filed for divorce in 2000, after nine years of marriage. He also sued Janet Jackson for $25 million dollars in spousal support, claiming that he signed the prenuptial agreement under duress. The lawsuit was settled in 2003, with Elizondo walking away with $10 million.
About Janet Jackson’s relationship with Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri (born Jermaine Dupri Mauldin) is an American rapper, DJ, songwriter, record producer, record executive and entrepreneur. He was born on September 23, 1972, in Asheville, North Carolina, the United States and is currently 50 years old.
After getting divorced from René Elizondo Jr, Janet Jackson started dating Jermaine Dupri. The two started dating in 2002, having met backstage at one of Jackson’s concerts. Janet Jackson and Dupri dated for seven years before parting ways in 2009. At the time of the split, a source revealed that Janet Jackson felt that their professional and personal lives were crossed (as Dupri had produced several songs for Janet Jackson at the time) and that they should have kept things separate. However, in her documentary, “Janet”, Janet Jackson revealed that the reason for the split was that Dupri was cheating on her.
Speaking about the cheating allegations, Jermaine Dupri said:
“One of the weird things is that dating Janet attracts other women. Girls wanted to talk to me more because I was dating her and I’m a man.”
Speaking about the split, Janet Jackson added:
“I heard he was cheating. But there were other things … I needed more than he was giving me. He was a workaholic and he was constantly working. As soon as he was done working, he would to go to the club. I would ask him to carve out a little time for me.”
About Janet Jackson’s marriage to Wissam Al Mana
Wissam Al Mana is a Qatari fashion mogul and businessman. He is the executive director of the family conglomerate, The Al Mana Group.
Janet Jackson and Wissam Al Mana announced their engagement in 2011 and quietly tied the knot a year later, in 2012. During the course of their marriage, Janet Jackson relocated to London, made fewer public appearances and abandoned her sex symbol persona for the Muslim garb. She was even said to have converted to Islam. Jackson got pregnant in 2016, at the age of 50. Their son, Eissa was born in January 2017. Shortly after the birth of their son, Wissam Al Mana and Janet Jackson announced their split, citing cultural differences.
However, according to Janet Jackson’s brother, Randy Jackson, Al Mana used to abuse Janet Jackson. He stated that the abuse started gradually.
He said:
“It came on later in the relationship, verbal abuse and being made to feel like a prisoner in her own home. No pregnant woman needs to go through being called a bitch every day. There were things like that. That’s what she went through.”
Al Mana denied the allegations of the abuse and even referred to Janet Jackson as the most beautiful person after their split.
Janet Jackson’s divorce from Wissam Al Mana was termed the “billion-dollar divorce” in the media with reports that the singer could be getting over $500 million in the divorce settlement.
About Janet Jackson’s kids
As of the time of publishing this article, Janet Jackson is the mother of one child. She has a son from her previous marriage to Qatari businessman, Wissam Al Mana.
a. Eissna Al Mana
Eissna Al Mana is Janet Jackson’s only son. He was born on January 3, 2017, to Janet Jackson and her ex-husband, Wissam Al Mana. He is currently 5 years old. Detailed information about Eissna Al Mana is still scarce in the media as his parents prefer to keep him out of the spotlight.
