Janet Jackson recalls start of music career, ‘Control’ album and more

Janet Jackson took the liberty of creating her first song, but she had no control over the start of her music career. Speaking to the BBC, she said her father, Joe, decided she would sing after hearing her potential on the song.

“I was so embarrassed. The studio door was open and Mike was listening to it,” she said of Michael Jackson. “I think Randy was listening to it, my father was listening. Then my father said, ‘You’re gonna sing.'”    

“I said, ‘No, I want to go to the college and study business law,'” Janet recalled. She noted “it was kind of hard [to argue] because, look at where he led my brothers. So I said, ‘OK, I’ll give it a go.'”

She’d already been acting, another job she was forced into. “I don’t ever remember being asked,” she told the BBC.

With Control, Janet released herself from her dad and tapped into a sexy side with help from producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The album itself was known for its choreography, which Janet never received professional training for.

“Mother tried … putting me in ballet,” she recalled. “But I’ve got a booty. So she [the teacher] would say that I’m not tucking my butt in enough.”

“Then she hit me,” Janet added. “I was young … maybe four, five. And so mother took me out.” Janet tried again as a teen but stopped after her teacher “got a little too close to me and I felt very, very uncomfortable.”

“I remember coming out of the class and telling my mother and she said, ‘You’re never going back.’ So I never really studied,'” she said.

With her Together Again tour hitting the U.K. soon, Janet added, “I’m just thankful that people are still interested in seeing me do this.”