Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966 in Gary, Indiana, USA) is an iconic Grammy award-winning, and Golden Globe and Academy Award-nominated American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actress.

The youngest of the Jackson family, she initially stepped into the limelight in the family's 1974 Las Vegas production, 1976 television show, and later on her own as a television actress. At age sixteen in 1982, she signed a recording contract with A&M, releasing her self-titled debut album Janet Jackson that same year, followed by Dream Street (1984).

In an effort to establish her own identity apart from her famous family, Jackson teamed up with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis in the mid 1980s, creating a superstar-making partnership which has lasted to the present day. Jackson's breakout album, Control (1986), led to the Grammy-winning albums Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989), janet. (1993), The Velvet Rope (1997), All for You (2001), and Grammy-nominated albums Damita Jo (2004) and 20 Y.O. (2006).

In 1990, with the release of Black Cat from her Rhythm Nation 1814 album, Jackson became the first and only artist in Billboard history to score a #1 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, R&B chart, Dance chart, Adult Contemporary chart, and Rock chart. When "Black Cat" hit #1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock singles chart as well as Billboard's Hot 100, it was the first time a song had hit #1 simultaneously on both of those charts.

Together Again sold over 700,000 in the UK, making it one of the biggest selling singles ever in the UK by a female artist, and sold an overall total of four million copies.

In 2004, Jackson ranked as the ninth most successful artist in the history of rock and roll according to Billboard. Jackson also holds the record for the most Billboard Music Awards won by a single artist, a record 33. In 2006, it was announced that Jackson was the "Most Searched on the Internet" and the "Most Searched-for News Item" in the Guinness Book of World Records. In 2007, she was ranked the seventh richest woman in the entertainment business by Forbes Magazine, amassing a fortune of over $150 million.