Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966 in Gary, Indiana) is an African American pop, R&B and soul singer-songwriter, dancer, actress and the youngest child of the famed Jackson music family. Breaking away from the shadows of her brothers, Jackson now ranks as the ninth most successful artist in the history of rock and roll, and is the youngest artist in the top ten of that group, according to Billboard magazine in 2004, and has gone to sell over 130 million albums and singles worldwide. Her high-octane choreography, music videos and pop appeal has influenced some of today's young female singers including Ciara, Missy Elliott and Beyonce Knowles.

Janet was born the last of ten children in Gary, Indiana to parents Joseph and Katherine Jackson. Living in a two-bedroom shack with eight older siblings, Janet's father, Joseph, or Joe, worked as a crane operator in a steel mill and before she became a devout Jehovah's Witness, her mother Katherine worked as a store clerk for Sears. Before Janet's birth, her father decided to try a hand at a music career fronting the R&B band the Falcons, but never got as far as the top nightclubs in Indiana. According to reports, Janet's father was gregarious and stern while her mother was deeply religious and seemed saintly.