Janet Jackson

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Janet Jackson controls the charts

'Discipline' is the artist's sixth No. 1

By PHIL GALLO

 

Janet Jackson's first album for Island Def Jam album, "Discipline," sold 181,000 copies in the week ended Sunday, giving her the sixth No. 1 of her career, according to Nielsen SoundScan data.

 

Jackson has supported the Feb. 26 release with a morning performance at the Nokia Theater in New York’s Times Square and broad cast on ABC’s "Good Morning America." On the afternoon of the release, she performed on MTV’s TRL and did an in-store CD signing event at best Buy.

 

On Thursday, Jackson did a signing at the Hollywood Virgin Megastore and began a string of TV appearances: "Larry King Live" and "Ellen"last week; "Tyra Banks Show" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on Tuesday. A tour announcement is expected shortly.

 

Jackson's last No. 1 was " All For You" in May 2001. Her last two albums, both released by Virgin, only reached No. 2 despite posting higher sales weeks: "Damita Jo" sold 381,000 in 2004 just after the Suer Bowl incident; "20 Y.O." sold 296,000 in 2006.

 

Two other debuts landed in the top 5. Erykah Badu's "New Amerykah Part 1, 4th World War" (Universal Motown), her first full-length since 2000, sold 124,000 copies in its opening sesh. Part 2 of "New Amerykah" is penciled in for a summer release.

 

Louisiana rapper Webbie's "Savage Life 2" (Asylum/Trill Entertainment) sold 72,000 copies to open at No. 4, an improvement on the No. 8 peak reached by its predecessor "Savage Life."

 

Debuting at No. 13, D4L member

 

Asylum labelmate Shawty Lo, a member of the group responsible for "Laffy Taffy," D4L, sold 31,000 copies of his solo debut, "Units in the City."

 

Dolly Parton nabbed her highest debut ever as her return to mainstream country "Backwoods Barbie" (Dolly Records) opened at No. 17, selling 27,000 units. In the SoundScan era (since 1991), Parton has only had one top 40 pop album, "Eagle When She Flies."

 

Other top 50 debuts include the Broadway cast album of "Disney's The Little Mermaid" selling 20,000 (No. 26): the Afters' "Never Going Back to OK" (INO/Columbia) moving 16,000 (No. 41) and Goldfrapp's "Seventh Tree" (Mute) planting 15,000 (No. 48).

 

Oscar night supplied some bonuses. The soundtrack to "Once," which features Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's best song winner "Falling Slowly," saw a 140% sales spike. Disc sold 47,000 copies to rise 24 slots to No. 7.

 

Miley Cyrus' "Hannah Montana 2 (Soundtrack)/Meet Miley Cyrus" nearly doubled in sales after the tyro thesp-singer appeared as an Oscar presenter and then on Barbara Walters' Oscar night special. Disc rose eight slots to No. 6 on sales of 54,000.

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Mariah fills in for sick Janet on `SNL'

 

 

 

"Saturday Night Live" has replaced a flu-ridden Janet Jackson with another diva: Mariah Carey.

 

Carey, 37, will fill in for Jackson on the March 15 "SNL" telecast, NBC announced Wednesday.

 

Jackson, 41, was scheduled to perform live Saturday night in support of her latest album, "Discipline," which was released last month. The singer's publicist, Patti Webster, said Tuesday she dropped out because she has the flu and "needs some time to get better."

 

Carey's latest album, EMC2, arrives April 15.

 

Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press

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Janet Jackson Blames Doctor for Her Brother's Death

 

 

Janet Jackson is very clear about who she thinks should be held responsible for the tragic death of her brother, Michael Jackson.

 

Dr. Conrad Murray "was the one that was administering [propofol]," she says in a new interview with Robin Roberts on ABC News, referring to the powerful anesthetic that killed the star. "I think he is responsible."

 

Murray, who has admitted administering propofol to the singer, has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

 

Janet Jackson, 43, also describes how she found out her brother had been rushed to the hospital – and how she later learned the shocking news that he'd passed away.

 

"I was at my house in New York. You know, another day. Another morning. And I get a call ... [My assistant] said, 'Your brother's been taken to the hospital. It's on CNN right now,'" Janet tells Roberts. "I called everyone's … There's a line busy or someone wasn't picking up. I spoke to mother. I spoke to Tito. I spoke to my nephew Austin. I spoke to my sister La Toya.

 

"I told them to call me when they got to the hospital. And I remember thinking nobody's calling me back, so I tried calling again, and that's how I found out that he was no longer ... I couldn't believe it," she said. "It just didn't ring true to me. It felt like a dream."

 

Even now, she says, "It's still so difficult for me to believe. It's, you know, you have to accept what is. But it's hard. You have to move on with your life. You have to accept what is and I understand that."

 

As for how she's coping she says, "It's been a tough year … And a day doesn't go by that I don't think about him."

 

Roberts' interview with Janet Jackson will air Wed., Nov. 18 at 10 p.m.

 

Source People

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Janet Jackson: 'I smile through the bad times'

 

 

Don't be fooled by Janet Jackson's happy face -- she often smiles to fight off tears.

 

The R&B star regularly appears to be smiling during difficult interviews, but she admits she's quietly sobbing inside.

 

And she's apologizing to fans ahead of her big TV interview with Robin Roberts, which will air on Wednesday night, just in case they think she's not taking brother Michael's June death seriously enough.

 

She says, "She touched upon certain issues. It got a little tough at times ... (and) when things get tough I tend to smile.

 

"It's not a great habit because you're talking about a serious topic -- and I'm smiling. But maybe that's my little law."

 

The TV chat with Roberts is Jackson's first since her brother's death.

 

 

Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate...7#ixzz0XEVvSVFT

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Janet Jackson Confirms Split

 

Janet Jackson has confirmed she has split from boyfriend Jermaine Dupri.

 

The singer - who was first rumoured to have separated from the music executive in July - admitted she didn't keep in touch with any of her ex-lovers apart from Jermaine during a US radio interview.

 

Speaking on Atlanta's 'Bert Show', Janet said: "I'm not the type of girl that stays in touch with your ex like that. But Jermaine is one of my best friends. I love him to death. We're still connected. We're still good friends. We still talk."

 

Janet, 43, was reported to have ended her seven-year relationship with Jermaine, 37, in the summer in the wake of her pop superstar brother Michael's shock death in June.

 

At the time, it was claimed the 'All For You' singer decided to call time on the romance because she felt suffocated by her lover.

 

A mutual friend of the pair said: "You shouldn't mix business with pleasure. Janet felt their lives were too crossed and they should have kept things separate."

 

Another source said: "They've been moving in different directions for a while now."

 

Jermaine produced several tracks on the 43-year-old star's last two albums - '20 Y.O.', released in 2006, and 2008's 'Discipline' - and she felt he was becoming too involved in all aspects of her life.

 

Source monstersandcritics.com

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Janet Jackson interview with Robin Roberts: Family staged drug interventions for Michael

 

BY Jim Farber

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

 

The Jackson family knew about Michael's drug problem but felt powerless to stop it.

 

When asked by interviewer Robin Roberts if she tried to help her brother with his drug issues over the years, Jackson said "I did. Of course, that's what you do. Those are the things that you do when you love someone. You can't just let them continue on that way. And we did a few times. We weren't very successful."

 

Michael's kid sister said the icon understood his family's concern.

 

"How do I say this?" she asked. "(He) understood that it was out of love, because of caring. But when it's something like that, people can tend to be in denial."

 

When pressed if she thought Michael was indeed in denial, she answered, "I felt that he was."

 

"You can't make ‘em drink the water," she said. "I'm a true believer in prayer, a big believer in prayer. But it's something that you can't do for them. Something they have to do for themselves."

 

According to toxicology results, Jackson had lethal amounts of the drug Propofol in his system when he died, along with other prescriptions. Propofol is commonly used in operating rooms, not for personal, home use. The death was ruled a homicide.

 

Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, has admitted he administered the propofol but denied he gave Michael a dose that could kill him. Murray remains under investigation in Los Angeles, though no charges have been filed.

 

Janet Jackson told ABC she hopes Murray never practices again.

 

"He was the one that was administering," she said. "I think he is responsible."

 

This isn't the first time the female star of the Jackson clan has had to deal with a close relation involved with drugs.

 

Her first husband, James DeBarge, admitted to be addicted to prescription medication. Jackson married DeBarge when she was 18, as an act of rebellion she said.

 

"I wanted to be on my own and get out of the house," admitted the singer. "We were the kind of kids that - we - obeyed our parents. If they said no, you don't ask why."

 

Debarge's use of drugs broke up the union in less than 3 months. That marriage was annulled and Jackson didn't enter another serious relationship until she met the songwriter Rene Elizondo Jr. many years later.

 

The two were married in secret for eight years, ending in a fractious divorce. The most recent man in Jackson's life was star producer Jermaine Dupri, whom she seriously dated for seven years.

 

She said that, despite rumors, she was never engaged to Dupri.

 

"I adore him, absolutely adore Jermaine," she said, while acknowledging that they're no longer a couple. "We're still very good friends to this day."

 

Jackson says she has found solace in work since her break up, and since her brother's death five months ago.

 

"It helped me get through it. I was able to put a lot of my focus elsewhere," she said.

 

Jackson has just released a Greatest Hits package, "Number Ones," featuring the new song and video "Make Me."

 

As for her brother's new movie, "This Is It," she hasn't seen it and may not ever.

 

"It's hard when I see a poster," the singer said. "I've seen the commercial. They advertise - the trailers - on TV. That was tough."

 

As for the singer herself, she remarked that, at 43, she has found more self-acceptance.

 

"(Forties) are great," she said. "You know why? You don't care what people think...You do your thing."

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Janet Jackson's hopes for new future with old label, A&M Records

Gatecrasher NYDaily News

 

A&M Records is putting a lot of effort — and a ton of money — into the promotion of Janet Jackson's new greatest hits album, and with good reason. A source tells us the label quietly signed the pop star to a new recording contract last month.

 

"A&M wants this CD to remind people how great Janet is," says a snitch. "They're hoping it'll whet the public's appetite for Janet and pave the way for her new music."

 

It's a homecoming of sorts for Jackson — and perhaps an attempt to reclaim her glory days: She began her career at A&M at 16 and had her biggest U.S. hit under their management: "Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814" moved a whopping 8.5 million units in 1989.

 

Unfortunately, Miz Jackson didn't have quite the same luck at Virgin Records. She moved to the label in 1991 and started off with a handful of successful CDs, but 2004's "Damita Jo" and 2006's "20 Y.O." tanked. A move to Def Jam last year didn't help — her "Discipline" album proved to be one of

the biggest flops of her career, barely mining gold.

 

But now maybe — just maybe — there's a chance for Jackson to make the comeback she's been hoping for. Going back to her roots at A&M could be the career-boost she needs — and the timing doesn't hurt, either: With her brother Michael's death in June, Jackson is getting more publicity than she has in years.

 

Just last night, she did an ABC interview in which she admitted that she tried to stage an intervention with Michael in 2007 and again earlier this year. She's also spoken to Rolling Stone and Harper's Bazaar since the King of Pop's death.

 

But will the game plan work? One industry insider is brutally doubtful. "Janet's no spring chicken," says the music pro. "She's going to have to skew to a young demographic, simply because she doesn't have the ­vocal chops to do anything more adult. But a younger generation may not be willing to buy her albums anymore. Frankly, she's a little too old for this."

 

At least A&M exec Jimmy Iovine isn't deterred. Our source says he tapped music producer Rodney Jerkins — who has worked with everyone from Michael Jackson to Beyoncé — to oversee production on Janet's upcoming album. The CD, which is in the early stages of recording, is expected to drop in the second quarter of 2010.

 

"Jimmy has given the mandate to make this Janet record a success," says the insider. "He believes that he has the right team in place to finally take Janet back to the top of the music charts. It's a top priority for the label."