Janet Jackson Has Herself To Thank For Her Gigantic Net Worth
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Janet Jackson, 55, is one of the most legendary names in pop music for a reason. With 11 studio albums under her belt, Janet has revolutionized the music industry. She's largely regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time — and now, she's telling her story in her own words.
The singer is releasing a brand new documentary tonight on Lifetime and A&E called Janet Jackson. The film will chronicle Janet's impressive career, while the pop star herself reveals the truth about her family life, her relationships, and more, according to People.
Janet has built a huge music empire, and this documentary marks her transition into the world of production. But all of those projects stack up over time. So, how much is she worth?
While she's not as wealthy as, say, Kathy Hilton, Janet's net worth might surprise you. Here's how it all adds up:
Before Janet was a pop icon, she was an actress.
Janet Jackson first started acting in 1977, when she was 11 years old. She starred in a few TV sitcoms, including Good Times and A New Kind of Family, per IMDb. Then, after appearing in her brother Michael Jackson's "Thriller" music video, Janet nabbed roles in Diff'rent Strokes, The Love Boat, and Fame.
It's unclear how much exactly Janet earned for her TV roles, but her early onscreen success helped pave the way for her legendary music career.
Then, in the 80s and 90s, she dominated the music industry.
Just a few years later, Janet signed her first deal with A&M Records. "We signed Janet when she was 15, through her father, when she was on the show Good Times," one of the label's founders, Herb Alpert, told Rolling Stone. "While she sold some records off the strength of being on TV, we knew there was a great artist there."
In the 1980s, Janet released four studio albums: Janet Jackson, Dream Street, Control, and Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814. She also began touring — her first concert was in 1989, per Concert Archives. As a teenager, she was already well on her way to becoming a pop star, Alpert said.
"Control was the record that broke Janet—one of those great moments where it all came together," he explained. "[Producers] Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis had the unusual talent and energy she needed. It was amazing she could up with a record like this at just the age of 18."
"I thought we'd sell two million copies, but I was wrong," Alpert added. "We ended up releasing four or five big singles, and ended up doing seven million. From that, she emerged as a huge star."
In 1991, 24-year-old Janet signed the largest recording contract in history: A three-album deal with Virgin Records valued at a cool $32 million, according to the Los Angeles Times. Janet was so popular at the time that record labels were stuck in a bidding war over her, causing the size of the deal to skyrocket.
She then broke her own record with another Virgin deal estimated at around $80 million, Associated Press reported. As part of her new contract, Janet received a $35 million signing advance and a guaranteed advance of $5 million for every album she released. She also received a 24% royalty on the retail price of every record she sold.
In total, Janet has produced a total of ten U.S. number one hits and has sold over 100 million records worldwide, per the BBC. So it's safe to say that the bulk of Janet's worth definitely comes from her lengthy music career—at least tens of millions of dollars, if not more.
Janet has also starred in a few movies.
In 1993, Janet landed a leading role in Poetic Justice alongside actress Regina King and rapper Tupac Shakur. The movie made almost $28 million in box office sales. But rumor has it that the stars' salaries didn't reflect the film's success. One source claims that Tupac only made $7,500, which suggests that Janet might have made a similar amount.
Later, Janet would go on to star in Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?, Why Did I Get Married Too? and For Colored Girls, per IMDb, which probably netted her much larger paychecks.
Not even Janet's 2004 Super Bowl halftime performance could stop her from releasing records.
You'd think that Janet's infamous wardrobe malfunction would have put her music career on hold, but that wasn't the case.
First, a quick recap of what actually happened: Janet Jackson starred in the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show alongside Diddy, Nelly, and Kid Rock, according to The Guardian. Justin Timberlake also performed as a surprise guest.
During the show, Justin tore Janet's top off. Her breast was exposed on television for just nine-sixteenths of a second, but the damage was already done. Viewers were shocked, and CBS executive Les Moonves demanded that both Justin and Janet apologize for the incident on the air. Justin agreed, but Janet refused.
As a result, there are claims that Janet was blacklisted by companies and prominent figures in the music industry across the country, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“All of the programming decisions were made locally, so there couldn’t have been a system-wide blacklist,” Chief legal officer for Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia), Andy Levin, said in Malfunction, a new documentary about the controversy. “Now, if there was a blacklist locally, in Salt Lake City for example, because the program manager there knew his audience was offended by what Janet did on Super Bowl Sunday, that’s entirely conceivable.”
Either way, Janet continued to release music. Between 2004 and 2015, she put out another four albums with three different record labels — including her own. In 2015, Janet signed a contract with BMG to launch Rhythm Nation. The deal made her the first female African-American recording artist to start a record label, per The Guardian.
While it's likely that the Super Bowl incident cost Janet a pretty penny, she made up for it by continuing to sell millions of copies of her music.
Janet may also have made some money from her most recent divorce.
In 2012, Janet announced that she had married Wissam Al Mana, a billionaire from Qatar. At the time, it was rumored that the couple had signed a prenup before tying the knot and that Janet was entitled to a large sum of money.
If the two stayed together for five years, Janet could earn up to $100 million, Page Six reported. And, she'd receive another $100 million if they had a child together (which they did, in 2017). But her family members insisted that "marriage doesn't agree with her," and that money wasn't a factor in the split.
Recently, Janet auctioned off some of her belongings.
Last year, Janet decided to celebrate her birthday by auctioning off 1,000 items, ranging from vintage merchandise to her own personal belongings. Some of the items included in the sale were Janet's old costumes from music videos, her iconic key earring, and tour memorabilia, according to Rolling Stone.
And, bidders did not disappoint. Janet's outfit from her 1995 "Scream" music video brought in a whopping $270,000, the outlet reported. Janet kept most of the money, and the rest was donated to charity.
Now, Janet continues to perform, and she's releasing a documentary.
Today, Janet is still performing. She was supposed to go on tour in 2020, but the concerts were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and haven't been rescheduled yet.
She's also breaking out into the film world again. But this time with a documentary. Janet Jackson premieres tonight, Jan. 28, on Lifetime and A&E. The four-hour film is broken into two parts and will feature Janet telling her story in her own words.
Just tell me already: what is Janet Jackson's net worth?
All of those record sales and movie deals definitely stack up. Janet Jackson's total net worth is a gigantic $190 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. That's about a third of Queen Elizabeth II's net worth, and almost half of actress Reese Witherspoon's.
Truly iconic!
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