Janet Jackson Receives American Music Awards' Top Honor Highlighting

Jet, Jan 29, 2001

Janet Jackson's stellar career, which saw her rise from being the baby of a legendary family to record-breaking superstar in her own right, was recently honored with the Award of Merit at the 28th annual American Music Awards.

Jackson, 34, dressed in an elegant white pant suit, was introduced to the sellout crowd at the Shrine Auditorium by Los Angeles Lakers superstar center Shaquille O'Neal. He showed a montage of film clips about Jackson's life as she moved from being the baby of the acclaimed musical family to television work on "Good Times" and "Diff'rent Strokes" to finally superstardom with the phenomenal albums Control and Rhythm Nation 1814.

In her brief acceptance speech, Jackson thanked all of those who helped shape her stellar career.

"I am honored to receive this award for doing the work that I absolutely love," she said. She thanked "first and foremost God for blessing me with all that He has."

Turning her attention to her fans she said: "I miss you guys so much. I am finishing the album and I can't wait to see you later on in the year with the tour."

Jackson said she was quite surprised when she found out she was being honored with the award that has gone to such music legends as Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and older brother, Michael.

"When I heard they were giving me this award, I could really not believe it," she told reporters backstage. "But, when I started thinking about it, I've been in this business a really long time. I started when I was a kid, a baby, so I still have more to do. I'm still hungry. And I feel that I'm not finished. I felt that it was early because I still feel very young. I feel very fulfilled with everything I've done. There's something to learn from it all. You learn from the positive, you learn from the mistakes. I have no regrets at all."

She turned the topic from the award and her career and began discussing spirituality. "I'm not a religious person, but I want to get more into spirituality. That was my New Year's resolution. I'm always trying to work on myself."

And she's been working on herself for almost 30 years. Never content to be in anyone's shadows, Janet began getting standing ovations before she was out of grade school when she'd join brother Michael onstage and imitate Cher, four-foot long tresses and all.

She was the abused child Penny in "Good Times" and Todd Bridges' girlfriend Charlene Duprey in "Diff'rent Strokes." She also performed in "Fame." Her big-screen debut in Poetic Justice opposite rapper Tupac Shakur shocked as well as entertained her fans. She was a tough and tender hair stylist from South Central Los Angeles in that film. "The film opened me up more to not being as shy," she said.

Last year, Jackson co-starred with Eddie Murphy in The Klumps, one of the biggest blockbusters of the year, pulling in more than $100 million. She played a college professor who fell in love with the overweight, but sensitive Sherman Klump.

But it has been music, her family's legacy, that brought her an international audience. She made her recording debut in 1982 with the tune Young Love on a self-titled album, followed by the 1984 album Dream Street. But it wasn't until 1986, when she hooked up with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on the album Control, that her career took off and she became a bona fide superstar. Control showcased Janet as a person who was firmly and finally in control of her own life.

She made headlines when she signed a recording deal with Virgin Records for an estimated $50 million, at the time the largest deal in history.

After Control, her subsequent albums, Rhythm Nation 1814,janet., Design of a Decade and The Velvet Rope have also been huge sellers.

Her tours have been spectacles that have packed arenas around the world with fans of all ages lured by her hot sounds and high energy.

Janet did announce to fans when she received the award that she is in the process of finishing up her new album and will see them later in the year when she goes out on her latest tour. And fans who have followed her life for almost three decades are eagerly anticipating it. They know that she will give them the stellar talent and high energy that she always has.