When the notoriously private Janet Jackson revealed that she had been working on a documentary about her life and career for the past 5 years, we knew they’d be a lot to cover. Part of music’s most recognisable and successful family ensured that Janet was born into a legacy and the expectation to become somebody significant weighed heavy on her shoulders from such a young age. But she managed to carve her own path to success and lay the foundation for other artists to follow, becoming one of the most decorated and charted females in music history.
For many of us in the MJ community, we’ve also grown up loving Janet too and knowing of the close bond they shared, we watched with intrigue to see what she might have to say about Michael.
And she didn’t disappoint! Through rare footage, unseen photos and candid accounts, Janet’s documentary added more pieces to the Michael Jackson story. And as we’re a Michael Jackson fansite, we thought you might enjoy this snapshot of moments from the 4-hour special. So, here are the top 10 things we learned about Michael from the Janet Jackson Documentary:
- Michael, Marlon and Randy all shared the middle bunk in 2300 Jackson Street.
While giving Janet a tour of the family’s first home in Gary Indiana, brother Randy revealed that all 6 brothers shared one small bedroom. A triple bunk bed adorned one wall with Michael, Marlon and Randy all piling into the middle bunk. “The three of you slept in one bunk bed?” Janet asked and Randy replied, “Yeah, in one bed and Marlon and Michael used to pee on me!”
- Michael was closest with Randy & Janet when they were younger
Janet recalled fondly “We were close, Randy, Myself and Mike – we were like the three amigos – the three stooges”
- Michael ran a candy store from the window of the brother’s bedroom
A business tycoon from a young age, Randy reveals to Janet that Michael ran a candy store from the bedroom window. Kids from the neighbourhood would come up to the opened window and be served treats of their choice by a smart-minded Michael. However, Marlon had other ideas and would continue to steal the candy. - According to Randy, David Bowie attended a party at the Jackson family home in Encino and offered him and Michael drugs when they were children.
As Janet shares her memories of lavish parties at the family compound after they moved to Encino, Randy recalls a time that David Bowie, then in his 20s attended one of the infamous parties and proceeded to offer a young Michael and Randy something to get “high”, to which the wise brother both declined.
- Advise Michael gave Janet to succeed in the music business
An archive interview with Janet shows advice Michael shared with her if she was to succeed in the entertainment industry – She shared “Michael has always told me three things – That’s to always practice, to never give up and to have self-confidence if I want to make it.”
- Michael didn’t want to swear on Scream and was hesitant about Katherine’s reaction.
In a rare, exciting glimpse into the writing process for ‘Scream’, we see Michael and Janet sitting in Michael’s hotel room in New York in 1994 (mistakenly credited as 1993). As Janet types on the laptop, Michael shares his lyrics for the first verse:
“I’m tired of injustice, I’m tired of the schemes, Your lies are disgusting, so what does it mean. When kicking me down, I’ve got to get up, as bad as it sounds, the whole system…”
“Is fucked” Janet interjects. Michael laughs and replies “I can’t say that.” He then joked that their mother, Katherine, would not approve of the song – “Mother’s gonna love us with this song, I told you not to do this Janet, but you insisted, you tied my hands behind my back. I did not want to do a song like this.” Michael says mocking and laughing.
- Michael loved Janet’s vocal performance on Black Cat.
During the breakaway Janet affirms, “It was his song and I wanted to be there to help him in any way I could”. The cut back to the hotel room shows Michael sharing with Janet his vision for her delivery “For your first line, when you come in, people are going to be waiting for you…you kill it…angry, with fire, you know what I mean. That’s what it’s gotta be…the boom! It’s got to have passion and fire in it…With that voice that you did with Black Cat. You know what I mean, Fire!”
- The last words Michael and Janet said to each other.
The last time Michael and Janet saw each other was at the surprise party for Katherine and Joe with all the family in attendance. Janet shares: “He was sitting next to me, and he was laughing like crazy and he had that deep laugh and I remember him looking over at me…and the last thing we said to each other was I Love You and that was the last time I saw him.”
- The family met with Michael in 2007 to discuss a tour.
While in Las Vegas, Janet took a detour to Palomino Hacienda, one of Michael’s former homes in the city that never sleeps. As she looks from the window of her vehicle, she recalls how she and her brothers met Michael there in 2007 in the theatre to discuss a reunion tour. As part of the suggestion, Janet offered to be the opening act for the show to further bolster the excitement. However, she revealed that Michael met the project with a muted response. But she also shared “We had to show him that we were there for him and that we’ll always love him.”
- The people around Michael in the later years seemingly put distance between him and the family.
Perhaps less a point we learned, and more a point re-affirmed. Janet reveals that several figures in Michael’s life during his final years seemed to be asserting control over him. “He had people that were around him for a long time, that still, those people separated him from his family and that’s when things started to really shift.”
As such an important figure in her life, we see throughout the documentary the impact that Michael’s life and career had on Janet as she elevated to superstar status, as well as Michael’s passing and parts of the narrative of the documentary run in parallel to Michael’s world. A heartbreaking moment sees matriarch Katherine Jackson become emotional when asked if she was able to speak about the loss of her son. “I can’t,” she says through tears, showing how the pain of losing her child has never eased.
Though fragments in a bigger picture, Janet’s documentary offered us a small window into moments in Michael’s world, through the eyes of his little sister and we’re so grateful for her opening up and sharing these moments with us as Michael’s fans.
By Pez Jax.
Excellent, thank you! (We currently have the edited version on Stan in Oz – so I’m not watching it, at least not on that platform.)
Now that the distributers to Stan Australia have supplied the unedited version of Janet’s documentary, I watched all of it last night, and while it didn’t turn me into a Janet fan it did leave me with immense respect for her. The personal insight into the family, and of course the material touching on Michael, all seen from Janet’s perspective, and told non-sensationally, made it very interesting viewing.