As Janet Jackson celebrates her birthday (May 16), Billboard takes a look at the singer’s history on the Billboard Hot 100.
Born as the youngest of 10 children to Joseph and Katherine Jackson, Janet was almost pre-destined to enter the music industry with her brothers and sisters. By her fifth birthday, five of her brothers — as The Jackson 5 — had already scored four Hot 100 No. 1 hits. Following in her family’s musical footsteps, Janet made her Hot 100 debut in 1982 with “Young Love,” at 16 years old. Though that single and her second career entry, 1984’s “Come Give Your Love to Me,” both peaked outside the top 50, Jackson found her hit-making stride with 1986’s Control. Among its many hits, she landed her first of 10 No. 1s on the chart with “When I Think of You,” which reigned for two weeks.
Through the next 15 years, Jackson remained a Hot 100 force: Her next four albums, Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814, janet., The Velvet Rope and All for You, each all generated at least one Hot 100 champ. Thanks to her decades of hits, Jackson is one of the most influential female artists to cross through the pop, R&B and dance genres, with 19 and 15 No. 1s on the Dance Club Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts, respectively. She’s also scored seven No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, between 1986 and 2015.
Jackson (who first broke through with TV roles on sitcoms Good Times and Diff’rent Strokes) has won five Grammy Awards and has been nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award. She was honored as the first-ever MTV Icon Award recipient in 2001 and received the MTV Video Vanguard Award in 1990.
Here’s a look at the superstar’s top-performing hits on the Hot 100.
Janet Jackson’s Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits
1. “Miss You Much,” peak position No. 1 (four weeks), peak date Oct. 7, 1989
2. “Escapade,” No. 1 (three weeks), March 3, 1990
3. “That’s the Way Love Goes,” No. 1 (eight weeks), May 15, 1993
4. “All for You,” No. 1 (seven weeks), April 14, 2001
5. “Together Again,” No. 1 (two weeks), Jan. 31, 1998
6. “Love Will Never Do (Without You),” No. 1 (one week), Jan. 19, 1991
7. “When I Think of You,” No. 1 (two weeks), Oct. 11, 1986
8. “Again,” No. 1 (two weeks) Dec. 11, 1993
9. “Runaway,” No. 3, Oct. 21, 1995
10. “Doesn’t Really Matter,” No. 1 (three weeks), Aug. 26, 2000
11. “Rhythm Nation,” No. 2, Jan. 6, 1990
12. “Alright,” No. 4, June 2, 1990
13. “Control,” No. 5, Jan. 24, 1987
14. “What Have You Done for Me Lately,” No. 4, May 17, 1986
15. “Black Cat,” No. 1 (one week), Oct. 27, 1990
16. “Nasty,” No. 3, July 19, 1986
17. “Let’s Wait Awhile,” No. 2, March 21, 1987
18. “Come Back to Me,” No. 2, Aug. 18, 1990
19. “Any Time, Any Place”/”And On and On,” No. 2, June 25, 1994
20. “If,” No. 4, Sept. 11, 1993
21. “What’s It Gonna Be?!,” (Busta Rhymes featuring Janet Jackson) No. 3, April 17, 1999
22. “Someone to Call My Lover,” No. 3, Sept. 1, 2001
23. “You Want This”/”70’s Love Groove,” No. 8, Dec. 24, 1994
24. “I Get Lonely” (Janet featuring BLACKstreet), No. 3, May 23, 1998
25. “Scream”/”Childhood” (with Michael Jackson), No. 5, June 17, 1995
Janet Jackson‘s Biggest Billboard Hot 100 hits chart is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100, through the May 20, 2023, ranking. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at No. 100 earning the least. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted to account for different chart turnover rates over various periods.
