By the best selling authors of 'Michael Jackson: For The Record' Janet Jackson was born on 16th May 1966 in Gary, Indiana - she was just three years old when five of her older brothers, as the Jackson 5, scored their first hit: I Want You Back. Janet's first, self-titled, album was released in 1982 when she was 16 years old, but her input to it was minimal. Not until her first marriage, to James DeBarge, was annulled in November 1985 did Janet sit down, to think seriously about her future direction - and, to her surprise, she realised more than anything she wanted to make music. Decision made, Janet bravely took the first big step on the road to taking control of her own destiny. She fired her manager: her father. Instead, against her father's advice, she teamed up with James 'Jimmy Jam' Harris III & Terry Lewis - formerly members of Prince's band The Time - and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.