1986 Janet Jackson: Vintage Pop Stardom (with Gail Mitchell)

1986 Janet Jackson: Vintage Pop Stardom (with Gail Mitchell)

From Greatest Pop Stars by Billboard

May 11, 2026 · 1h 40m

About this episode

The episode discusses Janet Jackson's rise to pop stardom in 1986 during the Control era.

We've got a full week of Janet Jackson Vintage Pop Stardom coming up on the Greatest Pop Stars podcast! Our Janet mini-series kicks off in 1986 with the Control era and her first big year as a pop star. Host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard's legendary executive editor of R&B/hip-hop Gail Mitchell to remember the year where Ms. Jackson was first introduced to the public as a future all-time pop star great, with some help from collaborators like Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis and Paula Abdul. Check it out here and come back all week as we celebrate four more years — 1990, 1993, 1998 and 2001 — from the pop icon, leading up to her 60th birthday this Saturday. Check out a YouTube playlist of Janet's biggest 1986 moments, all of which are discussed in the episode, here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjyxjlx5MpVC7_vQEsdfkpgoCumxQ_C20&si=4GcTaSG7A0Zcl9qv And if you enjoy the pod, please consider donating to the following causes: Transgender Law Center https://transgenderlawcenter.org/ Trans Lifeline https://translifeline.org/ Destination Tomorrow https://secure.givelively.org/donate/destination-tomorrow-inc Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe…

People in this episode

Host: Andrew Unterberger

Guest: Gail Mitchell

Topics covered

  • Janet Jackson
  • Control era
  • pop stardom
  • music history
  • collaborators

Keywords

  • Janet Jackson
  • Control
  • pop star
  • music
  • 1986

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Billboard, Transgender Law Center, Trans Lifeline, Destination Tomorrow, Human Rights Campaign

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