‘80s Pop Star, Who Revolutionized the Industry, Scored Her First No. 1 Album 40 Years Ago Today

40 years ago today, pop and R&B artist Janet Jackson hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with her iconic album Control.

Jackson launched into a season of success with the release of Control. "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" and "Nasty" from the album both became Top 10 singles, and - as the sister of Michael Jackson - the record was co-produced by her family.

When Jackson began working on Control, she had just divorced James DeBarge and set out to write songs that drew from her personal life. She went to Minneapolis and began recording with producers James "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Lewis.

"She had a beautiful voice, first of all," Harris recalled, according to NPR. "When she was young, she had all this attitude. She was like Miss Attitude. ... And so our thought was if we could work with her, we could bring a little bit of that attitude out."

Lewis described her in only a few words: "Fearless, relentless, beautiful. Like a beautiful texture, and very in control."

He said that some people thought she wasn't the best at singing. However, Lewis called her "a great singer."

"In order to be a great singer, you don't have to be the loudest singer," Lewis recalled. "You just have to have control of what you like to do. And to me, style wins over volume."

Control sold nearly 14 million copies and was certified platinum five times. Harris said that they wanted the album "to be that album that everybody's blasting out their house."

"We were going for the blackest, funkiest album we could make," Harris said.

Last week, Jackson made a surprise appearance at the BET Awards, stunning in a black and white look. The 60-year-old artist wore a veiled fedora, which Page Six said "could've been plucked from her sibling's closet." She presented Teyana Taylor with the Icon of the Year award, leading to an emotional moment between the two stars.

"I love you so much," Taylor said to Jackson. "Thank you for every text, every hug, every talk. You are my biggest inspiration. You don't even understand, there would be no me without you."

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This story was originally published July 5, 2026 at 5:51 AM.