Bob Ejike's Blog : Janet Jackson, 50, on doctor-ordered bed rest ahead of baby's birth

Janet Jackson, 50, on doctor-ordered bed rest ahead of baby's birth

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For once in her life, Janet Jackson is not the one in "Control."
Doctors have ordered the pregnant pop star, 50, to remain in bed, according to multiple reports.
A source told E! News that Janet is now under "doctor's orders to rest" until her baby arrives.
"She is doing okay and resting until she is due for her baby," the source told E!, explaining that the order came after Janet experienced some unknown pregnancy complications.
But no one needs to worry. "As of now, doctors say she is okay," the source added.

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Us Weekly is also reporting that Janet -- whose happy baby news was confirmed in May -- is "on bed rest" per doctors' orders, said an insider.
"She's where all of her doctors are," the insider added. "But she had taken her mother out to lunch a few weeks ago."
This will be Janet's first child with husband Wissam Al Mana, 41, whom she secretly married in 2012.
Speculation that Janet was expecting first emerged in April when she cancelled the rest of her "Unbreakable" world tour.
"We're in the second leg of the tour and there actually has been a sudden change. I thought it was important that you would be the first to know," she said in a Facebook video post. "My husband and I are planning our family, so I'm going to have to delay the tour."
In May, a Jackson relative told Page Six that Janet's mom Katherine Jackson pressured Janet to try to start a family with her husband despite her advanced maternal age.
"[Katherine] said to Janet, 'You cannot afford to wait too much longer. I was already a grandma at your age,'" the relative explained.
Katherine, 86, is said to be "thrilled" over Janet's pregnancy and the fact that this baby will make her a grandmother for the 28th time.
"It would mean that all of her children have given her grandchildren," the relative added. "She hopes that she can be in the room when Janet gives birth."
10 things you didn't know about Janet Jackson:

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1/11 SLIDES © Apega/WENN

The most remarkable thing about Janet Jackson is not her music, her style or her films. It's the fact that the youngest of eight children who grew up in the shadows of her incredibly famous brothers was able to break out and not only build a career separate from the juggernaut that was "The Jacksons" but become a music legend in her own right. To mark Janet Jackson's 50th birthday on May 16, here are some things you might not know about the second most famous member of the Jackson family.

2/11 SLIDES © JKING/Fame Flynet

10. The forgotten albums

Most people think 1987's hit album "Control" was Janet Jackson's debut, but it was actually her third release. The music from her first two efforts, "Janet Jackson" and "Dream Street," failed to make a real dent on the Billboard charts. Determined to make a musical impact, Janet moved from Los Angeles to Minneapolis to work exclusively with two producers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who completely revamped her sound. The rest is music (and chart) history. She would work with Jimmy and Terry for her next five albums before moving on to collaborations with other producers. Janet's 2015 album "Unbreakable" marks her return to the team most responsible for her signature sound.

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9. The birth of YouTube

It was the wardrobe malfunction witnessed across the world: When Justin Timberlake ripped off Janet Jackson's bodice at the end of their Super Bowl Halftime Show performance in 2004, viewers were scandalized by her exposed and pierced nipple. It created a backlash against the singer that dramatically impacted her career for years to come. But in addition to making "wardrobe malfunction" a common phrase, what most people don't know is that this moment helped create YouTube. Like a lot of people who didn't watch the Super Bowl that year, Jawed Karim searched online for footage from the notorious performance. It was then that the idea for a website designated for video content was born, and Jawed and partners Steve Chen and Chad Hurley launched YouTube the following year.

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8. Missed opportunities

Janet Jackson has had plenty of hits -- enough to rank her seventh on Billboard's Hot 100 50th Anniversary "All-Time Top Artists" list -- so she's probably not crying over the songs she let get away. But she did pass on "How Will I Know," which became Whitney Houston's second No. 1 single. "I'm A Slave 4 U" was originally intended for Janet, but she passed on that one too, allowing Britney Spears to record the song.

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7. Let's wait awhile... to share our happy news

When Janet Jackson says she's a private person, she means it, as evidenced by the secrecy surrounding two of her three marriages. Her marriage to Rene Elizondo Jr. was kept hush-hush for nine years and only revealed during the couple's separation in 1999. Granted, that was pre-TMZ. However, she did it again in early 2013: In response to rumors that she was preparing for a lavish wedding with billionaire Wissam Al Mana, Janet dropped the bombshell that they'd already wed the previous year. in April 2016, it was reported that Janet and her husband of three years are expecting their first child together. Congrats!

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6. Acting was her first passion

Janet Jackson is primarily known for her music, but her acting career precedes her musical one. In addition to her guest spots on the Jackson variety show "The Jacksons," Janet became a series regular on both "Good Times" and "Fame" in the '70s and '80s. She also appeared on "The Love Boat" and played the girlfriend of Todd Bridges' Willis character on "Diff'rent Strokes." But once her music career took off in the mid-'80s, Janet would not return to acting until her feature-film debut in 1993's "Poetic Justice." (She also earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song for her track "Again," which was featured in the movie.) She finally made her return to TV in 2004 as a host and musical guest on "Saturday Night Live."

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5. Working with Michael

Siblings Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson shared a deep bond with each other since childhood, something they depicted in the video for their chart-topping duet "Scream" from the late King of Pop's 1995 "History" album. But that that was not the first time Janet appeared on one of her brother's songs. Janet and her sisters sang back-up vocals on Michael's hit single "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" from his 1982 blockbuster album "Thriller."

4. Crazy rumors

At 18, Janet Jackson eloped with El DeBarge singer James DeBarge in 1984. Her parents didn't approve and the marriage was annulled several months later. Twenty years after the couple's annulment, rumors surfaced claiming Janet had a secret child with her ex. His brother Young DeBarge went so far as to claim it was a daughter named Renee who was raised by Janet's sister Rebbie Jackson. For the record, Janet has denied claims that she's ever had a child.

3. Unparalleled chart success

In Janet Jackson's heyday, she was a force to be reckoned with, reaching a level of fame in America that few others have tasted except, perhaps, her brother Michael Jackson and Madonna. Her particular blend of dance, pop and R&B sounds has made it into the record books as well: Janet's 1989 album "Rhythm Nation" is the only album to have seven singles peak within the top five of the Billboard Hot 100, and it's the only album to produce hit songs in three separate calendar years (1989 to 1991). She is also the only female artist in the history of the Hot 100 to have 19 consecutive Top 10 singles from 1989 to 2001.

2. Missed movie roles

Even though acting has not been Janet Jackson's focus, there are a a few roles that slipped through the singer's fingers. For years, her passion project was to play 1950s movie star Dorothy Dandridge. Janet even did a camera test of sorts by playing a Dandridge-esque character in her 1996 music video for "Twenty Foreplay." However, the big-screen project constantly stalled and Janet eventually moved on. It was finally made as an HBO Original movie starring Halle Berry in the title role, which earned the actress an Emmy Award in 2000. In 2004, Jackson was set to star as Lena Horne in a TV biopic about the life of the actress and singer. But following the Super Bowl debacle, Lena balked at the idea of being portrayed by Janet and the project was shelved indefinitely. Janet was also set to star in the 2008 film "Tennessee," but after too many delays, she passed on the project to focus on her album "20 Y.O." Mariah Carey eventually landed the role and earned solid reviews, making people forget about the so-bad-it's-good "Glitter"… almost.

1. Success by association

The 1993 video for "That's The Way Love Goes" is known for marking a radical shift in Janet Jackson's look and musical themes, which morphed from messages of personal empowerment to more sensual fare. Something else was also featured in that video: Jennifer Lopez. Yup. The "Jenny From the Block" singer co-starred as one of of a small group of friends getting down to Janet's new song. This is not the first time Janet was affiliated with a pop star on her rise to stardom: During the "Control" era, Janet's choreographer was none other than Paula Abdul, the former Laker Girl who would go on to have her own musical success in the early '90s.

Bob Ejike's Blog

Wednesday, September 14, 2016