Janet has appeared on the cover of Jet Magazine in stores now. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Janet Jackson has arrived at a place she’s never been before. And it took her four decades to get there.

“Paradise,” she tells Jet. “I really feel that way. I’m at the most blissful point I’ve ever been in my life. I’m happy with myself. I’m happy with my life and my relationship, and for all those to come together at the same time, that’s the first. That really is a first.”

This couldn’t have happened at a better time for her.

Two days before the Jet interview Janet was celebrating her 40th birthday during a private party given by her boyfriend, hip-hop music mogul Jermaine “JD” Dupri.

Janet and JD arrived at the hot new Los Angeles spot Shag in a black Bentley and were greeted by 300 family members and close friends.

Among the guests were Janet’s brothers, Jermaine and Randy, Jimmy Jam, one- half of the Grammy-winning production duo who helped shape Janet’s music career, Nia Long and Paris and Nicky Hilton.

Stevie Wonder, a longtime family friend, helped to make her day even sweeter by singing to her a special rendition of Happy Birthday.

Then JD, her steady beau of five years, topped off her milestone day by presenting his sweetheart with a 2006 white Porsche Cayman as a gift.

Dressed in all white, Janet was radiant, flashing a bright smile and showing how fine and fabulous she is with her svelte new physique.

She admits that she shed more than 50 pounds recently after she put on the extra weight for a film role. Lee Daniels, the Oscar-winning producer of Monster’s Ball, cast her as a waitress in the South in his upcoming indie drama Tennessee.

The role, she says, required her to be a bit full-figured. “He wanted the weight on me,” she says. “I didn’t recognize the person in the mirror and he loved it. And I thought it was great for the character.”

Janet, whose film roles have included Poetic Justice and Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, adds, “I’ve always been passionate about acting. So if I needed to go there (gain weight), I was willing to go there. No problem at all. And when he had to change the date of the film, it didn’t work with the schedule of the album. So I had to make a choice.”

Pick up this issue on newsstands now for the entire article.

Janet has left a new message for fans on her official website at JanetJackson.com. In the message she thanks fans for their continued support and goes on to detail some information about upcoming photoshoots:

Hey Guys,

I am soooo happy you are loving my US Weekly cover. But believe me, that’s just the beginning. Because u r the fans, I want you to be the first to know that I’m on my way to New York to be photographed by the fabulous Ruven Afanador in high fashion style for my upcoming Essence cover.

The stylist will be the incredible Freddie Lieba– check him out– he’s in Style Magazine’s main fashion man. Then it’s gonna get even hotter when I land in Miami on June 2nd to shoot a super sexy Vibe cover. If you get the chance, keep watching ET and Access Hollywood to see what’s new in my life as they will have insider info about the release of my new single, album and video. And you know I will always be here, anxious to share my thoughts with you. See you soon!

Until next time……

Love,
JJ

Janet was seen out and about yesterday working out. Check out the photos!

 

Black McGrath‘s website has confirmed that he has been signed to dance alongside Janet on her upcoming promotional tour and world tour. The website states he will begin rehearsals in July.

Janet appears on the cover of this week’s US Weekly showing off her amazing new figure.

Janet goes into detail about how she lost an incredible 60 pounds taking her weight from 180 pounds to 120 pounds. She goes into detail about her daily menus, the trick her trainer used to get her working out again, and how she found the strength to turn her life around.

Entertainment Tonight was on the set of Janet’s album cover shoot for ’20 Years Old’ and asked her about the weight she put on towards the end of last year. Explaining it was for a film role, Janet said, “I put on the pounds for a film I was to do with Lee Daniels, the producer of ‘Monster’s Ball,’ which a lot of people didn’t know. They wanted a full-figured woman. She’s from the South, a waitress.”

Janet goes on to say that as the start of filming was then pushed back, she had to cancel her role in the movie in order to work on the new album. She reckons that Mariah Carey will now take the role.

Talking about her new project Janet goes on to say, “I love this album, and I hate to say, ‘expect an album that you’ll love’ — which I just said, but I love this, so hopefully everyone else will enjoy it and it’s different, it’s a little reminiscent, yet it’s new and fresh.”

Janet showed up at Jonny Gill’s 40th birthday celebrations last night in Universal City, CA. Hosted at BB King’s Blues Club at Universal Citywalk, others in attendance included Jermaine Dupri, Jimmy Jam, Eddie Murphy, Donnie Wahlberg and Ralph Tresvant.

Janet’s new album is set to hit stores around the globe on Monday September 25th. Titled “20 Years Old” as a homage to the 20 years since Janet released “Control”, executive producer Jermaine Dupri said, “I just got to top the last two albums that came out from Usher and Mariah, and this is going to be the icing on the cake,” Longtime collaborators and friends Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are also producing on the album.

The album will hit stores in the US a day later, in line with new releases coming out on Tuesdays, on September 26th.

Janet celebrated her 40th birthday last night at Shag in Hollywood, California. Guests to attend the party included Paris Hilton, Travis Barker, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, brother Jermaine Jackson and rapper Busta Rhymes. Entertainment was provided by legend Stevie Wonder who sang Happy Birthday to the birthday girl.

When asked how the party was, Janet, accompanied by boyfriend Jermaine Dupri and dressed in white, said “A lot of people I haven’t seen in years were invited and it’s nice that they came…so it’s been wonderful”.

Janet Love would like to wish Janet a very very happy birthday. Have a great day Janet – we know you’ll be back browsing Janet Love soon!

The first single to be released from Janet’s upcoming album will feature St. Louis rapper Nelly it has been reported. ‘Call On Me’ taken from the album ’20 Years Old’ is a mid-tempo song that samples S.O.S. Band‘s “Tell Me If You Still Care”, originally produced in the early 1980s by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

Another track on the album is titled ‘So Excited’. “It’s an uptempo hard dance track the reminds me of Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit”. There is a lot of that scratching and mixing that made a heavy mark on urban music in the 80s,” writes SOHH Soulful.