Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in Gary, Indiana and raised in Encino, California, she is the youngest child of the Jackson family of musicians. She first performed on stage with her family beginning at the age of seven, and later started her career as an actress with the variety television series The Jacksons in 1976. She went on to star in other television shows throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, including Good Times and Diff’rent Strokes.

At age sixteen in 1982, Jackson signed a recording contract with A&M, releasing her self-titled debut album the same year. She faced criticism for her limited vocal range, and for being yet another member of the Jackson family to become a recording artist. Beginning with her third studio album Control (1986), Jackson began a long-term collaboration with record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Her music with Jam and Lewis incorporated contemporary R&B with elements of rap music, sample loop, triple swing and industrial beats, which led to crossover appeal in popular music. In addition to receiving recognition for the innovation in her albums, music videos and choreography, Jackson was acknowledged as a role model for her socially conscious lyrics.

In 1991, she signed the first of two record-breaking, multi-million dollar recording contracts with Virgin Records, which established her as one of the highest paid artists in the recording industry. Her debut album under the Virgin label, janet. (1993), saw Jackson develop a public image as a sex symbol as she began to explore sexuality in her music. That same year she appeared in her first starring film role in Poetic Justice; since then she has continued to act in feature films. By the end of the decade Jackson was named the second most successful recording artist of the 1990s. All for You (2001), became her fifth consecutive studio album to debut at number one the Billboard 200 album charts. In 2007, she changed labels, signing with the Island Def Jam Music Group and released her tenth studio album Discipline the following year.

Jackson is ranked by Billboard magazine as one of the top ten best-selling music artists in the history of contemporary music, having sold over 100 million albums worldwide.[1] The Recording Industry Association of America lists her as the eleventh best-selling female artist in the United States with 26 million certified albums.[2] Jackson’s longevity in the recording industry has rivaled that of several entertainers and her musical style and choreography have influenced a number of contemporary pop and R&B artists.

Biography

1966–1982: Early life and career
Janet Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana, the youngest of nine children, to Katherine Esther (née Scruse) and Joseph Walter Jackson.The Jacksons were lower-middle class and devout Jehovah’s Witnesses. By the time she was a toddler, her older brothers—Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael—were performing music at nightclubs and theaters as The Jackson 5. In March 1969, the group signed a record deal with Motown, and by the end of the year they had recorded the first of four consecutive number one singles. The Jackson 5’s success allowed the family to move to the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles, California in 1971, where they settled in a gated mansion called Hayvenhurst.[3] Although born into a family of professional musicians, Jackson, whose love of horses resulted in a desire to become a race-horse jockey, had no aspiration to become an entertainer. Despite this, her father planned for her to pursue a career in entertainment. Jackson once commented, “No one ever asked me if I wanted to go into show business … it was expected.”

In 1974, at the age of seven, Jackson appeared on stage in Las Vegas, Nevada with her siblings in a routine show at the MGM Casino.jane Cornwell documented in her biography of the singer, Janet Jackson (2002), that at age eight Joseph Jackson told Janet not to call him “Dad” anymore since he was her manager; he told her she would henceforth address him as “Joseph”. She began her career as an actress with the debut of the CBS variety show The Jacksons (1976), in which she appeared with her siblings Tito, Rebbie, Randy, Michael, Marlon, La Toya and Jackie.In 1977, Jackson was selected by producer Norman Lear to play a recurring role as Penny Gordon Woods in the sitcom Good Times.[3] From 1979 to 1980, Jackson starred in A New Kind of Family as Jojo Ashton, and then joined the cast of Diff’rent Strokes, portraying Charlene Duprey from 1981 to 1982.[3] She played a recurring role during the fourth season of the television series Fame as Cleo Hewitt, though she later commented that the series was not a project she enjoyed working on.

1982–1985: Early recordings
Although Jackson was initially apprehensive about starting a music career, she agreed to participate in recording sessions with her family. The first of these, a duet with her brother Randy titled “Love Song for Kids”, took place in 1978. When Jackson was sixteen, her father arranged a contract for her with A&M Records.[3] Her debut album, Janet Jackson, produced by soul singers Angela Winbush, René Moore and Leon F. Sylvers III, was released in 1982, the entire production of which was overseen by her father Joseph.It peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot R&B albums chart.

Jackson’s second album, Dream Street, was released two years later. Her father recruited her brothers to help produce the album: Marlon co-wrote two of the album’s tracks, while Tito, Jackie and Michael provided background vocals.Dream Street reached number nineteen on the R&B albums chart; its sales were less than that of Jackson’s debut album.The album’s only hit, “Don’t Stand Another Chance”, peaked at number nine on Billboard’s R&B singles chart.In late 1984, Jackson eloped with childhood friend and fellow R&B singer James DeBarge. They divorced shortly afterwards, and the marriage was annulled in mid-1985.

1986–1988: Control

Audio samples:
“Nasty” (1986)
 
“Nasty” was written as a response to an incident of sexual harassment Jackson faced during the recording of Control. The song features a triplet swing beat, a production technique of new jack swing.

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Following the release of Dream Street, Jackson decided to separate her business affairs from her family. She later commented, “I remember trying to tell my father I no longer wanted him to manage me. It would have been easier to have Mother tell him for me, but that was something I had to do for myself.” Jackson also stated, “I just wanted to get out of the house, get out from under my father, which was one of the most difficult things that I had to do, telling him that I didn’t want to work with him again.” A&M Records executive John McClain hired producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to work with Jackson. Within six weeks, Jackson, Jam and Lewis crafted Jackson’s third studio album, Control.Jackson recalled that during the recording of the album, she was threatened by a group of men outside of her hotel in Minneapolis. She stated that “[t]he danger hit home when a couple of guys started stalking me on the street … Instead of running to Jimmy or Terry for protection, I took a stand. I backed them down. That’s how songs like ‘Nasty’ and ‘What Have You Done for Me Lately’ were born, out of a sense of self-defense.”

Though Jam and Lewis were concerned with achieving cross-over appeal, their primary goal was to create a strong following for the singer within the African-American community first.[12] Jam commented, “[w]e wanted to do an album that would be in every black home in America … we were going for the black album of all time.”[12] Released in February 1986, the album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200.The Newsweek review of Control noted that the album was “an alternative to the sentimental balladry and opulent arrangements of Patti LaBelle and Whitney Houston.” Rob Hoerburger of Rolling Stone asserted, “Control is a better album than Diana Ross has made in five years and puts Janet in a position similar to the young Donna Summer’s—unwilling to accept novelty status and taking her own steps to rise above it.” Five of the album’s singles—”What Have You Done for Me Lately”, “Nasty”, “When I Think of You”, “Control”, and “Let’s Wait Awhile”—peaked within the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100. “When I Think of You” became Jackson’s first single to peak at number one. “The Pleasure Principle” became a top 20 hit, peaking at number fourteen.Most of the Control music videos were choreographed by a then-unknown Paula Abdul. Jonathan Cohen of Billboard magazine commented “[Jackson’s] accessible sound and spectacularly choreographed videos were irresistible to MTV, and helped the channel evolve from rock programming to a broader, beat-driven musical mix.”

Control was certified five times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and has sold over eight million copies worldwide.Billboard credited it as being the fifth best-selling album of 1986 in the United States. It won four American Music Awards, from twelve nominations—a record that has yet to be broken—and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 1987 Grammy Awards. Richard J. Ripani Ph.D., author of The New Blue Music: Changes in Rhythm & Blues, 1950-1999 (2006), observed that the album was one of the first successful records to influence the rise of new jack swing, incorporating R&B, funk, jazz, soul and various production techniques which emerged in the mid-1980s. The success of Control, according to Ripani, bridged the gap between R&B and rap music.

1989–1992: Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814
Audio samples:
“Rhythm Nation” (1989)
 
“Rhythm Nation” encompasses the full range of new jack swing genre. The use of sample loop and triple swing are present, while vocals for the song are alternatively sung in octaves or rapped in spoken verse.

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In September 1989, Jackson released her fourth album, Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814. Though executives at A&M wanted an album similar to Control, Jackson was unwilling to compromise her artistic integrity, and was determined to imbue her music with a socially-conscious message that complimented her songs about love and relationships.Jackson stated, “I’m not naive—I know an album or a song can’t change the world. I just want my music and my dance to catch the audience’s attention, and to hold it long enough for them to listen to the lyrics and what we’re saying.” Producer Jimmy Jam told The Boston Globe, “We would always have a TV turned on, usually to CNN … And I think the social slant of songs like Rhythm Nation, State of the World and The Knowledge came from that.” Rolling Stone magazine’s Vince Aletti observed Jackson shifted from “personal freedom to more universal concerns—injustice, illiteracy, crime, drugs—without missing a beat.”Richard J. Ripani observed that the album, much like its predecessor, contained heavy styling of new jack swing; the use of sample loop, triple swing, rap vocals and blues notes are present in the album’s title-track “Rhythm Nation”.

After debuting at number one on the Billboard 200, the album was later certified six times platinum and eventually sold over eight million copies worldwide.The release became the only album in history to produce number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in three separate calendar years—”Miss You Much” in 1989, “Escapade” and “Black Cat” in 1990, and “Love Will Never Do (Without You)” in 1991—and the only album in the history of the Hot 100 to have seven top 5 hit singles. The corresponding music video for “Rhythm Nation” won the 1989 Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video.Billboard named Rhythm Nation 1814 the number-one selling album of the year in 1990, winning multiple music awards. Jackson was dubbed a reigning “Princess of Pop” by the Chicago Tribune.Although some attributed Jackson’s accomplishments to her producers, Jimmy Jam stated “when someone says, ‘Well, she brought in Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis,’ you’ve got to remember that we weren’t exactly … Quincy Jones … ‘Control’ was our first smash. The same with Paula. It wasn’t like Janet [hired] Fred Astaire … She took a chance on all of us.”

The Rhythm Nation 1814 Tour, Jackson’s first world tour in support of a studio album, aimed to recreate the “award–winning, visually innovative” music videos of Rhythm Nation 1814 and Control, and was described as “an elaborately choreographed spectacle” by Entertainment Weekly.As Jackson began her tour, she was acknowledged for the cultural impact of her music. Joel Selvin of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote “the 23-year-old has been making smash hit records for four years, becoming a fixture on MTV and a major role model to teenage girls across the country”, and William Allen, then-executive vice president of the United Negro College Fund, told the Los Angeles Times, “Jackson is a role model for all young people to emulate and the message she has gotten to the young people of this country through the lyrics of ‘Rhythm Nation 1814′ is having positive effects.”With an attendance of more than two million patrons, the Rhythm Nation 1814 Tour remains the most successful debut tour by any recording artist.[38] Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Global Women’s Issues and Knowledge (2000) documented that Jackson’s success during this time period placed her on par with several other recording artists, including her older brother Michael Jackson, Madonna and Tina Turner.

With the release of Rhythm Nation 1814, Jackson fulfilled her contract with A&M Records. In 1991, after being approached personally by Virgin Records owner Richard Branson, she signed a highly publicized multi-million dollar contract with the label. The contract value was estimated between $32–50 million, and she became the highest paid female recording artist in contemporary music. That same year, Jackson secretly entered into her second marriage with long-term friend—dancer, songwriter and director René Elizondo, Jr.[43] In May 1992, Jackson recorded a song entitled “The Best Things in Life Are Free” with Luther Vandross, featuring Bell Biv Devoe and Ralph Tresvant, for the Mo’ Money film soundtrack.

1993–1996: janet. and Poetic Justice
 
Janet Jackson featured on the cover of Rolling Stone with the hands of her then-unknown husband René Elizondo Jr. covering her breastsIn May 1993, Jackson’s fifth studio album entitled janet. (pronounced “Janet, period.”), was released by Virgin Records and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.[6] Jackson commented, “… [c]ertain people feel I’m just riding on my last name … That’s why I just put my first name on janet. and why I never asked my brothers to write or produce music for me.” The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004) commented that the album’s number one hit single “That’s the Way Love Goes”—winner of the 1994 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song—and the top 10 singles “If”, “Because of Love”, “You Want This”, and “Any Time, Any Place”, all contained “grown-up desires”.Rolling Stone wrote: “As princess of America’s black royal family, everything Janet Jackson does is important. Whether proclaiming herself in charge of her life, as she did on Control (1986), or commander in chief of a rhythm army dancing to fight society’s problems (Rhythm Nation 1814, from 1989), she’s influential. And when she announces her sexual maturity, as she does on her new album, Janet., it’s a cultural moment.” Robert Johnson of San Antonio Express-News wrote that the album ranges from “dreamy and sensual” to “downright erotic”, and although “[janet.] isn’t perfect … it should be enough to make her the Queen of Pop.”[48] Conversely, David Browne of Entertainment Weekly gave it a moderate rating, asserting “her wispy voice is often smothered by her two male producers”, and regarded janet. as a “blatant rip-off of the club-beat style of Madonna’s Erotica.” janet. was later certified six times platinum by the RIAA, with worldwide sales exceeding ten million copies.

In July 1993, Jackson made her film debut in Poetic Justice. Rolling Stone described Jackson’s performance as “a beguiling film debut” despite her nexperience, while the Washington Post considered her “believably eccentric”. Jackson’s ballad “Again” was featured on the film’s soundtrack, and garnered a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

In September 1993, Jackson appeared topless on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine with the hands of her then-husband René Elizondo, Jr. covering her breasts. The photograph is the original full-length version of the cropped image used on the cover of the janet. album, shot by Patrick Demarchelier. Sonia Murray of The Vancouver Sun later reported, “Jackson, 27, remains clearly established as both role model and sex symbol; the Rolling Stone photo of Jackson … became one of the most recognizable, and most lampooned, magazine covers of the year.”[56] In the cover story, “Sexual Healing” by David Ritz, Jackson explained, “… sex has been an important part of me for several years. But it just hasn’t blossomed publicly until now. I’ve had to go through some changes and shed some old attitudes before feeling completely comfortable with my body. Listening to my new record, people intuitively understand the change in me.”[10] Ritz likened Jackson’s transformation to Marvin Gaye as he stated, “[j]ust as Gaye moved from What’s Going On to Let’s Get It On, from the austere to the ecstatic, Janet, every bit as serious-minded as Marvin, moved from Rhythm Nation to janet., her statement of sexual liberation.”[10] Jackson’s second world tour—the janet. Tour—garnered critical acclaim as Michael Snyder of the San Francisco Chronicle described Jackson’s stage performance as erasing the line between “stadium-size pop music concerts and full-scale theatrical extravaganzas”, and Steve Pick of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch observed Jackson’s show made the janet. album’s numerous hit singles more effective with her “larger-than-life stage persona”.

During this time period, Jackson’s brother Michael Jackson was immersed in a child sex abuse scandal, of which he denied any wrongdoing.Jackson gave moral support to her brother, and denied allegations made by her sister La Toya Jackson in her book La Toya: Growing up in the Jackson Family (1991) that their parents had abused her and her siblings as children.[41] In an interview with Lynn Norment of Ebony, Jackson commented on her sister’s then-estrangement from the family, stating, “her [husband Jack Gordon] has … brainwashed her so much she keeps herself away from us.”[60] Norment reported during the recording of janet., “LaToya suddenly showed up and created a scene at the Minneapolis recording studio”, despite the fact that “[Jackson’s] sister had ignored her calls for four years prior to that.”[60] In addition, Jackson criticized her brother Jermaine Jackson for attacking Michael in his 1991 single “Word To The Badd”.She later collaborated with her brother Michael on “Scream”, the lead single from his 1995 album HIStory, which was written by both siblings as a response to the media scrutiny he suffered from being accused of child sexual abuse. The song debuted at number five on the Hot 100 singles chart, becoming the first song ever to debut in the top 5. Scream is featured in the Guinness Book of Records as the “Most Expensive Music Video Ever Made” at a cost of $7 million. Jackson and her brother won the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video for Scream.

In October 1995, Jackson’s first compilation album, Design of a Decade 1986/1996, was released via A&M Records and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200.The lead single “Runaway” peaked at number three on the Hot 100.[62] Design of a Decade 1986/1996 was certified two times platinum by the RIAA.In January 1996, Jackson renewed her contract with Virgin Records for a reported $80 million dollars.The contract established her as the then-highest paid recording artist in contemporary music, surpassing the recording industry’s then-unparalleled $60 million dollar contracts earned by her brother, Michael Jackson and Madonna.

1997–1999: The Velvet Rope
During the two year period prior to the release of her sixth studio album, The Velvet Rope, Jackson reportedly suffered from depression and anxiety. Michael Saunders of The Boston Globe considered the album to be an introspective look into Jackson’s bout with depression, describing it as a “critical self-examination and an audio journal of a woman’s road to self-discovery.”According to Jackson, “[w]e’ve all driven by premieres or nightclubs and have seen the rope separating those who can enter and those who can’t. Well, there’s also a velvet rope we have inside us, keeping others from knowing our feelings. In The Velvet Rope, I’m trying to expose and explore those feelings … During my life, I’ve been on both sides of the rope. At times, especially during my childhood, I felt left out and alone. At times I felt misunderstood.” The Velvet Rope also introduced sadomasochism into Jackson’s music. Eric Henderson of Slant wrote, “The Velvet Rope is a richly dark masterwork that illustrates that, amid the whips and chains, there is nothing sexier than emotional nakedness.”

Released in October 1997, The Velvet Rope debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and the RIAA later certified the album three times platinum. In August 1997 the album’s lead single, “Got ‘Til It’s Gone”, was released to radio, peaking at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay.The single sampled the Joni Mitchell song “Big Yellow Taxi”, and featured a cameo appearance by rapper Q-Tip. Got ‘Til It’s Gone won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video. The album’s second single “Together Again”, became Jackson’s eighth number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and placing her on par with Elton John, Diana Ross, and The Rolling Stones.The single spent a record 46 weeks on the Hot 100, as well as spending 19 weeks on the UK singles chart.”I Get Lonely” peaked at number three on the Hot 100.

Jackson donated a portion of the proceeds earned from “Together Again” to the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph observed, “[Jackson] even makes a bid for gay icon status, delivering a diva-ish performance reminiscent of Diana Ross on ‘Together Again’ (a post-Aids pop song), singing a paean to homosexuality on the jazzy ‘Free Xone’ and climaxing (if that’s the right word) with a bizarre lesbian reinterpretation of Rod Stewart’s ‘Tonight’s the Night’.”Rolling Stone regarded “Free Xone” as the album’s “best song”, describing it as an “anti-homophobia track [which] shifts moods and tempos on a dime, segueing from a Prince-like jam to a masterful sample from Archie Bell and the Drells’ ‘Tighten Up’.” The Velvet Rope was honored by the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum, and received the award for Outstanding Music Album at the 9th Annual GLAAD Media Awards.

In 1998, Jackson began the The Velvet Rope Tour, an international trek that included Europe, North America, Africa, Asia, New Zealand and Australia. Robert Hilburn of the The Los Angeles Times reported, “[t]here is so much of the ambition and glamour of a Broadway musical in Janet Jackson’s new Velvet Rope tour that it’s only fitting that the concert program credits her as the show’s ‘creator and director’.”Jackson’s HBO special, The Velvet Rope: Live in Madison Square Garden, was watched by more than fifteen million viewers. The two hour concert beat the ratings of all four major networks in homes that were subscribed to HBO. The following month, Jackson separated from Elizondo Jr. As her world tour came to a close in 1999, Jackson lent guest vocals to a number of songs by other artists, including Shaggy’s “Luv Me, Luv Me”, for the soundtrack to How Stella Got Her Groove Back, “God’s Stepchild” from the Down on the Delta soundtrack, “Girlfriend/Boyfriend” with BLACKstreet, and “What’s It Gonna Be?!” with Busta Rhymes. Jackson also performed a duet with Elton John for the song “I Know the Truth”. At the 1999 World Music Awards, Jackson received the Legend Award alongside Cher for “lifelong contribution to the music industry and outstanding contribution to the pop industry.” As 1999 ended, Billboard magazine ranked Jackson as the second most successful artist of the decade, behind Mariah Carey.

2000–2003: Nutty Professor II: The Klumps and All for You
In July 2000, Jackson appeared in her second film, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, as Professor Denise Gaines, opposite Eddie Murphy. The film became Jackson’s second to open at number one at the box office, grossing an estimated $42.7 million dollars in its opening weekend.Her contribution to the film’s soundtrack, “Doesn’t Really Matter”, became her ninth number one Billboard Hot 100 single. In the same year, Jackson’s husband filed for divorce. Jeff Gordinier of Entertainment Weekly reported that for eight of the thirteen years Jackson and Elizondo had known one another, “[they] were married—a fact they managed to hide not only from the international press but from Jackson’s own father.” Elizondo filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Jackson, estimated between $10–25 million; they did not reach a settlement until 2003.

Jackson was awarded a top honor from the American Music Awards—the Award of Merit—in March 2001 for “her finely crafted, critically acclaimed and socially conscious, multi-platinum albums.”Jackson became the inaugural honoree of the “mtvICON” award, “an annual recognition of artists who have made significant contributions to music, music video and pop culture while tremendously impacting the MTV generation.”Jackson’s seventh album, All for You, was released in April 2001, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200.Selling 605,000 copies, All For You had the highest first-week sales total of Jackson’s career. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic stated “[Jackson’s] created a record that’s luxurious and sensual, spreading leisurely over its 70 minutes, luring you in even when you know better”, and Jon Pareles of The New York Times commented, “[a]s other rhythm and blues strips down to match the angularity of hip-hop, Ms. Jackson luxuriates in textures as dizzying as a new infatuation.”

Audio samples:
“All for You” (2001)
 
The disco inspired “All for You” features an uptempo dance beat and samples “The Glow of Love” originally performed by Change

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The album’s title-track, “All for You”, debuted on the Hot 100 at number fourteen, the highest debut ever for a single that was not commercially available.[89] Teri VanHorn of MTV dubbed Jackson “Queen of Radio” as the single made radio airplay history, “[being] added to every pop, rhythmic and urban radio station that reports to the national trade magazine Radio & Records” in its first week.The single peaked at number one, where it topped the Hot 100 for seven weeks.Jackson received the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording for “All for You”.The second single, “Someone to Call My Lover”, which contained a heavy guitar loop of America’s “Ventura Highway”, peaked at number three on the Hot 100. All For You sold more than three million copies in America, and was certified double platinum by the RIAA.

Reviews for Jackson’s All for You Tour drew comparison to that of her contemporary rivals. The Los Angeles Times’ David Massey reported that compared to Madonna’s Drowned World Tour, “Janet outdid the Material Girl by a mile … And the gall to bring Britney Spears’ name into the picture by saying Janet’s show is like Britney’s? Hello, it’s the other way around!.”Similarly, reporter Rudy Scalese complimented Jackson’s performance, stating, “Janet Jackson hasn’t skipped a beat. She is still the Queen of Pop.”In contrast, Charles Passy of The Palm Beach Post commented, “[s]eeing Jackson’s show after Madonna’s ‘Drowned World’ tour is to realize the limits of the pop-concert format. Madonna pushed those limits and came up with a daring hybrid of circus, theater and music. Jackson, on the other hand, lived within the constraints.”Jackson donated a portion of the proceeds from the tour’s ticket sales to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, with President Roxanne Spillett stating, “[t]he increased awareness she will bring to our cause, along with her generous financial contribution, will help us reach an even greater number of young people in search of hope and opportunity.”

In 2002, Jackson collaborated with reggae singer Beenie Man on the song “Feel It Boy”. Jackson later admitted regret over the collaboration after discovering Beenie Man’s music often contained homophobic lyrics, and she issued an apology to her gay following in an article contained in The Voice. Jackson also began her relationship with record producer Jermaine Dupri that same year.

2004–2005: Super Bowl XXXVIII and Damita Jo
Main article: Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy
 
Jackson and Justin Timberlake at the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show in February 2004.For the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show in February 2004, Jackson performed a medley of her singles “All for You” and “Rhythm Nation”; she then performed alongside Justin Timberlake. As Timberlake sang the lyric “gonna have you naked by the end of this song” from his single “Rock Your Body”, he tore open Jackson’s top, exposing her right breast. After the performance, Jackson apologized, calling it an accident, and said that Timberlake was supposed to pull away the bustier and leave the red-lace bra intact. She further commented, “I am really sorry if I offended anyone. That was truly not my intention … MTV, CBS, the NFL had no knowledge of this whatsoever, and unfortunately, the whole thing went wrong in the end.” Timberlake also issued an apology, calling the accident a “wardrobe malfunction”. Time magazine reported that the incident became the most replayed moment in TiVo history and Monte Burke of Forbes magazine reported “[t]he fleeting moment enticed an estimated 35,000 new subscribers to sign up.”Jackson was later listed in the 2007 edition of Guinness World Records as “Most Searched in Internet History” and the “Most Searched for News Item”. CBS, the NFL, and MTV (CBS’s sister network, which produced the halftime show), denied any knowledge of, and all responsibility for, the incident. Still, the Federal Communications Commission continued an investigation, ultimately losing its appeal for a $550,000 fine against CBS.

As a result of the incident, CBS would only allow Jackson and Timberlake to appear during the 46th Grammy Awards ceremony if they each made a public apology to the network, without attributing the incident to a “wardrobe malfunction”. Timberlake issued an apology, but Jackson refused.Jermaine Dupri resigned from his position on the Grammy Awards committee as a result.The controversy halted plans for Jackson to star in a made-for-TV biopic on the life on singer Lena Horne for ABC-TV. Though Horne was reportedly displeased by the Super Bowl incident and insisted that ABC pull Jackson from the project, according to Jackson’s representatives, she withdrew from the project willingly.

In March 2004, Jackson’s eighth studio album, Damita Jo, was released debuting at number two on the Billboard 200.Steve Jones of USA Today reported, “[t]he album, which takes its title from [Jackson’s] middle name, shows several sides of her personality.”[109] During the interview Jackson commented, “[t]he album is about love … Damita Jo is one of the characters that lives inside of me.”Lorraine Ali of Newsweek reported Jackson’s album depicts vulnerability. She commented, “and who would know better what it’s like to stand exposed? Her Super Bowl debacle/accident/publicity stunt aside, she’s the ninth and youngest child of pop culture’s most scrutinized celebrity family.”

Jackson appeared as a host of Saturday Night Live on April 10, 2004, where she performed a skit that parodied the Super Bowl incident. She also appeared in the television sitcom Will & Grace playing herself, interacting with sitcom characters Karen Walker and Jack McFarland as Jack was auditioning to be one of her back-up dancers.By the end of 2004, Damita Jo had sold 942,000 copies in the United States and was later certified platinum by the RIAA. Although the album debuted at number two, its three singles all failed to become top 40 hits.Keith Caulfield of Billboard commented, “[f]or a singles artist like Jackson, who has racked up 27 top 10 Hot 100 singles in her career, including 10 No. 1s, this could probably be considered a disappointment.”[108] Billboard’s Clover Hope reported Damita Jo “was largely overshadowed by the Super Bowl fiasco” and that Jermaine Dupri, the then-president of the urban music department at Virgin Records, expressed “sentiments of nonsupport” from the company.
In November 2004, Jackson was honored as an African-American role model by 100 Black Men of America, Inc., who presented her with the “organization’s Artistic Achievement Award saluting ‘a career that has gone from success to greater success’.” Though the New York Amsterdam News reported “[t]here were a number of attendees who expressed dismay over presenting an award to the 38-year-old performer” due to the Super Bowl incident, the organization’s President Paul Williams responded, “[a]n individual’s worth can’t be judged by a single moment in that person’s life.”In June 2005, Jackson was honored with a Humanitarian Award by the Human Rights Campaign and AIDS Project Los Angeles, in recognition of her work and involvement in raising money for AIDS charities.

2006–2007: 20 Y.O. and Why Did I Get Married?
To promote her ninth studio album, 20 Y.O., Jackson appeared on the cover of Us Weekly in June 2006, which became the magazine’s best-selling issue.Virgin Records released 20 Y.O. in September 2006, which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200.Janine Coveney of Billboard reported the album title, 20 Years Old, represents “a celebration of the joyful liberation and history-making musical style of her 1986 breakthrough album, Control.”Jackson stated “[t]his album takes me to a place where I haven’t been in a while: R&B and dance … The album also features samples from music that inspired me 20, 25 years ago.”

Rolling Stone magazine’s Evan Serpick remarked “[t]he title of Janet Jackson’s latest album refers to the two decades since she released her breakthrough, Control, with hits like ‘Nasty’ and ‘What Have You Done for Me Lately.’ If we were her, we wouldn’t make the comparison.” However, Glenn Gamboa of Newsday gave the album a positive rating, stating that “[o]n ‘20 Y.O.’ she skips all that drama of breaking free and asserting herself. She also keeps most of the tie-me-up, tie-me-down sexual raunch of her recent albums in the closet. This album is all about dancing and returning to her R&B roots.”The album’s lead single “Call on Me,” a duet with rapper Nelly, peaked at number twenty-five on the Hot 100.20 Y.O. was certified platinum by the RIAA. Billboard magazine reported the release of 20 Y.O. satisfied Jackson’s contract with Virgin Records; Jermaine Dupri, who co-produced 20 Y.O., left his position as head of urban music at Virgin following the “disappointing performance” of Jackson’s album.

In January 2007, Jackson was ranked the seventh richest woman in the entertainment business by Forbes magazine, having amassed a fortune of over $150 million.[124] Later that year, Jackson starred opposite Tyler Perry as a psychotherapist named Patrica in the feature film Why Did I Get Married? The film opened at number one at the box office, grossing $21.4 million in its first week. Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe commented that Jackson portrayed her character with “soft authority”.In February 2008, Jackson won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her role.

2008: Discipline
In July 2007, Jackson changed labels and signed a record contract with Island Records. Jackson’s tenth studio album, Discipline, was released in February 2008, by the Island Def Jam Music Group, debuting on the Billboard 200 at number one.[6] Jackson and Jermaine Dupri severed as executive producers, long-term collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis did not contribute, and Discipline was the first album on which Jackson did not co-write any of the material since 1984’s Dream Street.Paul Grein of Yahoo! Music observed that with six number one studio albums, Jackson had “surpasse[d] her brother Michael Jackson, who has amassed five [number one] albums.”[129] In an interview with Larry King of CNN, Jackson commented, “Discipline. It’s the title track on the album … But I wanted to name the album Discipline because it has a lot of different meanings for me but the most important would be work—to have done this for as long as I have … And to have had the success that I’ve had—not excluding God by any means—but it takes a great deal of focus.”

Margeaux Watson of Entertainment Weekly referred to the lyrical content as “cheesy”, while Dan Cairns of The Sunday Times called the album “bizarre”.

Jackson performs during the Rock Witchu Tour 2008.Jackson’s fifth concert tour—the Rock Witchu Tour—began in September 2008. Amy O’Brian of The Vancouver Sun described Jackson’s stage show at the GM Place as a “high-voltage performance”.[134] According to O’Brian, “[w]ith an ear-piercing blast of pyrotechnics, a fog of thick cloud and dancers that popped up out of the stage and runway, Jackson proved within the first minutes that she didn’t choose the low-budget route for her Rock Witchu Tour.”Similarly, Jim Harrington of The Oakland Tribune offered a positive review, stating: “Like Jackson’s previous tours, ‘Rock Witchu’ was a flashy, high-budget extravaganza built on well-choreographed dance routines and plenty of theatrics.” That same month, Jackson and her record label parted ways through mutual agreement. In the fourteen months Jackson had been associated with Island Def Jam, her debut album under the label had sold 415,000 copies in the United States and spent fourteen weeks on the Billboard charts. Billboard reported that due to Jackson’s dissatisfaction with her album’s promotion, “the label agreed to dissolve their relationship with the artist at her request.”

Musical style and performance
Audio samples:
“Black Cat” (1989)
 
Written by Jackson and produced by Jellybean Johnson, “Black Cat” was recorded using a mixture of Rockman and Marshall amplifier to give it a heavy metal sound. The song’s lyrics convey a stance against substance abuse.

Problems listening to the files? See media help.
Jackson has a mezzo-soprano vocal range.[Rolling Stone magazine observed, “wispy voice was a pale echo of Michael’s, but on Janet’s albums—and in her videos and live performances, which revealed a crisp, athletic dance technique not unlike her brother’s—singing wasn’t the point”, instead commenting that importance was instead placed on “[h]er slamming beats, infectious hooks, and impeccable production values.”Jackson’s voice has also been praised on occasion. Eric Henderson of Slant claimed critics who judged Jackson harshly for her thin voice “somehow missed the explosive ‘gimme a beat’ vocal pyrotechnics she unleashes all over ‘Nasty’ … Or that they completely dismissed how perfect her tremulous hesitance fits into the abstinence anthem ‘Let’s Wait Awhile’.” David Ritz of Rolling Stone compared Jackson’s musical style to that of Marvin Gaye, stating, “[l]ike Marvin, autobiography seemed the sole source of her music. Her art, also like Marvin’s, floated over a reservoir of secret pain.”Jackson has credited her older brothers Michael and Jermaine as her primary musical influences.Other artists attributed as influences on Jackson’s music according to Rolling Stone are The Ronettes, Dionne Warwick, Tammi Terrell and Diana Ross.
Jackson’s music has encompassed a broad range of genres, including R&B, pop, soul, rap, rock, and dance. Qadree EI-Amin, Jackson’s former personal manager, commented, “[s]he’s bigger than Barbra Streisand because Streisand can’t appeal to the street crowd, as Janet does. But Streisand’s rich, elite crowd loves Janet Jackson.”When producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis produced Jackson’s 1986 album Control, they introduced the emerging style of new jack swing into her music.Richard J. Ripani documented that Jackson and her producers “crafted a new sound that fuses the rhythmic elements of funk and disco, along with heavy doses of synthesizers, percussion, sound effects, and a rap music sensibility.”

Jackson has changed her lyrical focus over the years. Gillian G. Gaar, author of She’s a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll (2002), described Control as “an autobiographical tale about her life with her parents, her first marriage, and breaking free.”Rickey Vincent stated in his book Funk: The Music, The People, and The Rhythm of The One (1996) that Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 “was the boldest and most successful pop attempt to combine social commentary, celebration, and state-of-the-art dance funk since her brother Michael’s efforts to be Bad.”On janet., Jackson began to deal primarily with sexual themes. Joshua Klein wrote in The Washington Post that Jackson’s public image over the course of her career had shifted “from innocence to experience, inspiring such carnal albums as 1993’s ‘Janet’ and 1997’s ‘The Velvet Rope’, the latter of which explored the bonds—figuratively and literally—of love and lust.”[143] Jackson explained the recurring themes on her later albums by saying, “I love love and I love sex.”She stated during promotion for janet., “I love feeling deeply sexual—and don’t mind letting the world know. For me, sex has become a celebration, a joyful part of the creative process.”

Choreography
Jackson drew her inspiration from the musicals she watched in her youth for her music videos and performances, and was heavily influenced by the choreography of Fred Astaire and Michael Kidd, among others.[145] Throughout her career, Jackson has worked with numerous professional choreographers such as Paula Abdul, Michael Kidd, and Tina Landon. Landon also took part in the choreography for Michael and Janet Jackson’s 1995 music video Scream.Janine Coveney of Billboard observed that “Jackson’s musical declaration of independence [Control] launched a string of hits, an indelible production sound, and an enduring image cemented by groundbreaking video choreography and imagery that pop vocalists still emulate.”Qadree EI-Amin remarked that artists such as “Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera pattern their performances after Janet’s proven dance-diva persona.”

The Independent writer Nicholas Barber commented in his review for The Velvet Rope Tour that “Janet’s concerts are the pop equivalent of a summer blockbuster movie, with all the explosions, special effects, ersatz sentimentality, gratuitous cleavage and emphasis on spectacle over coherence that the term implies.”When The Los Angeles Times reporter Robert Hilburn asked Jackson “[d]o you understand it when people talk about [The Velvet Rope Tour] in terms of Broadway?”, she responded, “I’m crazy about Broadway … That’s what I grew up on.”[76] Thor Christensen of the Dallas Morning News reported that Jackson lip syncs in concert; he wrote, “Janet Jackson—one of pop’s most notorious onstage lip-syncers—conceded … she uses ’some’ taped vocals to augment her live vocals. But she refused to say what percentage of her concert ‘voice’ is taped and how much is live.”Jackson’s ex-husband and former choreographer René Elizondo Jr. commented, “[i]f Janet sat on the stool and strummed her guitar, she could sing an eight-hour show … Whoever says they don’t use taped vocals doesn’t dance.”

Legacy
See also: List of Janet Jackson awards and Janet Jackson as gay icon
The baby sister of the “precious Jackson clan”, Janet Jackson has strived to distance her professional career from that of her older brother Michael and the rest of the Jackson family. Phillip McCarthy of Sydney Morning Herald noted that throughout her recording career, one of her common conditions for interviewers has been that there would be no mention of Michael.Joshua Klein wrote, “[f]or the first half of her recording career, Janet Jackson sounded like an artist with something to prove. Emerging in 1982 just as big brother Michael was casting his longest shadow, Jackson filled her albums not so much with songs as with declarations, from ‘The Pleasure Principle’ to the radical-sounding ‘Rhythm Nation’ to the telling statement of purpose, ‘Control’.” Steve Huey of Allmusic asserted that despite being born into a family of entertainers, Janet Jackson has managed to emerge a “superstar” in her own right, rivaling not only several female recording artists including Madonna and Whitney Houston, but also her brother, while “successfully [shifting] her image from a strong, independent young woman to a sexy, mature adult.”Klein argued that “stardom was not too hard to predict, but few could have foreseen that Janet—Miss Jackson, if you’re nasty—would one day replace Michael as true heir to the Jackson family legacy.”

Jim Cullen observed in Popular Culture in American History (2001) that although it was Michael Jackson’s Thriller that originally synchronized music video with album sales, Janet Jackson saw the visualization of her music elevate her to the status of a pop culture icon. According to Larry Starr and Christopher Alan Waterman, authors of American Popular Music : The Rock Years (2006), when the American music industry began its economic recovery in the mid-1980s from the fall of the disco era, Janet Jackson, among other multi-platinum selling music artists, was acknowledged for stimulating the overall increase in consumer purchasing of LPs, cassette tapes and CDs.[153] In March 2008, Business Wire reported “Janet Jackson is one of the top ten selling artists in the history of contemporary music; ranked by Billboard magazine as the ninth most successful act in rock and roll history, and the second most successful female artist in pop music history.”

Jackson’s musical style and choreography have influenced a number of recording artists. R&B singer Cassie has referred to herself as “die-hard Janet Jackson fan” and elaborated, “I’d love to emulate Janet’s career—totally … She’s incredible, from her moves to her voice.”The Chicago Tribune reported, “Cassie isn’t the first artist to be measured against Janet Jackson, and odds are she won’t be the last.” Aaliyah Remembered (2005) documented that Janet Jackson was someone Aaliyah had “always desired to work with” and Aaliyah herself commented, “I admire her a great deal. She’s a total performer … I’d love to do a duet with Janet Jackson.”Ciara has acknowledged Janet Jackson as one of her primary influences, stating, “It seems like just yesterday I was watching Janet Jackson on TV; now, some people compare me to her.” Sonia Murray of The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported Beyoncé Knowles “has been nothing but reverential of the singer”; Knowles expressed “I love Janet Jackson! … I have nothing but positive things to say about her.”Pam Sitt of The Seattle Times reported that “pop stars Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, among others, have credited Jackson as an influence.”

Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American film and television actress. She became famous from the mid 1990s to the early 2000s for playing the role of Rachel Green in the popular US sitcom Friends, a role for which she won both an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

She has starred in several Hollywood films, often alongside a member of the Frat Pack. While most of her film roles have been in comedies such as Bruce Almighty, Office Space, Rumor Has It, and the romantic comedies Along Came Polly and The Break-Up, she has also appeared in films from other genres, such as the crime thriller Derailed.

Aniston’s marriage to actor Brad Pitt and their subsequent divorce received widespread media coverage.

Early life

Jennifer Aniston was born on February 11, 1969 in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, and grew up in New York City.She is the daughter of the actor John Aniston and actress Nancy Dow. Aniston’s father is a Greek American, born Yannis Anastassakis, on the island of Crete, Greece, while her mother was born in New York City of English and Scottish descent.Aniston has two half-brothers, John Melick (older) and Alex Aniston (younger).Aniston’s godfather was the actor Telly Savalas, her father’s best friend. She lived in Greece for one year as a child with her family, and they later relocated to New York City.Her father has appeared in the soap operas Days of Our Lives, Love of Life and Search for Tomorrow. Aniston attended the New York Rudolf Steiner School[5] and graduated from Manhattan’s Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.She worked in Off Broadway productions such as For Dear Life and Dancing on Checker’s Grave. During this time, she supported herself with several part-time jobs, including working as a telemarketer and bike messenger. In 1989, she moved to Los Angeles, California.

Career

Aniston moved to Hollywood and was cast in her first television role in 1990, starring as a regular on the short-lived series Molloy and in the TV movie Camp Cucamonga.She also co-starred in Ferris Bueller, a television adaptation of the 1986 hit movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The series, however, was quickly canceled.Aniston then appeared in two more failed television comedy shows, The Edge and Muddling Through, and guest-starred on Quantum Leap, Herman’s Head, and Burke’s Law.After the string of canceled shows, along with her appearance in the critically derided 1992 horror film, Leprechaun, Aniston considered giving up acting.Aniston’s plans changed, however, after auditioning for Friends, a sitcom that was set to debut on NBC’s 1994–1995 fall line-up.The producers of the show originally wanted Aniston to audition for the role of Monica Geller,but she persuaded them that she was better suited for the role of Rachel Green.She was cast in the role and played the character from 1994 until the show ended in 2004.

The program was successful and Aniston, along with her co-stars, gained wide renown among television viewers.Her hairstyle at the time, which became known as the “Rachel”, was widely copied.Aniston received a salary of one million dollars per episode for the last two seasons of Friends, as well as five Emmy nominations (two for Supporting Actress, three for Lead Actress),including a win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.According to the Guinness World Book of Records (2005), Aniston (along with her female costars) became the highest paid TV actress of all time with her $1 million-per-episode paycheck for the tenth season of Friends.

In 1994, Microsoft invited Aniston, along with Friends co-star Matthew Perry, to shoot a 30-minute promotional advertisement for their new operating system, Windows 95.[18] She gained critical acclaim for her performances in The Object of My Affection (1998), a comedy drama about a girl who falls for a gay man,and in the low-budget 2002 film, The Good Girl, directed by Miguel Arteta, playing an unglamorous cashier in a small town. The latter film opened in relatively few theaters—under 700 in total—taking $14M in the U.S. box office.In late 2005, Aniston appeared in two major studio films, Derailed and Rumor Has It.

In addition to her career as a TV actress, Aniston has enjoyed a successful film career. Her biggest box office success to date was her appearance in 2003’s Bruce Almighty, in which she played the girlfriend of title character Jim Carrey.[23] Aniston then starred in the 2004 film, Along Came Polly opposite Ben Stiller.In 2006, Aniston appeared in the low-budget drama, Friends with Money, which was first shown at the Sundance Film Festival, received a limited release.Aniston’s next film, The Break-Up, which was released on June 2, grossed approximately $39.17 million during its opening weekend, despite lukewarm reviews.

In 2007, Aniston guest starred in an episode of Courteney Cox Arquette’s series Dirt. Aniston played Arquette’s snobby rival Tina Harrod.In addition to acting, Aniston has also directed a hospital emergency room-set short film named Room 10, starring Robin Wright Penn and Kris Kristofferson;Aniston has noted that she was inspired to direct by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who directed a short film in 2006.

Forbes listed Aniston as the 10th richest woman in the entertainment industry for the year 2007. She is behind such powerhouses as Oprah Winfrey, J. K. Rowling, Madonna, Celine Dion and Jennifer Lopez and is ahead of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and the Olsen twins. Aniston’s net worth is approximately $110 million.Aniston was also included in the annual Star Salary Top 10 of trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter for 2006.According to Forbes in October 2007, Aniston was the top-selling celebrity face of the entertainment industry. In 2008, Aniston landed the seventeenth spot on Forbes Celebrity 100 list based on “earnings and fame.” Forbes listed Aniston’s earnings as $27 million.In August 2008 she had dinner in a Beverly Hills’ restaurant with Woody Allen and his wife: he’s in fact interested on her for a romantic film that’ll be released in autumn 2009.

Jennifer Aniston will be appearing in the third episode of season 3 of NBC’s 30 Rock.

Personal life

Aniston has previously dated musician Adam Duritz, and was engaged to actor Tate Donovan. Her high-profile relationship with actor Brad Pitt was frequently publicized in the press.She married Pitt on July 29, 2000, in a lavish Malibu wedding.For years their marriage was considered the rare Hollywood success.However, when Pitt showed up to the Ocean’s Twelve premiere without Aniston, rumors that their relationship was on the rocks began. In early January 2005, the couple was seen vacationing in the Caribbean with her Friends co-star Courteney Cox and her husband, actor David Arquette,and photos on the beach showed them kissing and affectionate. On January 7, 2005 they announced their separation.

Rumors that Pitt had fallen for actress Angelina Jolie began when they were shooting the film Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Jolie and Pitt both denied any claims of adultery, with Jolie declaring in an interview in 2005, “To be intimate with a married man, when my own father cheated on my mother, is not something I could forgive. I could not look at myself in the morning if I did that. I wouldn’t be attracted to a man who would cheat on his wife.” Pitt and Aniston were seen together publicly after announcing their separation, even at a dinner party for Aniston’s thirty-sixth birthday in February, and friends of the couple had declared they were reconciling.[43] Aniston, however, filed for divorce on March 25, 2005.[2] A divorce was finalized on October 2, 2005.
Media reports speculated that the split was due to Aniston’s refusal to have children; t-shirts were sold after their separation with the phrase “I’ll Have Your Baby, Brad!”. Aniston denied that this was the cause of their split in an August 2005 Vanity Fair interview, stating, “I’ve never in my life said I didn’t want to have children… I’ve always wanted to have children, and I would never give up that experience for a career.” Aniston also revealed that her divorce prompted her to reach out to her mother, from whom she was estranged for nearly a decade. They initially became estranged when Nancy talked about her daughter on a television show and later wrote a book titled From Mother and Daughter to Friends: A Memoir (1999).

She has also stated that she was devastated by the death of her longtime therapist, whose work helped to make the separation from Pitt easier.Aniston has said that her relationship with Pitt, which she does not regret, was “seven very intense years together” and that “it was a beautiful, complicated relationship.”Since the couple’s divorce, Aniston has been romantically linked to actor Vince Vaughn,British model Paul Sculfor and singer John Mayer.

In August 2006, Aniston denied rumors that she was engaged to Vaughn or that the actor had proposed. In October 2006, gossip magazine Us Weekly quoted sources from Vaughn that the couple had broken up.In December 2006, representatives for both Aniston and Vaughn confirmed that they had indeed split up a few weeks before when Aniston visited Vaughn in London.

The intense media scrutiny of Aniston’s private life continued. It was reported in April 2008 that singer John Mayer and Aniston were an item. A few weeks later, Mayer hinted the rumours were true when he told reporters “listen, this is not a scandal, this is not an issue, this is not a problem, this needs no spin control.”

On August 13, 2008, the U.K.’s Daily Mirror reported that Aniston was “dumped” by Mayer after the pair initially decided to spend some time apart before making the break official earlier this week. However, according to USmagazine.com, reports that Mayer had dumped Aniston were not true and that it was she who dumped him. A relationship expert tells USmagazine.com that Mayer’s pride and ego was the reason he has been telling people he dumped Aniston.

Aniston has had two septoplasties to correct her deviated septum—one which was incorrectly done in 1994 and the second in January 2007. Septoplasty is a surgical operation that helps alleviate a common condition that can lead to breathing difficulty and trouble sleeping.

Aniston is also a supporter of Friends of El Faro, a grassroots non-profit that helps raise money for Casa Hogar Sion—an orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico and has appeared in a few advertisements on TV for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

She is stated to be the godmother of good friend and actor Courtney Cox’s child Coco.

Filmography

Television

Guest appearances

Awards

• 1996: Screen Actors Guild Award: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, Friends
• 2001: People’s Choice Award: Favorite Female Television Performer, Friends
• 2001: Aftonbladet TV Prize, Sweden: Best Foreign TV Personality- Female, Friends
• 2002: Emmy Award: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, Friends
• 2002: People’s Choice Award: Favorite Female Television Performer, Friends
• 2002: Hollywood Film Festival: Actress of the Year
• 2002: Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Actress- Comedy, Friends
• 2002: Aftonbladet TV Prize, Sweden: Best Foreign TV Personality- Female, Friends
• 2003: Golden Globe Award: Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy, Friends
• 2003: People’s Choice Award: Favorite Female Television Performer, Friends
• 2003: Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Actress- Comedy, Friends
• 2003: Teen Choice Award: Choice Movie Actress- Drama/Action Adventure, The Good Girl
• 2003: Aftonbladet TV Prize, Sweden: Best Foreign TV Personality- Female, Friends
• 2004: Logie Awards: Most Popular Overseas Star, Friends
• 2004: People’s Choice Award: Favorite Female Television Performer, Friends
• 2004: Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Actress- Comedy, Friends
• 2004: Aftonbladet TV Prize, Sweden: Best Foreign TV Personality- Female, Friends
• 2006: Teen Choice Award: Choice Movie Chemistry (shared with Vince Vaughn), The Break-Up
• 2007: People’s Choice Award: Favorite Female Movie Star
• 2007: GLAAD Media Awards: Vanguard Award

Vanessa Anne Hudgens (born December 14, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She made her debut in 2003 appearing in the Hollywood films Thirteen and Thunderbirds, before reaching fame in 2006 after appearing as Gabriella Montez in the Disney Channel film High School Musical hit series. Hudgens began a music career and released her debut album, V, in 2006. Her sophomore album, Identified, was released July 1, 2008. She is currently a Neutrogena spokesperson, the face of Sears and Ecko footwear.

Early life

Hudgens was born in Salinas, California, the daughter of Gina (née Guangco) and Greg Hudgens. She has a younger sister, Stella Hudgens. Hudgens’s father is an American of Irish and Native American descent, and her mother, who grew up in Manila, is a Filipino-born of Filipino, Spanish, and Chinese descent.Hudgens has been home-schooled since after her seventh-grade year at the Orange County High School of the Arts.

Starting at the age of eight, Hudgens performed in musical theater as a singer, and appeared in local productions of Carousel, The Wizard of Oz, The King and I, The Music Man, and Cinderella, among others.She got her first gig when her friend couldn’t go to an audition for a commercial and asked if Hudgens could go.

Career

Hudgens debuted in Thirteen as Noel and appeared in the 2004 film Thunderbirds as Tintin and appearances include guest roles on Quintuplets, Still Standing, The Brothers García and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (episode title - Forever Plaid), as Corrie. Hudgens also appeared on Drake & Josh, playing Drake’s girlfriend, Rebecca.

2005-2006: High School Musical

Hudgens’ largest role among teenage audiences has been starring in the Disney Channel movie series High School Musical and High School Musical 2, starring as the beautiful, shy, intelligent student Gabriella Montez. She auditioned for Gabriella with the song “Angels” by Robbie Williams. Hudgens and Efron had won “Best Chemistry” award at the Teen Choice Awards for their roles.[5] The first High School Musical spawned a hit soundtrack, a worldwide concert tour, a show at Walt Disney World, and even a book series that helped Hudgens land in Forbes magazine’s list of top-earning stars under 21.” In the list, the 18-year-old Hudgens was No. 7 with estimated earnings of $2 million.Hudgens started concentrating on her music career by signing a record deal with Hollywood Records in 2006 as the start of her solo career, but first covered the song “Colors Of The Wind” for Disneymania 5 album in that same year. Hudgens auditioned for the role of Julie in Final Destination 3, but lost it to Amanda Crew.

Hudgens launched a worldwide tour with the rest of the cast of High School Musical in fall 2006, performing the songs from the soundtrack album as well of three songs from her debut album, which was released on 2007.A DVD and an album named High School Musical: The Concert were released in 2007, featuring only one of the three songs performed by Hudgens from her debut album in the tour.

2006-2007:

Hudgens’ debut album, entitled V, was released in early September 2006. V debuted on the Billboard 200 in early October 2006 at number twenty-four on the chart, with 34,000 copies sold that week.[9]A music video for her first single, “Come Back To Me”, debuted after the world premiere of The Cheetah Girls 2 in late August. The official music video for her second single, “Say OK”, was first shown following the premiere of Disney’s Jump In!. In August 2007 at the 2007 Teen Choice Awards, Hudgens was named the Choice Breakout Singer - Female.Hudgens promoted the album when opening for The Cheetah Girls during their The Party’s Just Begun Tour. The album has been certified Gold in the U.S. for reaching 500,000 copies shipped. The album was re-released in a limited Deluxe Edition format, released only in Japan.The album was certified Gold for shipments to retailers of 500,000 copies. The album was nominated as #7 on “Album of The Year” by Billboard Readers’ Choice.Hudgens sang the duet “Still There For Me” with Corbin Bleu for his debut album.

Hudgens also appeared on the soundtrack of High School Musical 2, performing several songs such as “Gotta Go My Own Way”, “You Are The Music In Me” and “What Time Is It?”. In the end of 2007, she had performed “The Christmas Song” along with Katharine McPhee and Ne-Yo for “Christmas In Washington” event.

2008-present: Identified and future projects

On January 11, 2008, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Hudgens would star in the comedy, Bandslam , alongside Gaelan Connell, Alyson Michalka, and Lisa Kudrow. Hudgens will play 15-year old Sam.

Hudgens’s second album was Identified. The first single from this album, “Sneakernight”, premiered on Radio Disney on April 11, 2008. The song was used as part of her deal with Red by Marc Ecko.[14] On the first week of the release of her album, Identified sold more than 22,000 copies, 12,000 less than her debut album. Though the album had poor sales its first week, Identified received generally positive reviews from music critics. The album was released a week before the United States in Japan featuring three exclusive-bonus songs.

Hudgens launched on July 31, 2008 her first solo tour called “Identified Summer Tour” in order to promote her two albums, performing some of the most popular songs from her debut album and others from her sophomore album. The tour reached Mexico too and she appeared in the Neutrogena Fresh Face Concert. As of October 2008, she has officially closed the concert tour.

Hudgens reprised her role as Gabriella for the third time in High School Musical 3: Senior Year. She also will appear on the High School Musical 3 soundtrack, performing songs such as “Can I Have This Dance” and “Walk Away”. Also, the song “Can I Have This Dance?” was released as a promotionl single from the soundtrack, with the song being released on iTunes but was later removed.She also presented an award in the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards along with the rest of the HSM cast. Hudgens and the cast of HSM 3 launched a European promotional tour to promote the movie.Vanessa made only $2 million for the film, reportedly due to the photo scandal that hurt her image.

Products and endorsement

In 2007, Hudgens signed a promotional deal for the Eckō Red footwear in which she had two commercials for it and had “Sneakernight” as her first single for her sophomore album, Identified which she endorsed the sneakers in the video.Sears has teamed up with Hudgens to give teens and tweens the confidence to go back to school in style. Beginning in July and led by the theme, “Don’t just go back. Arrive.” Hudgens is featured in an integrated marketing campaign, including print ads, long-format video, television spots, digital, and sweeps that included a private concert at a school with Vanessa performing.

The long-format video was shot by Grammy award-winning director Joseph Kahn, who is renowned in the world of music videos for his work with Britney Spears, Eminem, Mariah Carey, U2, Destiny’s Child and Black Eyed Peas, among others. “I like to make a fashion statement by changing up my look with different styles,” explains Hudgens. “Sears is a great place for those heading back to school this year because you can find an entire wardrobe of fun ‘looks’ to suit any mood or fashion sense. Plus, since the clothes are so affordable, you can easily switch styles and really get noticed when you arrive back at school.”

Hudgens is also currently a Neutrogena spokesperson. “Vanessa Hudgens has an energetic, dynamic personality that will truly complement the spirit of Neutrogena. We are pleased to welcome her to our team”, says Neutrogena President, North America, Jim Colleran. As a new spokesperson for Neutrogena, Hudgens will be featured in both national TV and print campaigns. She joins fellow Neutrogena spokespersons Kelly Preston, Susie Castillo, Gabrielle Union, Hayden Panettiere, Julie Bowen, Kristin Kreuk and Paola Rey, each of whom will continue in their role as Neutrogena representatives.In September 2008, she had appeared in the Neutrogena Fresh Face Concert.

Image and personal life

Hudgens confirmed, in an interview with Teen Magazine as of October 2007, that she is dating her High School Musical series co-star Zac Efron. In an interview, Hudgens’ publicist stated that her music video for “Say OK” was their official “come-out” as a couple. At 2008, she was ranked as FHM’s 62nd Sexiest Woman and Maxim’s number 12 in their 100 Hot List. She was included in People magazine’s annual “100 Most Beautiful People” list in May 2008. She was also voted Bop Magazine’s 7th Hottest Star as Hot Breakout Star’. As of 2008, she had been a covergirl for Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl and Lucky Magazine. She had also took photoshoots with on-and-off-screen boyfriend, Zac Efron and High School Musical co-star Ashley Tisdale for Elle Magazine, Glamour Magazine for the May issue and InStyle for October.

On September 6, 2007, controversy erupted after provocative photos of Hudgens surfaced online. Two showed her posing in suggestive lingerie, and another showed her nude. A statement from her publicist claims that the photo was taken privately and it was “unfortunate” that they were released on the Internet.Hudgens later apologized, saying that she was “embarrassed over the situation” and regretted having “taken [those] photos.”Disney Channel spokeswoman Patti McTeague indicated that Disney will still be working with Hudgens, stating, “Vanessa has apologized for what was obviously a lapse in judgment. We hope she’s learned a valuable lesson.” After the scandal blew out, she quoted, “I’m much better now. But truthfully I don’t like talking about it. It was something that was meant to be private, and even though it isn’t anymore, I’d still like to keep it as private as I can. It was very traumatic, and I am extremely upset it happened. I hope all my fans can learn from my mistake and make smart decisions. But I wouldn’t have been able to get through it if it wasn’t for my family, friends, and fans, who supported me all along the way”.[32]Despite early speculation that Vanessa Hudgens would be dropped from High School Musical 3 due to her nude photo scandal, she wasn’t booted out from High School Musical 3. Although it was reported by OK! Magazine that Vanessa would be replaced by Adrienne Bailon or Sabrina Bryan from the Cheetah Girls in High School Musical 3, Access Hollywood confirmed that the cast was still in negotiations and Vanessa would not be cut from High School Musical 3. Vanessa’s representative quoted, “Totally untrue. It is an old rumor,” the representative told Access, “OK! Magazine never bothered to check the fact with me, but they did call Disney who said it wasn’t true, but yet OK! ran it anyway. Apparently, OK! Magazine was having a slow news day.”

Previously, Hudgens was sued by music producer Johnny Vieira who claims she reneged on a deal to share her earnings with him after he helped make her a star. In the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Vieira accuses Hudgens and father, Greg Hudgens, of breach of contract and fraud, seeking more than $27 million in damages. Hudgens’ record label, Hollywood, also is named as a defendant in the suit. But Vieira says he was dumped from Hudgens’ management team soon after she was cast in HSM. According to the suit, they subsequently reached a settlement under which Hudgens agreed to pay Vieira a percentage of her earnings from her first three albums under her solo recording contract with Hollywood Records. However, “it became clear that Hudgens and her new ‘team’ … all directed by her father … would take every possible opportunity to deprive Vieira of the benefits to be derived from the settlement agreement,” the lawsuit says. Hudgens’ publicist could not immediately be reached for comment. A Disney spokesman said the company had not had a chance to review the lawsuit.”

Films

Studio albums

* 2006: V
* 2008: Identified

DVDs

* 2007: High School Musical: The Concert

Live albums

* 2007: High School Musical: The Concert

Soundtracks

* 2006: High School Musical
* 2007: High School Musical 2
* 2008: High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Concert tours

* 2006-2007: High School Musical: The Concert
* 2008: Identified Summer Tour

Awards and nominations

Gina Joy Carano (born April 16, 1982) is an American mixed martial arts fighter; her specialty is Muay Thai. Carano also appears as the Gladiator “Crush” on American Gladiators. She has been referred to as the “face of women’s MMA”.

Contents

Early life

Carano was born in Dallas County, Texas, the middle daughter of Glenn Carano and Dana Cason. She has two sisters, one older and one younger.Her father played for the Dallas Cowboys as a backup quarterback from 1977-1983 and for the USFL Pittsburgh Maulers as a starter in 1984, their only year of operations.

She graduated from Trinity Christian High School in Las Vegas, NV where she led the girl’s basketball team to a state title. She also played volleyball and softball.She attended the University of Nevada, Reno for a year and then University of Nevada, Las Vegas for three, where she majored in psychology.

Martial arts career

Carano started her career in the sport of Muay Thai. After achieving a Muay Thai record of 12-1-1,Carano received an offer to participate in the first-ever sanctioned female MMA bout in Nevada. She was invited to the World Pro Fighting show in Las Vegas to fight Rosi Sexton from the United Kingdom.

She fought on the February 10, 2007, Showtime EliteXC card, defeating Julie Kedzie via unanimous decision in what was called “the fight of the night”.

Her scheduled bout against Jan Finney at the EliteXC/K-1 Dynamite!! USA event on June 2, 2007 was canceled due to illness. The Fight Network and other organizations reported that she was rushed to the hospital via ambulance due to dehydration while attending a World Extreme Cagefighting event as a spectator.

Carano fought on the September 15, 2007, Showtime EliteXC card, where she defeated Tonya Evinger via rear naked choke for her first career win by submission.

Carano defeated former Hook N Shoot champion Kaitlin Young on EliteXC: Primetime on May 31, 2008.A day before the fight, Carano failed to make weight for her fight (140 pounds (63.5 kg)) after weighing in at 144.5 (65.5 kg). Although most MMA organizations set weight classes at 135 (Bantamweight (MMA)) and 145 (Featherweight (MMA)) pounds (61.2 and 65.8 kg, respectively), EliteXC opted to create a women’s weight class at 140 pounds. Carano agreed to forfeit 12.5% of her “show” purse to Young, and the fight remained on the card.

Carano’s latest fight was against Kelly Kobold on October 4, 2008 at EliteXC: Heat at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida which was broadcast on CBS.

Leading up to her fight against Kobold, there was much controversy over whether or not Gina would make weight for this fight, having fought only once in the past year and not making weight at that time. Gina assured critics that she would be able to make weight since she had hired a nutritionist to help with her dieting. At the weigh-in for the Kobold fight on October 3, 2008, “Gina Carano weighed in at 142.75 pounds on her first attempt. After removing her sports bra, a towel-covered Carano weighed in a second time at 142.5 pounds.On her third attempt without any clothes on, Carano weighed 141 pounds., successfully making weight.

Early on Kobold was intent on pressing Carano in the clinch, while working for the takedown throughout the fight. Kobold managed a takedown in the second round, but the round ended before she could take meaningful advantage of it. Carano worked her opportunities by hitting Kobold at every turn whenever the fighters separated, while also opening a huge gash on the inside of her opponent’s eyebrow in the first round.At the end of the third round, Carano looked to finish the fight as she unloaded a head kick that landed flush on Kobold’s chin, but Kobold survived and the bout came to a close.

Carano won by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) and remains undefeated. After she won the fight, she dedicated her fight to her grandfather.

Outside martial arts

Carano starred in the cult film Ring Girls Based on true events, Ring Girls is a fast paced story about five American women from Las Vegas who take on the ultimate challenge of fighting the best female Muay Thai fighters in the world.

Along with Lisa King, Carano served as a mentor to aspiring female fighters in the Oxygen reality series Fight Girls. She currently appears as “Crush” on the NBC show American Gladiators. She will also be featured in the new Michael Jai White film Blood and Bone slated to be released sometime in 2008.

She was profiled in a feature story for the ESPN series E:60, and was voted “Hottest Woman In America” by Big Biz Magazine in the Spring of 2008 issue.On May 13, 2008, “Gina Carano” was the fastest-rising search on Google and third most searched person on Yahoo!. She is set to appear in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 as Natasha.

Jamie Lynn Marie Spears (born April 4, 1991) is an American actress. She is best known for starring in the Nickelodeon television series Zoey 101. Jamie Lynn is also famous for being the younger sister of pop singer Britney Spears, and for becoming pregnant at the age of 16. Spears is engaged to Casey Aldridge and has a daughter with him named Maddie Briann Aldridge.

Personal life

Spears attended school at Parklane Academy in McComb, Mississippi, where she was a cheerleader and was involved in other sports. She finished her education there by online correspondence and in February 2008, Spears received her GED.In March 2008, Jamie Lynn became engaged to Casey Aldridge, the alleged father of her daughter, Maddie Briann. She then became pregnant at the age of 16.The couple resides in Liberty, Mississippi.

Pregnancy

On December 18, 2007, OK! magazine reported that 16-year-old Jamie Lynn was 12 weeks pregnant and planned to raise the baby in Louisiana, where the baby can have a “normal life.”She and her mother spoke to the magazine in an exclusive interview. Nickelodeon, the network that carries Spears’s series Zoey 101, issued a statement shortly after the announcement:

We respect Jamie Lynn’s decision to take responsibility in this sensitive and personal situation. We know this is a very difficult time for her and her family, and our primary concern right now is for Jamie Lynn’s well being.

The announcement of Spears’s pregnancy shocked most of her fans and generated controversy, as the media was accused of using the story to “glamorize” teenage pregnancy.While there have been reports that Zoey 101 has been canceled, because of Jamie’s pregnancy, a spokesperson for Nickelodeon told MTV News that there is no truth to those rumors and the show remains on their schedule.

Jamie has stated that the father of her daughter was Casey Aldridge, then 18, her longtime boyfriend.Because Spears was two years below the California’s age of consent, questions came up regarding their age difference, and whether Aldridge could or would be charged with statutory rape (although Spears was neither from from California nor living there).The Department of Motor Vehicles of Mississippi subsequently confirmed Aldridge’s age of just less than two years older than Spears, which meant that at most he could only be charged with a misdemeanor under California law, which has an exception for adults less than three older than the minor.In any event, no charges were laid in any jurisdiction, as a conviction would require proving that the couple had sex in the given state.

Reports surfaced in mid-April that Spears and Aldridge were house-hunting within her homestate of Louisiana.

In June 2008 a paparazzo accused of stalking Jamie Lynn and her fiancé, Casey Aldridge, was arrested in Mississippi after the Spears family filed a complaint, saying he wouldn’t leave the duo alone. Edwin Merrino, who was released later in the day after posting a $1,096 bond, denied harassing the couple.

On June 19, 2008, Spears gave birth to her first child with fiancé Casey Aldridge, a daughter, Maddie Briann Aldridge, who weighed 7 lbs 11 ounces, at 9:30 A.M. CST, at Mississippi Southwest Regional Medical Center.OK! magazine reportedly paid $1 million for the first baby pictures for their July 10, 2008 issue. On September 3, it was reported in several newspapers and magazine, especially In Touch that Jamie Lynn and Casey Aldridge may be entering a custody battle over their two-month-old daughter, after pictures surfaced online of Aldridge and a 28-year-old Kelli Dawson kissing, aided by an interview by the woman who Aldridge claims to be “Fabricating for the Money”On October 8, 2008 the National Enquirer reported that Jamie Lynn was pregnant with her second child.
On October 9, 2008, Celebrity Dirt reported that Casey Aldridge is not the father of Jamie Lynn’s second child.

Kellie Dawn Pickler (born June 28, 1986) is an American country singer and television personality. She gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of the FOX reality show American Idol, eventually finishing in sixth place. In 2006, she signed to BNA Records as a recording artist, releasing her debut album Small Town Girl late that year. The album, which was certified gold by the RIAA, produced three singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts: “Red High Heels” at #15, “I Wonder” at #14, and “Things That Never Cross a Man’s Mind” at #16. A fourth single, “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful”, was released in mid-2008 as the first single from her self-titled second album.

Biography

Early years

Pickler was born at Stanly Memorial Hospital in Albemarle, North Carolina, to Cynthia Morton and Clyde “Bo” Pickler, Jr. Her mother was 18 years old when she gave birth to her, and relinquished custodial rights to Pickler when she was two years old.[citation needed]

The major influences in her life are her grandfather, Clyde Pickler, Sr., who worked as an electrician and grandmother, Faye Pickler. She was raised in Palestine, a small town near Albemarle.After her grandmother’s death, she continued to reside with her grandfather and her younger sibling Eric until she became a contestant on Idol. Kellie graduated in 2004 from North Stanly High School in New London, North Carolina. She used to be a cheerleader and beauty queen. At her graduation commencement, she sang “On the Side of Angels” by LeAnn Rimes.

She has worked as a waitress at a Sonic Drive In franchise, and in 2005, she made an appearance on WSOC-TV’s Gimme the Mike! Charlotte contest. She finished in second place. She participated in the Miss America circuit, and won the “Miss Stanly County” pageant at age 17 and subsequently competed for Miss North Carolina 2004. She dropped out and later focused on paralegal studies.

American Idol 2006

The 19-year-old Pickler auditioned for American Idol in the fall of 2005 in Greensboro, North Carolina. She sang both Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” and Martina McBride’s “A Broken Wing”. The judges sent her to Hollywood. Pickler advanced through the semi-finalist rounds in February. On March 9, she reached the Top 12.

Pickler was among one of judge Simon Cowell’s favorites. He once predicted Pickler would be in the final three, and said he preferred her over the previous season’s winner, Carrie Underwood.Recognized for her “quirky” personality and Southern charm, Pickler gained attention on the show by saying (for example) that she had hardly ever performed before real audiences, and mispronounced words.She was compared to Jessica Simpson in a March 27 story in US Weekly magazine entitled “Kellie: The Next Jessica Simpson”, due to her “sweet Southern style and ditzy demeanor”. Pickler has stated several times that she was not heavily exposed to modern pop culture.

Post-Idol Career

After her elimination, she appeared in numerous shows promoting the TV show and performed the song “Walkin’ After Midnight” in some of her appearances.

On May 6, 2006, she returned to Albemarle, North Carolina for a parade and a reunion with her father. She received a key to the city from the mayor of Albemarle. The mayor also proclaimed the day as “Kellie Pickler Day.” Pickler also received numerous awards from local and statewide government officials praising her accomplishments as a contestant on the American Idol television show.

Pickler pursued her recording aspirations in Nashville, Tennessee shortly thereafter. On July 17, 2006 she signed a record deal with 19 Recordings/BNA Records. She later announced it herself on The View. She was part of the American Idol Pop Tarts tour ensemble, performing for three months in various cities. During that period, Pickler worked on her album in collaboration with top industry experts in different cities wherever the tour took her.

2006-2007: Small Town Girl

Her first single, “Red High Heels”, debuted on September 13, 2006 and its music video was officially released on October 20, 2006. It reached #1 on the GAC Top 20 Countdown on February 9th and received a nomination for the CMT Video Awards for “Best Breakthrough Artist Video”.Her debut album, Small Town Girl, released on October 31, 2006 topped Billboard’s Top Country Albums and landed at #9 on Billboard Top 200 selling over 79,000 copies in its first week. Its sales made her the best selling new country solo artist of 2006. The album includes five songs that Pickler co-wrote with songwriters Chris Lindsey, Aimee Mayo and Karyn Rochelle.

On January 18th, 2007, Pickler co-hosted The View and was presented with a gold record by Rosie O’Donnell, certifying that her album has gone gold. She also performed her second single “I Wonder”, which is a personal song about her absent relationship with her mother, Cynthia Morton. It was the first performance of the song on national TV.

Pickler was nominated for “Top New Female Vocalist” for the 42nd Academy of Country Music Awards.

She was also part of Brad Paisley’s “Bonfires & Amplifiers” concert tour from April 2007 through October as one of the opening acts. The tour was booked in at least 37 cities in the U.S. including a couple of stops in Canada.

On September 2007, Pickler released a version of “Santa Baby” for a Christmas country compilation. A month later, at the ASCAP Awards in Nashville, Pickler received a songwriter award for co-writing her debut single “Red High Heels”. She performed her second single, “I Wonder”, at the 2007 CMA Awards. The performance received a standing ovation. She was also nominated for the Horizon Award.

“I thought Europe was a country” Remark

In November 2007, Pickler appeared on a Celebrity Edition of the quiz show Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, playing for the charities of her choice (American Red Cross and the AARP’s Grandparenting Program).She was asked, “Budapest is the capital of what European country?” She replied, “This might be a stupid question, but I thought Europe was a country”. She thought it might be France, and then was confused if France really was a country or not. When told the answer was Hungary, she did not believe the host. She said, “Hungry [sic]? That’s a country? I’ve heard of Turkey, but Hungry? I’ve never heard of it.” The video has become an instant YouTube hit. However, the host also pronounced the name of the country wrong by explaining the name with saying “like I’m hungry” when in fact the name is pronounced “[hung-gary]”.

Pickler was also perplexed when asked whether the piccolo belongs to the woodwind, strings, or percussion musical family. In trying to reason out the answer to the question, she noted that “percussion starts with a p” and accordingly decided, “I’m just going to keep the p’s together, and I’m just going to say percussion.” (”Woodwind” was the correct answer.)

During radio and newspaper interviews, Pickler commented that some people and media criticized her for her answers while ignoring her charitable effort. In The Arizona Republic, Pickler said “…no one even recognized that I won $50,000 for my charity.”

While on her first USO concert tour in Iraq, Pickler met a few people from Budapest, Hungary who presented her with a flag of their country.

2008-Present: Kellie Pickler

Following the release of the third single (”Things That Never Cross a Man’s Mind”) from her debut album, Kellie returned to the studio to work on her sophomore album. On May 8, 2008, her official wesbite announced that she would sing the first single from the new album, “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful” at the Academy of Country Music Awards on May 18, 2008. Kellie has since stated: “I’m so excited to be performing on the show and doubly so, to be debuting the new single. It’s such a great song, with a positive message and it’s different than any other song I’ve recorded before.” Her new single debuted on country music radio stations in June,

Her second album, self-titled Kellie Pickler, was released on September 30, 2008.

Personal life

Pickler’s father, whom she describes as an alcoholic and drug addict, recently served a three-year, nine-month prison sentence at Florida State Prison for aggravated assault and battery stemming from a 2003 stabbing incident.He was released on May 6, 2006, a week after her elimination from Idol.

On February 26, 2007, she met her personal ‘idol’ and strongest influence, the country music star Dolly Parton. The surprise was arranged by Sony BMG Nashville chairman Joe Galante.

In 2007, Pickler was in a relationship with Nashville Predators player Jordin Tootoo and visited his family in Nunavut, Canada.Later that year, the two broke up.

Pickler is also close friends with Taylor Swift, who co-wrote Pickler’s single “Best Days of Your Life.”

Philanthropy

Pickler actively supports St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where she helps raise funds and gives kids special visits. She also participates in charitable events to help raise funds for various organizations. She performed live to help raise funds for the “N.C. Children’s PROMISE” to benefit the Children’s Hospital in Nov. 12, 2006,performed live to help refurbish the Hurricane Katrina damaged NFL Youth Education Towns Boys & Girls Club of New Orleans on December 16, 2006, visited St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on January 12, 2007,and visited Pennington Elementary School in February 1, 2007. “When you’re able to give back to your communities and organizations like St. Jude, it’s a great thing,” Pickler said. “It’s been a great experience, and I encourage anyone and everyone to help.”

Pickler was part of a Country and Western artist studded online auction for charity by Mario Magro: Kiss for a Cause Foundation Celebrity Auction held June 15-25, 2007 in support of orphaned and abandoned children. The event auctioned off celebrity lip prints and signature pressed on the inside of Mario Magro Crystal Le Coop handbags at the 42nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards.

In late 2007-early 2008, she also participated in a USO tour through Iraq entertaining Coalition troops.

Leryn Franco (born 1 March 1982 in Asunción) is a Paraguayan athlete who specializes in the javelin throw. Her personal best throw is 55.38 metres, achieved in May 2007 in Fortaleza.

2004 Athens Summer Olympics

Franco competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics for Paraguay where she was 21st in Group A and finished 42nd overall.

2008 Beijing Summer Olympics

Franco again competed for Paraguay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, shotting over 10 meters short of her personal record, finishing 51st overall. She did not advance to the finals.

Modeling

In 2006 she was runner-up Miss Paraguay. She participated at the Miss Bikini Universe pageant and also has her own calendar which was shot in 2007 by Martin Crespo.

Computer security is a branch of technology known as information security as applied to computers. The objective of computer security varies and can include protection of information from theft or corruption, or the preservation of availability, as defined in the security policy.

Computer security imposes requirements on computers that are different from most system requirements because they often take the form of constraints on what computers are not supposed to do. This makes computer security particularly challenging because it is hard enough just to make computer programs do everything they are designed to do correctly. Furthermore, negative requirements are deceptively complicated to satisfy and require exhaustive testing to verify, which is impractical for most computer programs. Computer security provides a technical strategy to convert negative requirements to positive enforceable rules. For this reason, computer security is often more technical and mathematical than some computer science fields.

Typical approaches to improving computer security (in approximate order of strength) can include the following:

* Physically limit access to computers to only those who will not compromise security.
* Hardware mechanisms that impose rules on computer programs, thus avoiding depending on computer programs for computer security.
* Operating system mechanisms that impose rules on programs to avoid trusting computer programs.
* Programming strategies to make computer programs dependable and resist subversion.

Secure operating systems

One use of the term computer security refers to technology to implement a secure operating system. Much of this technology is based on science developed in the 1980s and used to produce what may be some of the most impenetrable operating systems ever. Though still valid, the technology is in limited use today, primarily because it imposes some changes to system management and also because it is not widely understood. Such ultra-strong secure operating systems are based on operating system kernel technology that can guarantee that certain security policies are absolutely enforced in an operating environment. An example of such a Computer security policy is the Bell-LaPadula model. The strategy is based on a coupling of special microprocessor hardware features, often involving the memory management unit, to a special correctly implemented operating system kernel. This forms the foundation for a secure operating system which, if certain critical parts are designed and implemented correctly, can ensure the absolute impossibility of penetration by hostile elements. This capability is enabled because the configuration not only imposes a security policy, but in theory completely protects itself from corruption. Ordinary operating systems, on the other hand, lack the features that assure this maximal level of security. The design methodology to produce such secure systems is precise, deterministic and logical.

Systems designed with such methodology represent the state of the art of computer security although products using such security are not widely known. In sharp contrast to most kinds of software, they meet specifications with verifiable certainty comparable to specifications for size, weight and power. Secure operating systems designed this way are used primarily to protect national security information, military secrets, and the data of international financial institutions. These are very powerful security tools and very few secure operating systems have been certified at the highest level (Orange Book A-1) to operate over the range of “Top Secret” to “unclassified” (including Honeywell SCOMP, USAF SACDIN, NSA Blacker and Boeing MLS LAN.) The assurance of security depends not only on the soundness of the design strategy, but also on the assurance of correctness of the implementation, and therefore there are degrees of security strength defined for COMPUSEC. The Common Criteria quantifies security strength of products in terms of two components, security functionality and assurance level (such as EAL levels), and these are specified in a Protection Profile for requirements and a Security Target for product descriptions. None of these ultra-high assurance secure general purpose operating systems have been produced for decades or certified under the Common Criteria.

In USA parlance, the term High Assurance usually suggests the system has the right security functions that are implemented robustly enough to protect DoD and DoE classified information. Medium assurance suggests it can protect less valuable information, such as income tax information. Secure operating systems designed to meet medium robustness levels of security functionality and assurance have seen wider use within both government and commercial markets. Medium robust systems may provide the same the security functions as high assurance secure operating systems but do so at a lower assurance level (such as Common Criteria levels EAL4 or EAL5). Lower levels mean we can be less certain that the security functions are implemented flawlessly, and therefore less dependable. These systems are found in use on web servers, guards, database servers, and management hosts and are used not only to protect the data stored on these systems but also to provide a high level of protection for network connections and routing services.

Security architecture

Security Architecture can be defined as the design artifacts that describe how the security controls (security countermeasures) are positioned, and how they relate to the overall information technology architecture. These controls serve the purpose to maintain the system’s quality attributes, among them confidentiality, integrity, availability, accountability and assurance.”[1]. In simpler words, a security architecture is the plan that shows where security measures need to be placed. If the plan describes a specific solution then, prior to building such a plan, one would make a risk analysis. If the plan describes a generic high level design (reference architecture) then the plan should be based on a threat analysis.

Security by design

The technologies of computer security are based on logic. There is no universal standard notion of what secure behavior is. “Security” is a concept that is unique to each situation. Security is extraneous to the function of a computer application, rather than ancillary to it, thus security necessarily imposes restrictions on the application’s behavior.

There are several approaches to security in computing, sometimes a combination of approaches is valid:

1. Trust all the software to abide by a security policy but the software is not trustworthy (this is computer insecurity).
2. Trust all the software to abide by a security policy and the software is validated as trustworthy (by tedious branch and path analysis for example).
3. Trust no software but enforce a security policy with mechanisms that are not trustworthy (again this is computer insecurity).
4. Trust no software but enforce a security policy with trustworthy mechanisms.

Many systems have unintentionally resulted in the first possibility. Since approach two is expensive and non-deterministic, its use is very limited. Approaches one and three lead to failure. Because approach number four is often based on hardware mechanisms and avoids abstractions and a multiplicity of degrees of freedom, it is more practical. Combinations of approaches two and four are often used in a layered architecture with thin layers of two and thick layers of four.

There are myriad strategies and techniques used to design security systems. There are few, if any, effective strategies to enhance security after design.

One technique enforces the principle of least privilege to great extent, where an entity has only the privileges that are needed for its function. That way even if an attacker gains access to one part of the system, fine-grained security ensures that it is just as difficult for them to access the rest.

Furthermore, by breaking the system up into smaller components, the complexity of individual components is reduced, opening up the possibility of using techniques such as automated theorem proving to prove the correctness of crucial software subsystems. This enables a closed form solution to security that works well when only a single well-characterized property can be isolated as critical, and that property is also assessable to math. Not surprisingly, it is impractical for generalized correctness, which probably cannot even be defined, much less proven. Where formal correctness proofs are not possible, rigorous use of code review and unit testing represent a best-effort approach to make modules secure.

The design should use “defense in depth”, where more than one subsystem needs to be violated to compromise the integrity of the system and the information it holds. Defense in depth works when the breaching of one security measure does not provide a platform to facilitate subverting another. Also, the cascading principle acknowledges that several low hurdles does not make a high hurdle. So cascading several weak mechanisms does not provide the safety of a single stronger mechanism.

Subsystems should default to secure settings, and wherever possible should be designed to “fail secure” rather than “fail insecure” (see fail safe for the equivalent in safety engineering). Ideally, a secure system should require a deliberate, conscious, knowledgeable and free decision on the part of legitimate authorities in order to make it insecure.

In addition, security should not be an all or nothing issue. The designers and operators of systems should assume that security breaches are inevitable. Full audit trails should be kept of system activity, so that when a security breach occurs, the mechanism and extent of the breach can be determined. Storing audit trails remotely, where they can only be appended to, can keep intruders from covering their tracks. Finally, full disclosure helps to ensure that when bugs are found the “window of vulnerability” is kept as short as possible.

Early history of security by design

The early Multics operating system was notable for its early emphasis on computer security by design, and Multics was possibly the very first operating system to be designed as a secure system from the ground up. In spite of this, Multics’ security was broken, not once, but repeatedly. The strategy was known as ‘penetrate and test’ and has become widely known as a non-terminating process that fails to produce computer security. This led to further work on computer security that prefigured modern security engineering techniques producing closed form processes that terminate.

Secure coding

If the operating environment is not based on a secure operating system capable of maintaining a domain for its own execution, and capable of protecting application code from malicious subversion, and capable of protecting the system from subverted code, then high degrees of security are understandably not possible. While such secure operating systems are possible and have been implemented, most commercial systems fall in a ‘low security’ category because they rely on features not supported by secure operating systems (like portability, et al.). In low security operating environments, applications must be relied on to participate in their own protection. There are ‘best effort’ secure coding practices that can be followed to make an application more resistant to malicious subversion.

In commercial environments, the majority of software subversion vulnerabilities result from a few known kinds of coding defects. Common software defects include buffer overflows, format string vulnerabilities, integer overflow, and code/command injection.

Some common languages such as C and C++ are vulnerable to all of these defects (see Seacord, “Secure Coding in C and C++”). Other languages, such as Java, are more resistant to some of these defects, but are still prone to code/command injection and other software defects which facilitate subversion.

Recently another bad coding practice has come under scrutiny; dangling pointers. The first known exploit for this particular problem was presented in July 2007. Before this publication the problem was known but considered to be academic and not practically exploitable.

In summary, ’secure coding’ can provide significant payback in low security operating environments, and therefore worth the effort. Still there is no known way to provide a reliable degree of subversion resistance with any degree or combination of ’secure coding.’

Capabilities vs. ACLs

Within computer systems, the two fundamental means of enforcing privilege separation are access control lists (ACLs) and capabilities. The semantics of ACLs have been proven to be insecure in many situations (e.g., Confused deputy problem). It has also been shown that ACL’s promise of giving access to an object to only one person can never be guaranteed in practice. Both of these problems are resolved by capabilities. This does not mean practical flaws exist in all ACL-based systems, but only that the designers of certain utilities must take responsibility to ensure that they do not introduce flaws.

Unfortunately, for various historical reasons, capabilities have been mostly restricted to research operating systems and commercial OSs still use ACLs. Capabilities can, however, also be implemented at the language level, leading to a style of programming that is essentially a refinement of standard object-oriented design. An open source project in the area is the E language.

First the Plessey System 250 and then Cambridge CAP computer demonstrated the use of capabilities, both in hardware and software, in the 1970s, so this technology is hardly new. A reason for the lack of adoption of capabilities may be that ACLs appeared to offer a ‘quick fix’ for security without pervasive redesign of the operating system and hardware.

The most secure computers are those not connected to the Internet and shielded from any interference. In the real world, the most security comes from operating systems where security is not an add-on, such as OS/400 from IBM. This almost never shows up in lists of vulnerabilities for good reason. Years may elapse between one problem needing remediation and the next.

A good example of a secure system is EROS. But see also the article on secure operating systems. TrustedBSD is an example of an open source project with a goal, among other things, of building capability functionality into the FreeBSD operating system. Much of the work is already done.

Applications

Computer security is critical in almost any technology-driven industry which operates on computer systems. The issues of computer based systems and addressing their countless vulnerabilities are an integral part of maintaining an operational industry.

In aviation

The aviation industry is especially important when analyzing computer security because the involved risks include expensive equipment and cargo, transportation infrastructure, and human life. Security can be compromised by hardware and software malpractice, human error, and faulty operating environments. Threats that exploit computer vulnerabilities can stem from sabotage, espionage, industrial competition, terrorist attack, mechanical malfunction, and human error. [4]

The consequences of a successful deliberate or inadvertent misuse of a computer system in the aviation industry range from loss of confidentiality to loss of system integrity, which may lead to more serious concerns such as data theft or loss, network and air traffic control outages, which in turn can lead to airport closures, loss of aircraft, loss of passenger life. Military systems that control munitions can pose an even greater risk.

A proper attack does not need to be very high tech or well funded for a power outage at an airport alone can cause repercussions worldwide. [5]. One of the easiest and, arguably, the most difficult to trace security vulnerabilities is achievable by transmitting unauthorized communications over specific radio frequencies. These transmissions may spoof air traffic controllers or simply disrupt communications altogether. These incidents are very common, having altered flight courses of commercial aircraft and caused panic and confusion in the past. Controlling aircraft over oceans is especially dangerous because radar surveillance only extends 175 to 225 miles offshore. Beyond the radar’s sight controllers must rely on periodic radio communications with a third party.

Lightning, power fluctuations, surges, brown-outs, blown fuses, and various other power outages instantly disable all computer systems, since they are dependent on electrical source. Other accidental and intentional faults have caused significant disruption of safety critical systems throughout the last few decades and dependence on reliable communication and electrical power only jeopardizes computer safety.

Notable system accidents

In 1983, Korean Airlines Flight 007, a Boeing 747 was shot down by Soviet Su-15 jets after a navigation computer malfunction caused the aircraft to steer 185 miles off course into Soviet Union airspace. All 269 passengers were killed.

In 1994, over a hundred intrusions were made by unidentified hackers into the Rome Laboratory, the US Air Force’s main command and research facility. Using trojan horse viruses, hackers were able to obtain unrestricted access to Rome’s networking systems and remove traces of their activities. The intruders were able to obtain classified files, such as air tasking order systems data and furthermore able to penetrate connected networks of National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, some Defense contractors, and other private sector organizations, by posing as a trusted Rome center user.

Electromagnetic interference is another threat to computer safety and in 1989, a United States Air Force F-16 jet accidentally dropped a 230 kg bomb in West Georgia after unspecified interference caused the jet’s computers to release it.

A similar telecommunications accident also happened in 1994, when two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters were destroyed by F-15 aircraft in Iraq because the IFF system’s encryption system malfunctioned.[citation needed]

Terminology

The following terms used in engineering secure systems are explained below.

* Firewalls can either be hardware devices or software programs. They provide some protection from online intrusion, but since they allow some applications (e.g. web browsers) to connect to the Internet, they don’t protect against some unpatched vulnerabilities in these applications (e.g. lists of known unpatched holes from Secunia and SecurityFocus).

* Automated theorem proving and other verification tools can enable critical algorithms and code used in secure systems to be mathematically proven to meet their specifications.
* Thus simple microkernels can be written so that we can be sure they don’t contain any bugs: eg EROS and Coyotos.

A bigger OS, capable of providing a standard API like POSIX, can be built on a secure microkernel using small API servers running as normal programs. If one of these API servers has a bug, the kernel and the other servers are not affected: e.g. Hurd or Minix 3.

* Cryptographic techniques can be used to defend data in transit between systems, reducing the probability that data exchanged between systems can be intercepted or modified.
* Strong authentication techniques can be used to ensure that communication end-points are who they say they are.

Secure cryptoprocessors can be used to leverage physical security techniques into protecting the security of the computer system.

* Chain of trust techniques can be used to attempt to ensure that all software loaded has been certified as authentic by the system’s designers.
* Mandatory access control can be used to ensure that privileged access is withdrawn when privileges are revoked. For example, deleting a user account should also stop any processes that are running with that user’s privileges.
* Capability and access control list techniques can be used to ensure privilege separation and mandatory access control. The next sections discuss their use.

Some of the following items may belong to the computer insecurity article:

* application with known security flaws should not be run. Either leave it turned off until it can be patched or otherwise fixed, or delete it and replace it with some other application. Publicly known flaws are the main entry used by worms to automatically break into a system and then spread to other systems connected to it. The security website Secunia provides a search tool for unpatched known flaws in popular products.

Cryptographic techniques involve transforming information, scrambling it so it becomes unreadable during transmission. The intended recipient can unscramble the message, but eavesdroppers cannot.
Cryptographic techniques involve transforming information, scrambling it so it becomes unreadable during transmission. The intended recipient can unscramble the message, but eavesdroppers cannot.

* Backups are a way of securing information; they are another copy of all the important computer files kept in another location. These files are kept on hard disks, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, and tapes. Suggested locations for backups are a fireproof, waterproof, and heat proof safe, or in a separate, offsite location than that in which the original files are contained. Some individuals and companies also keep their backups in safe deposit boxes inside bank vaults. There is also a fourth option, which involves using one of the file hosting services that backs up files over the Internet for both business and individuals.
o Backups are also important for reasons other than security. Natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, or tornadoes, may strike the building where the computer is located. The building can be on fire, or an explosion may occur. There needs to be a recent backup at an alternate secure location, in case of such kind of disaster. Further, it is recommended that the alternate location be placed where the same disaster would not affect both locations. Examples of alternate disaster recovery sites being compromised by the same disaster that affected the primary site include having had a primary site in World Trade Center I and the recovery site in 7 World Trade Center, both of which were destroyed in the 9/11 attack, and having one’s primary site and recovery site in the same coastal region, which leads to both being vulnerable to hurricane damage (e.g. primary site in New Orleans and recovery site in Jefferson Parish, both of which were hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005). The backup media should be moved between the geographic sites in a secure manner, in order to prevent them from being stolen.

* Anti-virus software consists of computer programs that attempt to identify, thwart and eliminate computer viruses and other malicious software (malware).

* Firewalls are systems which help protect computers and computer networks from attack and subsequent intrusion by restricting the network traffic which can pass through them, based on a set of system administrator defined rules.

* Access authorization restricts access to a computer to group of users through the use of authentication systems. These systems can protect either the whole computer - such as through an interactive logon screen - or individual services, such as an FTP server. There are many methods for identifying and authenticating users, such as passwords, identification cards, and, more recently, smart cards and biometric systems.

* Encryption is used to protect the message from the eyes of others. It can be done in several ways by switching the characters around, replacing characters with others, and even removing characters from the message. These have to be used in combination to make the encryption secure enough, that is to say, sufficiently difficult to crack. Public key encryption is a refined and practical way of doing encryption. It allows for example anyone to write a message for a list of recipients, and only those recipients will be able to read that message.
* Intrusion-detection systems can scan a network for people that are on the network but who should not be there or are doing things that they should not be doing, for example trying a lot of passwords to gain access to the network.
* Pinging The ping application can be used by potential crackers to find if an IP address is reachable. If a cracker finds a computer they can try a port scan to detect and attack services on that computer.
* Social engineering awareness keeps employees aware of the dangers of social engineering and/or having a policy in place to prevent social engineering can reduce successful breaches of the network and servers.
* Honey pots are computers that are either intentionally or unintentionally left vulnerable to attack by crackers. They can be used to catch crackers or fix vulnerabilities.

 The Tata Nano may be the most expensive vehicle ever to be the cheapest new car on earth. Violent protests at one of the car’s planned assembly sites have gotten so rampant that the Indian automaker is near a deal to exit the nearly completed West Bengal facility all together. Just a few days after a supplier CEO was killed by a mob of protesters, two body guards were also assaulted at the contentious facility. The controversy in West Bengal centers around the land that local farmers lost to the $200 million Euro facility, and with the building nearly complete, it’s hard to believe that land will be returned any time soon even if Tata did abandon the region.

Word out of India is that the state of Karnataka has offered Tata Motors 1,000 acres plus incentives to move Nano production there, and the local media is reporting that Tata is going to announce plans as early as next week. We’re not in the micro car business, but if we were, we’d avoid building them where there is the constant threat of being beaten or killed by an angry mob. Moving Nano production to a region that actually wants the Tata there seems like a foregone conclusion at this point.