As Janet Jackson celebrates her birthday (May 16), Billboard takes a look at the superstar’s history on the Billboard Hot 100.
Born as the youngest of 10 children to Joseph and Katherine Jackson, Janet was almost pre-destined to enter the music industry with her brothers and sisters. By her fifth birthday, five of her brothers — as The Jackson 5 — had already scored four Hot 100 No. 1 hits. Following in her family’s musical footsteps, Janet made her Hot 100 debut in 1982 with “Young Love,” at 16 years old. Though that single and her second career entry, 1984’s “Come Give Your Love to Me,” both peaked outside the top 50, Jackson found her hit-making stride with 1986’s Control. Among its many hits, she landed her first of 10 No. 1s on the chart with “When I Think of You,” which reigned for two weeks.
Through the next 15 years, Jackson remained a Hot 100 force: Her next four albums — Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814, janet., The Velvet Rope and All for You — each all generated at least one Hot 100 champ. Thanks to her decades of hits, Jackson is one of the most influential female artists to cross through the pop, R&B and dance genres, with 19 and 15 No. 1s on the Dance Club Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts, respectively. She’s also scored seven No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, between 1986 and 2015.
Jackson (who first broke through with TV roles on sitcoms Good Times and Diff’rent Strokes) has won five Grammy Awards and has been nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award. She was honored as the first-ever MTV Icon Award recipient in 2001 and received the MTV Video Vanguard Award in 1990.
Here’s a look at Jackson’s top-performing hits on the Hot 100.
Janet Jackson’s Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits:
- “Miss You Much,” peak position No. 1 (four weeks), peak date Oct. 7, 1989
- “Escapade,” No. 1 (three weeks), March 3, 1990
- “That’s the Way Love Goes,” No. 1 (eight weeks), May 15, 1993
- “All for You,” No. 1 (seven weeks), April 14, 2001
- “Together Again,” No. 1 (two weeks), Jan. 31, 1998
- “Love Will Never Do (Without You),” No. 1 (one week), Jan. 19, 1991
- “When I Think of You,” No. 1 (two weeks), Oct. 11, 1986
- “Again,” No. 1 (two weeks) Dec. 11, 1993
- “Runaway,” No. 3, Oct. 21, 1995
- “Doesn’t Really Matter,” No. 1 (three weeks), Aug. 26, 2000
- “Rhythm Nation,” No. 2, Jan. 6, 1990
- “Alright,” No. 4, June 2, 1990
- “Control,” No. 5, Jan. 24, 1987
- “What Have You Done for Me Lately,” No. 4, May 17, 1986
- “Black Cat,” No. 1 (one week), Oct. 27, 1990
- “Nasty,” No. 3, July 19, 1986
- “Let’s Wait Awhile,” No. 2, March 21, 1987
- “Come Back to Me,” No. 2, Aug. 18, 1990
- “Any Time, Any Place”/”And On and On,” No. 2, June 25, 1994
- “If,” No. 4, Sept. 11, 1993
- “What’s It Gonna Be?!,” (Busta Rhymes feat. Janet Jackson) No. 3, April 17, 1999
- “Someone to Call My Lover,” No. 3, Sept. 1, 2001
- “You Want This”/“70’s Love Groove,” No. 8, Dec. 24, 1994
- “I Get Lonely” (Janet feat. BLACKstreet), No. 3, May 23, 1998
- “Scream”/“Childhood” (with Michael Jackson), No. 5, June 17, 1995
Janet Jackson’s Biggest Billboard Hot 100 hits chart is based on actual performance on the weekly Hot 100, through the May 16, 2026, ranking. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at No. 100 earning the least. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted to account for different chart turnover rates over various periods.
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