“Insane” family tree: Janet Jackson reveals she is related to Stevie Wonder, Tracy Chapman and Samuel L. Jackson
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Janet Jackson has announced her family connection to Stevie Wonder, Tracy Chapman and Samuel L. Jackson.
The 58-year-old “Together Again” singer made the revelations on Tuesday (August 13) on BBC Radio 2’s breakfast show with Scott Mills, who stood in for Zoe Ball.
“Someone told me this earlier: Are you related to Stevie (Wonder)?” asked Mills.
“He’s our cousin,” Janet replied. “Not many people know that. He’s our cousin on my mother’s side. Just like Tracy Chapman.”
A stunned Mills replied: “That blew my mind!”
“Samuel Jackson too,” added the “Rhythm Nation” creator, saying all three stars are her cousins. Despite Jackson’s claim, Samuel L. Jackson has previously denied being related to the famous Jackson clan. In an interview with WiredThe Pulp Fiction actor simply replied, “Nope,” when asked the question, “Is Samuel L. Jackson related to Michael Jackson?”
Janet Jackson is the youngest of ten siblings in the famous family. Five of her brothers, including the late Michael Jackson, formed the Jackson 5.
Michael died in 2009 at the age of 50 from cardiac arrest caused by a lethal combination of sedatives and propofol.
Last month, Jackson talked about writing “Scream” with Michael in 1995.
The single from Michael’s ninth album, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, was written in retaliation for media coverage of child sexual abuse allegations made against him in 1993. He was not convicted and settled out of court.
The lyrics include the lines: “I’m sick of the injustice, I’m sick of the schemes/ Your lies are disgusting/ So what the hell do you mean?/ You’re kicking me down, I gotta get up/ As shitty as that sounds/ The whole system is shit, damn it.”
Speaking to the BBC, the star admitted that it was still emotional “listening to (Michael) every night, seeing him, remembering us.”
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“Mike and I wrote the song in his apartment in New York,” she recalls. “So I’m reliving that whole journey, listening to him sing and remembering what he went through back then.”
“And I’m just his little sister, always by his side and a support for him. That has always been my role.”
The European leg of Jackson’s tour begins in Paris on September 25th, before moving on to Birmingham, London and Glasgow. The tour ends on October 1st at the competitive Co-op Live Arena in Manchester.
Jackson has won five Grammy Awards and sold over 100 million records, making her one of the most successful music artists in the world. In 2019, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
