Greatest Pop Stars Podcast Discussion

In honor of her upcoming 60th birthday this Saturday (May 16), we’re doing a full week of Vintage Pop Stardom deep dives into the all-time greatness of Janet Jackson on the Greatest Pop Stars podcast. Each day this week (May 11-15), we’ll look at a different peak year in Janet Jackson’s singular career — 1986, 1990, 1993, 1998 and 2001 — and hit on all the albums, singles, videos, dance routines, tours, performances, fashion statements, social and political statements, and other big moments that made Ms. Jackson’s contributions to the music and culture of those years absolutely unforgettable.

Today, we move into the height of the Rhythm Nation era with a look at 1990 Janet, a year of packed arena shows, millions in cassette and CD sales and enough hits to set all kinds of records on the Billboard Hot 100 — a couple of which still stand today. Host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard managing editor Christine Werthman to remember Ms. Jackson at both her socially conscious peak and her roller-rink jam peak, when she won over the kids and the industry with a game-changing album era that made you think, dance and feel in equal measure.

Among the biggest questions answered over the course of the podcast: How much did witnessing Michael’s Bad era inspire Janet Jackson to come back even harder with her new album? Can we follow the plot of the Rhythm Nation 1814 short film? What merch items do we still want from the Rhythm Nation World Tour? Does the “Alright” remix with Heavy D not get enough credit for being ahead of its time? How much of a turning point for Janet was the “Black Cat” performance at the 1990 VMAs? What was the deal with the gigantic semi-circle stage in the “Love Will Never Do (Without You)” video? And perhaps most importantly: Was this the year that Janet officially moved out of the shadow long cast by her brother — or by anyone else in pop music?