Janet Jackson is revealing her surprising relatives! Speaking on the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show in a video shared on X (formerly Twitter), the musician, 58, shared that her family is related to a few big names in Hollywood. “Now someone told me this earlier, are you related to Stevie (Wonder)?” host Scott Mills asked. “He’s our cousin,” Janet replied. “Not a lot of people know that. He’s our cousin on my mother’s side. So is Tracy Chapman.” “So is Samuel Jackson,” the “Rhythm Nation” creator added. After confirming that Chapman, 60, and Wonder, 74, were her cousins, Janet continued to note that Samuel L. Jackson, 75, “would be my cousin too, I mean he’s not my brother.”
Known for already having famous family members thanks to being part of the Jackson family, the icon is the younger sister of Rebbie, 74, Jackie, 73, Tito, 70, Jermaine, 69, La Toya, 68, Marlon, 67, Brandon – who died after birth in 1957 – the late Michael Jackson and Randy, 62. Just last month, Janet opened up about writing her 1995 song “Scream” with her brother Michael. “Mike and I wrote that song in New York, in his apartment,” she told the BBC. “So [I relive] that whole journey, listening to him sing it and remembering what he was going through at that time. And just me being his little sister, always by his side, and being that support system. That’s always been my role.” Michael died in 2009 at the age of 50 after suffering cardiac arrest.