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Britney Spears performing at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards

Britney Spears performing at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards

Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

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How Britney Spears Shed Her Teen-Pop Image britney-spears-album-anniversary-record-video

For The Record: Inside Britney Spears' Voyage From Girlhood To Womanhood On Her Transformative Album 'Britney'

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In the newest episode of For The Record, revisit Britney Spears' classic 2001 album 'Britney' and consider how she cast off the fetters of teen pop to become a full-fledged artist
Morgan Enos
GRAMMYs
Nov 5, 2021 - 9:17 am

If there's a Tunes About Liminal Spaces Dept. in the Tower of Song, "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" certainly deserves a file. In the soft-rock ballad, a then-19-year-old Britney Spears laments that, while she's no longer the saucy young star who sang "...Baby One More Time," she's got miles to go until adulthood. "All I need is time/ A moment that is mine," she sings on the former track.

"It's talking about a girl in a relationship and the boy doesn't understand what she's going through," Spears told MTV News in 2001 of "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman," a single off her third album, Britney. "Before she opens up to him, he has to realize what she's about." The song's sentiment about being caught between two epochs of life is genuine, but it belies what a forward leap Britney was for Spears.

"This is the first album I have ever really written and taken my time on," she told MTV News. "So when I actually listen to the whole album, it's just that much more special. I don't know if I'm the best songwriter in the world, but I had a lot of fun doing it and hopefully I will get better and grow."

Indeed she did: On Britney, Spears took more control of her work than ever before, co-writing six tracks — a first for the artist.

Twenty years after its release, on Nov. 6, 2001, Britney remains a seminal pop document, one in which Spears became her own artist and revealed her true essence to the pop landscape and wider world.

How Britney Spears Shed Her Teen-Pop Image

Spears named Britney after herself as she felt it reflected who she truly was. "I was inspired by a lot of hip-hop and R&B while I was on my last tour," Spears said in the same MTV News interview. "I was inspired by JAY-Z and the Neptunes ... I wanted to make [Britney] nastier and funkier."

The latter played a key role in the album: The Neptunes produced the lead single, "I'm a Slave 4 U," a dance-pop banger that hit the Billboard charts hard in a multitude of categories. It also clanged in the eyes and ears of conservative groups. At the MTV Video Music Awards in 2001, she performed the song with a live albino Burmese python around her neck.

As it turns out, as Spears prepared for what would become one of the most iconic performances of the 21st century thus far, she "broke out in hives" every time the snake touched her, as its handler, Mike Hano, noted.

"It's easy to screw up that kind of thing," he told Insider in 2021. "You know, it gets wrapped around your arm and doesn't want to let go. It could have been really risky, because that was a live performance, one take." But it went off without a hitch, and Spears and the now-famous serpent — later named "Banana" — were left unscathed.

All in all, the performance remains a wildly memorable VMAs moment that imprinted her new, more adult image on audiences the world over. While Spears later deemed the performance "dumb," she also took to Instagram to acknowledge its importance.

"I will tell you this ... before I went on that night I was feeling kinda out of body with nerves!" she recalled in 2021, adding that then-boyfriend Justin Timberlake helped her through it. "Justin saw I could hardly talk, so he held my hand and gave me a 5 minute pep talk, which obviously worked!"

Britney goes beyond any expected pop templates via heftier writing contributions from Spears. It also benefits from skillful interpolation of outside material — in this case, a well-known rock anthem made her own. "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," an Arrows song made a 1981 hit by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, was right in Spears' wheelhouse and aligned with Britney's newfound grit.

Plus, it fit the bill for a karaoke scene in Crossroads, her then-upcoming movie debut centering on three girls who take a cross-country road trip. "I actually sing it all the time for karaoke, so it made sense," she told MTV News between crunching potato chips. "I wanted [co-producer] Rodney [Jerkins] to come in and redo the song. It's a very girl-power song."

Elsewhere, the song "Overprotected" — which was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 45th GRAMMY Awards in 2003 — addresses themes of manipulation and control, which takes on a new meaning in the light of her almost-terminated conservatorship and the #FreeBritney movement, which has been percolating from 2008 to the present day.

"Say hello to the girl that I am / You're gonna have to see through my perspective," she sings. "I need to make mistakes just to learn who I am / And I don't wanna be so damn protected."

The seemingly clairvoyant line about the freedom to make mistakes is telling when considered with 20 years of distance and perspective. Without the destructive pressure cooker of current circumstances surrounding her — a story startlingly told in The New York Times' recent documentary, Controlling Britney Spears — could she have leapt further and further artistically on her own terms?

It's impossible to say for sure, but Britney remains a pivot point: The album establishes Spears as much more than a coquettish young thing singing catchy songs, but someone more than able to take the wheel, navigating her spaceship from girlhood to womanhood with grace.

"It's not my intention to leave my young fans. I just want an older generation to pick up on it as well," she said in the MTV interview. "I couldn't do ...Baby One More Time number three. I had to change it up and pray people think that's cool."

Spears' prayers were answered: Two decades later, Britney's impact remains unassailable — python or no python.

2021
For The Record
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Britney Spears performing at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards
Britney Spears performing at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards
Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

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For The Record: Demi Lovato

Demi Lovato

Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for iHeartMedia

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Inside Demi Lovato's 'Dancing With The Devil' demi-lovato-dancing-devil-art-starting-over-record

For The Record: How Demi Lovato Gazed Into The Mirror On 'Dancing With The Devil...The Art Of Starting Over'

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In the latest episode of For The Record, learn how Demi Lovato's courageous new album, 'Dancing with the Devil… the Art of Starting Over,' offers an inside look into the singer's personal health, addiction struggles and recovery
Morgan Enos
GRAMMYs
Aug 17, 2021 - 5:50 pm

Since their 2008 debut pop/rock album, Don't Forget, Demi Lovato has sung to those in flux regarding who they are. 

Across their discography, they've continually reassured their fans and listeners they are not alone. It's an ongoing theme they continue to explore on their newest album Dancing with the Devil … the Art of Starting Over, released this past April in the wake of Lovato's much-publicized struggles with an eating disorder, substance abuse, and other internal battles.

On Dancing with the Devil, Lovato offers an inside look into their personal health, addiction struggles and recovery. Lead single "Anyone," which they recorded four days before they suffered an overdose in July 2018, is brutally vulnerable: "Anyone, please send me anyone / Lord, is there anyone? / I need someone, oh / Anyone, please send me anyone," Lovato sings.

Inside Demi Lovato's 'Dancing With The Devil'

"At the time when I was recording it, I almost listen back and hear these lyrics as a cry for help," Lovato said of "Anyone" in a 2020 interview with Apple Music's Zane Lowe. "And you kind of listen back to it and you kind of think, how did nobody listen to this song and think, 'Let's help this girl.'" (Lovato delivered an equally vulnerable performance of "Anyone" at the 62nd GRAMMY Awards in 2020, their first televised performance since their 2018 overdose.)

The album's title track goes one step deeper: On "Dancing with the Devil," Lovato chronicles their relapse that led to their overdose in 2018, singing how "a little red wine" turns into "a little white line" and eventually "a little glass pipe." "Almost made it to Heaven / It was closer than you know," Lovato sings in the chorus. "It's so hard to say no / When you're dancing with the devil."

In the latest episode of For The Record, experience a crash course in the making and intent of Demi Lovato's Dancing with the Devil … the Art of Starting Over. Freshly out as nonbinary and with a new lease on life, it's anybody's guess where Lovato will go next—both as an artist and a champion for the marginalized.

2021
For The Record
Prev
Next
Britney Spears performing at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards
Britney Spears performing at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards
Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

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The Rolling Stones in 1972  
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Artwork for For The Record episode on Sylvester's 'Step II'

Sylvester

Photo: Eric Blum/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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For The Record: Explore The Colorful, Inclusive World Of Sylvester's 'Step II'

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In the latest episode of For The Record, learn how disco maverick Sylvester crafted 'Step II,' a touchstone of the genre and a clarion call for LGBTQ+ culture
Morgan Enos
GRAMMYs
Jun 13, 2021 - 1:50 pm

Let's face it: "Disco Sucks" sucks. The late-'70s backlash against the popularity of disco music and films like Saturday Night Fever, which crescendoed with the infamous Disco Demolition Night on a Chicago ballfield in 1979, is now generally understood as wrongheaded, if not bigoted.

Because the discotheque wasn't simply some hedonistic phenomenon: It was often the last place where marginalized people, like Black, gay singer/songwriter Sylvester, could be themselves.

Inside The Colorful World Of Sylvester's 'Step II'

"You've come out of the closet. It's been difficult," Sylvester's biographer, Rick Karr, told NPR in 2018. "Many people [at the time] have moved out of their homes of origin, their families of origin, with great pain, and moved to a more liberated place, like San Francisco. And then ... this person comes out into public life that sounds like what you were feeling when you made yourself free."

Granted, by 1979, Sylvester had already been around for six years and had released five albums. But it was his 1978 album, Step II, that genuinely delivered his message of liberation to the world. Step II, which included his chart-topping signature song "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)," hit the Billboard charts hard and received gold certification by the RIAA in the late '70s.

Both the album and the song left a profound mark on disco and are today considered touchstones of the genre and clarion calls for LGBTQ+ culture. Hailed as one of the definitive LGBTQ+ Pride anthems of all time, "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" was inducted to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2019.

The world lost Sylvester too soon; he died in 1988, at 41, of AIDS. But when considering the strides the LGBTQ+ community has made in music, art and all other media, we can partly thank this fearless, out-and-proud musical dynamo.

In the latest episode of For The Record, GRAMMY.com takes you into the colorful, inclusive world of Step II, the classic album from disco maverick Sylvester that still sounds like it could have been recorded this morning.

For The Record: The Liberating Joy Of Lady Gaga's Born This Way At 10

Artwork for For The Record episode on Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way'

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For The Record: The Liberating Joy Of Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' At 10

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Released in May 2011, 'Born This Way' is remarkable for its unrelenting reinvention of the woman we know as Lady Gaga. Nominated for three GRAMMYs, Mother Monster's third album gave the world an eternal gay pride anthem in "Born This Way."
Zel McCarthy
GRAMMYs
May 23, 2021 - 10:07 am

It's hard to imagine a more theatrical arrival to any event than Lady Gaga at the 53rd GRAMMY Awards on Feb. 13, 2011. Encased in a translucent ellipsoid, carried like a palanquin down the red carpet by a quartet of latex-clad models, Gaga herself was barely visible, but her presence was undeniable. Later that night, when she emerged from the egg-like container onto the GRAMMY stage, she wasn't simply performing her new single-she was introducing the world to a new era of her artistry.

Released on May 23, 2011, Born This Way was one of the most highly anticipated albums of the year; upon release, it sold more than 1 million copies in its first week, making Lady Gaga only the fifth female artist to reach that milestone. While eye-catching couture was de rigueur on her pre-release tour between February and May, the topic of her red carpet "vessel," as she called it, was still hot when she appeared on the "Late Show with David Letterman" on release night.

It was a symbol of her rebirth, she explained, deliberately facing the studio audience. "I believe that you can be reborn over and over again until you find that part of you that is the best you that you can be. I encourage everyone to do that."

She then cheekily turned to Letterman. "I wonder what would happen if I put you in an egg."

In some ways, the ease with which Gaga can flow from sincere expressions of depth to ribald humor is the essence of the artist. At once, she is both serious and facetious. It's how she can simultaneously convey absurdity and ferocity on the cover of Born This Way, which pictures her as an anthropomorphized motorcycle, or how she can take liberties with the German language on the song "Scheiße" without undermining a pining love song like "You and I."

If the biker babe aesthetic of the cover wasn't enough of a clue that Born This Way was here to rock, the album opens with the full-throttled aggression of the guitar-heavy "Marry The Night." In what would become one of her signature songs, Gaga declares herself a free spirit while simultaneously committing to a figurative union with darkness, in a vocal produced with radiant clarity by Fernando Garibay.

The sonic motif continues on the penultimate track, "You And I," the most surprising collaboration on the album. Known for producing albums by AC/DC and Def Leppard as well as Shania Twain, co-producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange delivers his pop-by-way-of-metal pedigree, which is uniquely suited for the moment, if only to remind listeners that the guitars on Born This Way aren't a fluke and neither are the hooks.

Read: For The Record: Inside The Robotic-Pop Reinvention Of Daft Punk's Discovery At 20

Even though Garibay, along with producer RedOne, had worked with Lady Gaga before, neither rehash their former glories here. Born This Way is remarkable for its unrelenting reinvention of the woman we know as Lady Gaga. A classic house and experimental techno enthusiast, Garibay is perhaps most audible in the album's decided turn away from Gaga's polished electro past toward a more raw, EDM-influenced future. Tracks like "Government Hooker" and "Heavy Metal Lover" play with Gaga's vocal as if she's inhabiting different skins, each reflecting various parts of herself and all creating soundtracks for stomping across strobe-lit dance floors.

On album closer "The Edge Of Glory," Garibay and Gaga deliver a benediction. "There ain't no reason you and me should be alone tonight," the song starts, implying the impending end of the LP isn't the end of our time with the singer. Before performing the song for Oprah in the final weeks of the host's daytime talk show, Gaga described how she wrote it at her piano as a tribute to her grandmother shortly before her passing. The rawness of her emotion is palpable as the song is both a celebration of life and a full-throated embrace of vulnerability. Even though E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons underscores Gaga's rock and roll daydreams with a record-defining run on the bridge, this ain't Gaga's "Thunder Road."

Instead, Born This Way is Lady Gaga's Ulysses. From her rebirth to her acceptance of mortality, the album is an epic journey of an artist as a young woman. At times, it comes across like a casual stream of consciousness by a pop star who knows how to conquer a dance floor and is laying claim to more. Elsewhere, she subtly reveals that she's actually always in total control. Just as James Joyce's novel once courted controversy, so, too, did Born This Way.

It's easy to forget how the overtly political title track was culturally polarizing only a decade ago. The song's message of self-empowerment through self-acceptance wasn't necessarily new on its own, not even when set to a high-energy dance beat. In fact, for decades, the combination of dance floor bangers with universally relatable lyrics had been embraced as unofficial gay anthems, signaling an unspoken but loudly sung message of validation and equality to LGBTQ+ audiences while carefully never disrupting the sensibilities of listeners intolerant of what was often described as a "lifestyle choice."

On "Born This Way," Lady Gaga, who is bisexual, is unequivocal: Not only are all people worthwhile, "no matter gay, straight, or bi," she sings on the track, but their sexuality is a birthright to be proud of. It's a succinct statement of love and visibility that's hard to dispute. As Oprah put it, "you encourage people to be comfortable being born the way they are, being born that way."

Just as it's hard to imagine a time before Lady Gaga was a household name, it's hard to remember that before 2011, LGBTQ+ rights weren't widely accepted or even openly discussed. For decades, artists had been discouraged by their managers and labels from taking similar stances, either in their music or in the press. Paralyzed by fears of alienating parts of their audiences or becoming targets of morality campaigns, pop artists were quiet at best when it came to issues of LGBTQ+ equality. With the forces of change moving quickly toward progress, thanks to a string of legal and legislative victories, "Born This Way"—as a credo and the first bona fide gay anthem that explicitly advocates for gay rights—arrived at the exact moment when Americans needed it.

In the hands of an artist without Lady Gaga's credibility, a song like "Born This Way" could have been dismissed as pandering or propaganda. In the three years between releasing her 2008 debut album, The Fame, and Born This Way, Gaga had already established herself as an ally to the LGBTQ+ community. For all her theatricality, as an artist who existed beyond the confines of concert stages, music videos and even music itself, Gaga routinely shattered the illusion of a fourth wall to connect with her audience. Her 24/7 commitment to being Lady Gaga created often-unfiltered content for emerging social media platforms, notably Twitter, where fans were eager to like, retweet and devour her every move. Whether she was walking the 10 feet from her hotel to a car or staying up all night with a bottle of wine to respond to tweets about her album on the eve of its release, Gaga made herself accessible, reachable and knowable. She also knew her fans.

As much as she expressed herself through her art, Lady Gaga was unapologetic about who that art was for. While the story of most fan bases speaks to the positioning of an artist in the market and the reception of their work by customers, the relationship between "Mother Monster" and her legion of "Little Monsters" became uniquely vital to her craft on Born This Way. Lady Gaga showed the world that her fans weren't simply there to respond to her work—they were actively inspiring it.

For The Record: Adele's Icon-Making 21 At 10

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Backstreet Boys in 1996

Photo: Mike Prior/Getty Images

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For The Record: How 'Backstreet Boys' Ignited The '90s Boy Band Craze

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Released in Europe in 1996, Backstreet Boys' self-titled debut album solidified the iconic pop group as global stars and pivoted pop music into its prime. An international chart-topper, the album created the formula for boy bands as we know them today
Ilana Kaplan
GRAMMYs
May 7, 2021 - 4:43 pm

There are a few specific motifs that come to mind when reminiscing about the '90s: grunge, Spice Girls and, of course, boy bands. While the inception of boy bands had come long before the era, bringing along electric fandoms decades before, the '90s were really the first time when the boy band craze peaked. The first ones to lead the charge? Backstreet Boys.

At a time when there was a gap in mass-market bands catering to teens, the music of Backstreet Boys, referred to as simply BSB by loving fans, was somewhat of an experiment. Just as the grunge scene was phasing out, the group ushered in a new era of radio-friendly pop that would span from Hanson to Britney Spears—except Backstreet Boys initially did it from overseas.

Formed in Orlando by the late record producer Lou Pearlman, Backstreet Boys emerged in 1993 and began working on their self-titled debut album in Stockholm two years later. Helmed by then-rising producer Max Martin, Backstreet Boys helped turn the fresh-faced newcomers, who were just between the ages of 15 and 24 at the time, into megastars nearly overnight. It wasn't long until fans felt like they knew BSB's Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, AJ McLean, Howie Dorough and Kevin Richardson.

In 1996, the group released Backstreet Boys in Europe, where it became an international chart-topper across the continent as well as in Asia.

U.S. audiences, though, primarily recognize Backstreet Boys' second eponymous album, released in 1997, as their true debut. Still, it was the internationally released Backstreet Boys, which shared a handful of tracks with the U.S.-only version of the album, that made them global stars before they even shared their music stateside.

How The Backstreet Boys Ignited The Boy Band Craze

"As little kids growing up, you always hope to have success in your home country," Dorough told Billboard in 2017. "That's where your pride is, you know? It was so crazy how it happened everywhere else first. I think it was meant to be that way, looking back on it. It really seasoned us to come back home, to really be ready for America." The U.S., a market the group once referred to as "No Fan Land," would eventually catch BSB fever.

Read: Taylor Swift, '1989': For The Record

In retrospect, Backstreet Boys' 1996 release was truly for diehard fans. Known as "The Red Album" due to its cover backdrop, Backstreet Boys marked the beginning of a new era in pop, one which channeled the R&B guy group success of Boyz II Men with the heartthrob sensationalism of New Kids on the Block. The album cover, now a pop culture relic, is representative of the '90s boy band aesthetic: an intense glare paired with attitude, a monochromatic wardrobe, a mushroom cut and the look of five boys who are about to break a million hearts. (The flashy counterpart of the 1997 U.S. album featured a brooding quintet in oversized button-downs against a grey wall on its cover art.)

It's fair to say that Backstreet Boys' self-titled album became a blueprint for the cohort of boy bands to come. The group's debut single, "We've Got It Goin' On," was responsible for the initial allure of what a modern boy band should be. The confident, Euro-pop-driven track solidified their infectious harmonizing skills and proved they had an edge that channeled NKOTB. It wasn't long until it skyrocketed into the Top 10 in Europe.

The R&B-tinged, Boyz II Men-esque ballad, "I'll Never Break Your Heart," followed, showcasing BSB's versatility as crooners. While it was their fourth single in Europe, the uptempo ballad "Quit Playing Games (with My Heart)," framed by its slick production and teen-dream aesthetic, hit No.1 on the European Hot 100. Its overwhelming praise would help it become the second single from the group's stateside debut.

Read: Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough On How Crippling Anxiety & Shyness Inspired His Family Album, 'Which One Am I?'

According to the band, though, the single was "an afterthought." "It was like the last one we had done and they were like, 'Okay guys, we think this may be a good song, let's try it,'" Richardson told Billboard.

Originally, Richardson and Littrell had recorded "Quit Playing Games (with My Heart)" themselves, he recalls. "Then the label heard it and wanted it on the record," he added. "Nick wasn't even on the song at all until they wanted it to be a single." To this day, it remains one of the songs that solidified BSB as not only a boy band, but as hitmakers.

The overwhelming success of Backstreet Boys initially seemed revolutionary—to both the group and to music fans—and pivoted pop music into its prime. Still, BSB weren't exactly warmed up to the "boy band" label initially. "We always wanted just to be considered a vocal harmony group," Dorough told Billboard.

The album's breakout would also go on to spark one of the music industry's most notorious rivalries. BSB initially believed they were a singular force. Little did they know that Pearlman, the group's founder and label CEO, also signed the band that would become their biggest competition: *NSYNC. While fans fueled the rivalry, it didn't help that Pearlman had effectively cloned the band.

In the Backstreet Boys' 2015 documentary, Show 'Em What You're Made Of, Richardson recalls Pearlman showing him a recording of *NSYNC's talents; he called it a "betrayal." "When we started out, we were like, 'Yeah, we're a team. We're gonna take over the world. There's nobody like us,'" Richardson said in the film. "Then you find out, 'Well, actually, there is somebody like you.'"

In 1998, Johnny Wright, who managed *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys, told Rolling Stone his plan was "to turn Orlando into the next Motown, but we were going to call it Snowtown – because we weren't doing it with R&B acts, we were doing it with pop acts." While the five-piece was less than thrilled, the creation of both BSB and *NSYNC would forever alter pop music.

Read: Backstreet Boys Talk GRAMMY Museum "Experience," 'Millennium' Legacy & Touring

Soon enough, more boy bands emerged, namely 98 Degrees and O-Town. While BSB and *NSYNC undoubtedly paved the way for more recent boy bands like One Direction, 5 Seconds of Summer and PRETTYMUCH, there's been no boy band rivalry to match since.

Although its release was initially limited, Backstreet Boys laid the foundation and created the formula for boy bands as we know them today, from sound and style to the dedicated fandoms that have flourished in the years since. Without the success of the band's self-titled album, it's possible the boy band craze could have been an ephemeral phase or even nonexistent. Pop fans, whether they were team Nick Carter or Justin Timberlake, owe it all to Backstreet Boys.

For The Record: The Transformational Public Heartache Of Janet Jackson's 'All For You' At 20

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Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy and its Affiliates. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy and its Affiliates lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy and its Affiliates.