Miss Janet Kicks Off “Unbreakable” Tour
A newly demure Janet Jackson started her “World Tour†in Vancouver on Monday night. She was dressed in white and covered, like her dancers and musicians, from shoulders to shoes. And she avoided one big subset of her songwriting: her salacious, sometimes kinky whispers. That left Jackson, 49, to play the many other, less titillating roles that have given her major hits and made her an enduring influence across pop and R&B. It has been four years since Jackson toured, and seven since she released a studio album; she has announced the impending release of a new one, “Unbreakable.†In 2012, Jackson married a Qatari businessman, Wissam al-Mana, and largely disappeared from public view before resurfacing to tour. Her Vancouver concert included three unreleased songs and the insinuating “No Sleeep,†the first single from “Unbreakable.†The concert’s finale, a ballad with Motown roots, was presumably the album’s title song; it praised enduring love, announcing, “It’s unbreakable.â€