Janet Jackson delays tour to ‘plan family’

Pop star Janet Jackson has announced she is planning to become a mother, and postponed all upcoming tour dates.

The announcement comes a month after she scrapped concerts in the UK and Europe, and affects 55 further concerts in the US and Canada this summer.

Speaking in a Twitter video, the 49-year-old told her fans: “My husband and I are planning our family – so I’m going to have to delay the tour.

“Please, if you can, try and understand that it’s important that I do this now.

“I have to rest up [on] doctor’s orders. I will continue the tour as soon as I possibly can.”

She went on to thank her “supportive and loving” dancers and musicians, and to her fans for their “undying love” and “loyalty”.

Jackson, who returned to the top of the Billboard charts last year with her eleventh album, Unbreakable, is married to fashion tycoon Wissam Al Mana.

Although she has been married twice before, to musicians James DeBarge and Rene Elizondo, she has no children.

The star’s world tour has been beset by health problems. Last December, she postponed 29 US dates after being advised to have surgery. She later denied rumours that she had been diagnosed with cancer.

Before that, the concerts received rave reviews, and were listed as one of the top 20 highest-earning tours in a chart compiled by Pollstar.

Jackson last played at the Dubai World Cup on 26 March.

BBC