8/14/2024
Janet Jackson has quite the family tree.
In an interview with Scott Mills on BBC Sounds, Jackson was asked if it was true that she is related to another legendary singer, Stevie Wonder.
“He’s our cousin,” Jackson said as Mills expressed shock. “Not a lot of people know that. He’s our cousin on my mother’s side.”
But that wasn’t all.
Jackson added, “So is Tracy Chapman. So is Samuel L. Jackson.”
Mills was all of us as his mind was blown. He got Jackson to further confirm that Wonder, Chapman and Jackson are indeed all cousins.
She even joked that Samuel L. Jackson, famed for his roles in films in “Pulp Fiction,” “Captain Marvel” and “Snakes on a Plane,” is not one of her brothers despite their shared last name.
Janet Jackson is currently on a tour which celebrates her decades of hits. And she’s not the only Jackson family member who is riding the wave of success.
Chapman, who is well known for being intensely private, has been enjoying a bit of a career revival, thanks to country artist Luke Combs covering her hit 1988 single “Fast Car.”
That cover reaching No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart last year made Chapman the first Black woman to top the chart since the chart came into existence in 1990.
She and Combs earned a standing ovation for their performance in February at the Grammys.
CNN has reached out to representatives for Wonder, Chapman and Samuel L. Jackson for comment.