Janet Jackson is to hit the road for the first time since 2001, with Vancouver the launch pad for a new North American tour.

The Rhythm Nation star will tour through North America – including stops in New York and Washington – before her Rock Witchu tour goes worldwide, she explained in an interview with the Associated Press news agency.

“It’s been a while so I really want to make my rounds,” she said. “I haven’t been to Australia in a very long time; I can’t wait to go there. There are a lot of places where I really want to stop off at, and that’s the idea, that’s the goal with this tour.”

The 42-year-old revealed she had planned a series of concerts after the 2006 release of her album 20 Y.O., only for her record label to request that she postpone her plans in order to work on a new CD.

“I was supposed to go on tour with the last album,” she explained.

“We were actually in full-blown tour rehearsals at that point… learning numbers, getting everything together, set designs.

“I had to kind of shut everything down and go into the studio.”

Her most recent album Discipline hit the shelves in February and Jackson promised a dramatic stage show to support her last two releases.

“It will definitely be a big production but it will definitely also be something that I’ve never done before, that people have never seen from me before,” she added.

Tickets for the tour, for which the full itinerary will be announced next week, go on sale on June 7th.

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WENN

Janet Jackson has heaped praise on the designer of her infamous nipple-baring Super Bowl costume, branding him a great “love” in her life.

The singer was forced to issue an apology for the 2004 “wardrobe malfunction”, which happened when Justin Timberlake tore off part of her corset during a half-time duet, exposing her breast to millions of unsuspecting viewers of the American football event.

British designer Alexander McQueen confirmed he created the tight black outfit Jackson wore on the night earlier this week, prompting the pop star to come to his defence, insisting she does not hold him responsible for the incident.

She tells Fox News, “I thought maybe only half of the outfit was (his design), but I guess he did all of it.”
She adds, “I don’t blame him; he didn’t rip it. Alexander is so great at what he does – he’s a genius. I’ve loved him for a long time, ever since I saw one of his very first shows 10 years ago in London, which is where we first met.”

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WENN

Janet Jackson poses in a cage on the cover of US style magazine, BlackBook. The chart star is featured in the April 2008 issue of the publication, in a music special.

Jackson’s new album, ‘Discipline,’ is out now.

SplashNews

Janet Jackson is taking it easy following her bout with the flu.

The pop star, 41, who paid a visit to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. Monday night after falling ill, has decided to cancel an upcoming Saturday Night Live appearance originally scheduled for Saturday, her rep confirmed.

“The main prescription to get over this flu is rest – and that’s what she has to do,” her rep says. No replacement has been announced yet.

WENN

Pop singer Janet Jackson, whose fluctuating weight has fascinated the tabloids for years, is co-writing a book about her journey as an “emotional eater.”

A title and publication details are expected to be announced soon, but Jackson hopes to have the book out by the end of the year. She is collaborating on the project with her nutritionist, David Allen, she told Billboard.com.

“It’s not just this sterile, weight loss and how to do it book, but my journey even from when I was a kid … being an emotional eater,” said Jackson, who is 41.

“It takes you through those moments in my life up ’til now and what worked for me. And hopefully within that, if it doesn’t work for them, maybe they’ll find something that does work for them and a nice place for them to be content with who they are.”

Jackson, who said last month on CNN’s “Larry King Live” that she liked French fries, sweets, caramel and candy apples, reportedly put on 60 pounds in 2006. She currently occupies the No. 1 spot on the U.S. pop album chart with her latest release, “Discipline.”

WENN

Janet Jackson was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles “late last night with a shortness of breath,” a source tells Usmagazine.com.

But her rep tells Us this morning, “Janet is fine. She’s just battling this flu like everyone else.”

Jackson’s latest album Discipline is No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200.

Jackson, 41, who plans to tour later this year, also is co-writing a dieting book, expected to hit shelves by the end of the year.

“It takes you through those moments in my life up ’til now and what worked for me,” she recently told Billboard.com.

“And hopefully within that, if it doesn’t work for them, maybe they’ll find something that does work for them and a nice place for them to be content with who they are.”

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Splash