I feel like playing along today. I’m choosing to play along because we honestly don’t have anything concrete on the conspiracy front. We only have our suspicions, because Janet Jackson is an enigma wrapped in a mystery, covered in a Rhythm Nation pantsuit. Janet Jackson announced her pregnancy – at the age of 49 – last year. Janet quietly married Wissam Al Mana in 2012, and they were reportedly trying for a baby for a while. Janet had to shut down her tour when she became pregnant. It was a big, cryptic deal. And now Janet has given birth, just as mysteriously as everything else she does.
It’s a boy! Janet Jackson and husband Wissam Al Mana welcomed their first child, a son, on Tuesday, Jan. 3, her rep confirms to PEOPLE exclusively.
“Janet Jackson and husband Wissam Al Mana are thrilled to welcome their new son Eissa Al Mana into the world,” a rep for the singer, 50, says in a statement. “Janet had a stress-free healthy delivery and is resting comfortably.”
Jackson married Qatari businessman Al Mana in 2012, and news of their first child’s impending arrival was reported in May. Speculation first began when the singer postponed her Unbreakable World Tour so, as she said in a video posted to Twitter in early April, she and Al Mana could focus on their family.
“We’re in the second leg of the tour, and there actually has been a sudden change,” she said in the clip. “I thought it was important that you be the first to know. My husband and I are planning our family. So I’m going to have to delay the tour.”
In October, the singer shared a baby bump photo exclusively with PEOPLE, saying, “We thank God for our blessing.”
When Janet first suggested that “planning our family” thing, many thought she was choosing specific language to indicate that she and Wissam were expecting via surrogacy. Then the photos of Janet’s bump came out, and she actually said she was pregnant. And people still didn’t believe it. I’m not even sure I believe it, even now with a statement about how Janet had a “stress-free healthy delivery.” How stress-free and healthy can it be at 50 years old?? In any case, congrats to Janet, to Wissam and to baby Eissa. Apparently, the name is pronounced Eye-See-Ah, which is not how I would have pronounced it had I not looked it up. It’s a pretty name but it does seem feminine (it’s the a-ending).
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
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