Rhythm Nation 1814 Tour
Janet Jackson toured the world for the first time in support of her multi-platinum smash album, "Rhythm Nation 1814" . The tour started on March 1, 1990 at the Miami Arena. The tour was a 9-month long venture. Criss-crossing the US before flying to Japan on May 1990. The Japan tour was her first experience of foreign audience. She sold out shows in that country, most impressively, the 48,000-capacity Tokyo Dome with two shows. Then she also sold out shows in Hong Kong, her only Southeast Asian tour. She flew back to North America to wrap up remaining shows before flying to Europe. She performed in England, The Netherlands, and more with many sold out shows, ending the year with a bang. In fact, 1990 was called the year of the Rhythm Nation.
The Rhythm Nation World Tour appeared in 25 countries.
The tour opened with a sell out show in Miami.
Beginning in March of 1990, the Rhythm Nation Tour ran a full nine months and performed over 120 shows.
The 5-date LA show sold out in a record of 48 minutes.
Janet performed on a five-story two-level $2 million stage of solid aluminum, complete with pyrotechnics, hundreds of lights, an illusionist, and a 200-pound panther.
Janet was backed by 9 musicians and 6 dancers during the 90-minute shows.
Although never released on home video, one of two sold-out Tokyo concerts was aired on television in Japan.
Janet collected 25 cents from each ticket sold in some of her shows and donated an accumulated $450,000 to the United Negro College Fund for the Rhythm Nation Scholarship.
In the end, the tour spawned numerous sold out shows around the world and attracting over 2 million fans. This made the Rhythm Nation World Tour the biggest debut tour by any artists in history. The tour grossed over $28.1 million in the US alone. And it became one of the ten best grossing concert tours of 1990.
Setlist
1. Control
2. Nasty
3. What Have You Done For Me Lately
4. Let's Wait A while
5. When I Think Of You
6. The Pleasure Principle
7. State Of The World
8. The Knowledge
9. Black Cat
10. Come Back To Me
11. Alright
12. Escapade
13. Miss You Much
14. Rhythm Nation
Itinerary
First leg - North America
Second leg - Europe
Third leg - Asia
Fourth leg - North America
The Band
| Musical Director | Chuckii Booker |
| Drums | Derek Organ |
| Keyboards | Chuckii Booker
Thomas Organ
Rex Salas
Derek Allen |
| Percussion | Tim "Timbali" Cornwell |
| Rhythm Guitar | David Barry |
| Bass Guitar | Derek Allen |
| Background Vocalists | Nadira Ali
Vanessa Townsell
David Barry
Chuckii Booker |
The Dancers
Art Palmer
Karen Owens
LaVelle Smith (co-choreographer, staging)
Tina Landon
Anthony Thomas (choreographer, staging)
Terry Bixler (co-choreographer, staging)
