Teyana Taylor’s feature in People’s World’s Most Beautiful Issue was never going to be just about Teyana Taylor. The singer and actress used the platform to pay direct tribute to Janet Jackson, recreating the military-inspired cream ensemble Jackson wore during her 1993 to 1995 Janet World Tour. The choice was deliberate, deeply personal, and entirely on brand for someone who has made no secret of her devotion to one of music’s most iconic figures.
Taylor has spoken openly for years about her admiration for Jackson, but this shoot went beyond a casual nod. She wanted to do something that felt surprising even within the context of her well-documented obsession, something that honored a specific visual chapter of Jackson’s legacy while putting her own interpretation on it. The result was striking enough to draw a response from Jackson herself.
A lifelong devotion that started at nine years old
Taylor traces her desire to become an artist back to a single moment in childhood. At nine years old, she came across a DVD of Janet Jackson’s Velvet Rope tour from 1998 to 1999 and watched it with the kind of attention that changes the direction of a life. She knew from that viewing what she wanted to do. The clarity she found in Jackson’s performance, the way she commanded a stage and inhabited every element of a show, became the blueprint Taylor would spend years working toward.
That early devotion eventually became something more personal. The two women have developed a genuine friendship over the years, and Taylor credits that friendship, and the conversation it made possible, with one of the most significant turning points in her career. When Taylor announced her retirement from music in late 2020, Jackson reached out and offered guidance that Taylor has described as instrumental in her decision to return. The fact that the woman who inspired her to become an artist also helped her remember why she could not walk away from it carries a weight that Taylor has clearly not let go of.
Janet Jackson’s response
Jackson responded to the tribute after seeing the photos from the People shoot. She expressed genuine admiration for how completely Taylor had captured not just the visual details of the look but the energy and mood behind it. She called the recreation stunning and said she felt truly honored by the gesture, adding warmth and humor to her reaction in ways that made clear the appreciation was sincere.
For Taylor, that response likely landed with the particular weight that only acknowledgment from a lifelong hero can carry. She has been consistent in noting that the friendship between them has not diminished the fandom. No matter how close the relationship has grown, she still approaches Jackson with the reverence of someone who understands exactly what she is in the presence of.
A tribute that reflects both women
What makes the moment resonate beyond the obvious is what it says about the continuity of influence in music. Jackson’s impact on Taylor is direct and traceable, from a childhood DVD to a career-defining phone call to a magazine shoot designed to honor exactly that lineage. The fact that Jackson herself responded with such warmth closes a loop that started in a nine-year-old’s living room more than two decades ago.
The World’s Most Beautiful Issue gave Taylor a platform to celebrate herself. She used it to celebrate someone else, and in doing so made the moment considerably more interesting than it might otherwise have been.
