... Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson jumps to no 3 in the US on September 1st, 2001 with Someone To Call My Lover. Her current tour has had a number of health-related problems, the latest being a bout of flu which has forced the cancellation of three dates. All For You the first single and title track of her newest album topped the US chart earlier in 2001 and was top 3 in the UK. Janet's chart-topping career goes all the way back to 1986 when When I Think Of You from Control was her first US smash. Next single should be Son of a Gun and will be remixed by Missy Elliott.
Lyrics: All For You (US:1, UK:3), Doesn't Really Matter (UK:5), Someone To Call My Lover (US:3)

... Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson makes his long-awaited return to the UK top 5 with You Rock My World which debuts at no 2 on 14th October, 2001, the first cut lifted from his Invincible album. The video features Jackson in a gangster-style nightclub, echoing his Smooth Criminal clip although there are very few glimpses of his face. In fact if it wasn't for the dancing, you'd be unsure if he featured in it at all. Recent appearances at the MTV Video Awards and at tribute concerts in New York have whet the public's appetite for the new album although reviewers appear to be ready to trash it. However the public not only in the UK but around the world will no doubt buy it and like it in their millions...
Lyrics: You Rock My World (UK:2, Aus:4, US:10)

... Jagged Edge

Jagged Edge with Nelly climb to no 3 in the US on September 15th, 2001 with Where The Party At. Lots of booty and bacardi in the video but then they have Nelly to liven the act up a little. The R&B quartet record for Jermaine Dupri and normally specialise in smoochy ballads which are more reminiscent of seventies soul than the harder vibe of most millenium acts. An image borne out by the Promise video (a 2001 hit in Australia) which features the lads striking a deal on the street to buy a girlfriend a puppy... Awww...
Lyrics: Where The Party At (US:3), Let's Get Married (Aus:2), Promise (Aus:2)

... Jakatta

Long-standing dance producer Dave Lee returns with a new moniker Jakatta and a no 3 hit on 18th February with American Dream. The music is based on the score to American Beauty and is promoted via a fascinating video in which a woman dances in a trance while a full-scale street riot erupts around her. Lee's last chart incarnation was Joey Negro and he was also responsible for Take That's second no 1 Relight My Fire.

... Jamelia

Jamelia's strange fusion of R & B and Opera, Money, debuts at no 5 on 27th February, 2000 in the UK. The video was strange too with all the dancers in 17th century costume. The 19 year old from Birmingham has just released her new album Drama which features her other singles Call Me and I Do. By the way, Jamelia penned Money in the back of a taxi-cab!
Lyrics: Money (UK:5)

... Jamiroquai

The British masters of funk, Jamiroquai, are back with Little L and a video which uses the dancing charms of hat-fetishist Jay Kay to the full. It debuts at no 5 in the UK on August 19th, 2001. The song is reputed to be about the recently crashed relationship between Jay and TV presenter Denise Van Outen. The group's biggest UK hit was the theme from Godzilla Deeper Underground in July 1998. Other top 5s include Virtual Insanity and Canned Heat. Incidently Jay's recently been claiming in the UK tabloids to be a member of the mile-high club so ladies if you spot him on a plane...
Lyrics: Little L (UK:5)

... Jay-Z

Climbing to 8 in the US on October 20th, 2001 is Izzo (H.O.V.A.) by Jay-Z. The track is from the no 1 album The Blueprint, the Brooklyn rapper's sixth album in as many years. Born Shawn Carter in 1969, Jay-Z was a schoolfriend of Notorious BIG. He set up his own record label Roc-A-Fella in 1996. His biggest international hit was the Annie-sampling Hard Knock Life. Izzo features a lot of slanguage from the projects while the video, shot in Los Angeles, shows crowds of people supporting Jay-Z, mayor of the streets. The track samples the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back".
Lyrics: Izzo (H.O.V.A.) (US:8)

... Wyclef Jean

The talented ex-Fugee, Wyclef Jean returns to the UK Top 10 with his comical ode to lap-dancing Perfect Gentleman. It debuts at no 4 on 15th July, 2001. His previous hits include the self-mocking It Doesn't Matter in September 2000 featuring vocals from The Rock and Melky Sedeck, and the emotional ballad 911, a duet with Mary J Blige in December. Jean was born in Haiti in 1972. The Fugees version of the Roberta Flack classic Killing Me Softly was a world-wide hit in 1996 and catapulted Jean, his cousin Pras, and lead vocalist Lauren Hill into the R&B A-list.
Lyrics: It Doesn't Matter (UK:3) 911 (UK:9) Perfect Gentleman (UK:4)

... Joe featuring Mystikal

Not quite solo but for the first time headlining a top 10 hit in the UK is Joe whose Stutter which also features Mystikal debuts at no 7 on February 11th. His latest album My Name Is Joe has been a phenomenal success in the US producing two number one hits with I Wanna Know and Stutter. His duet with Mariah Carey and 98 degrees, Thank God I Found You marked Joe's only other top 10 UK hit where he is perhaps better known for one of his songs being chosen by Posh and Becks as their wedding dance...
Lyrics: Stutter (UK:7, US:1)

... Elton John

I Want Love, which debuts at no 9 on September 30th, 2001, gives Elton John his first UK Top 10 hit since Written In The Stars in March 1999 and is taken from his latest album Songs From the West Coast. The track is accompanied by a video in which US actor Robert Downey Jnr mouths the song while wandering through an empty house, apparently shot in one continuous take. Recently Elton has been expressing his doubts about the manufactured pop of the UK Chart these days targetting Popstars winners Hear'Say as the "ugliest band in the world". He'll not be pleased that Popstars losers Liberty sold more singles than he did in the week of I Want Love's debut then...
Lyrics: I Want Love (UK:9)

... Andreas Johnson

Glorious by Andreas Johnson debuted at no 4 on 30th January and spent a further two weeks in the Top 10.
Lyrics: Glorious (UK:4)

... Donell Jones

U Know What's Up by Donell Jones debuted at no 2 in the UK on 16th March, 2000 and held onto that position for a further week. His latest album, Where I Wanna Be, has taken three years to put together and features songs written by Jones about his personal life. Growing up on Chicago's notorious Southside, Donell was a gang member before being "saved" by music. He's since worked with a variety of artists both as song-writer and arranger (he worked with Madonna on her Bedtime Stories album). His follow-up single was "Shorty".
Lyrics: U Know What's Up (UK:2)

... Tom Jones & Mousse T/Stereophonics

Tom Jones may be a little old to be a sex idol but with songs like Mousse T's Sex Bomb it looks like he's good for a few years yet. The album Reload has been a phenomenal success and it could be argued this track should have been an earlier single to give the gyrating welshman his first British number one since November 1966! Still I suppose he and Mousse T who was behind the hit Horny in 1998 will be happy with the song's No 3 debut on the UK chart on 14th May, 2000. This was one place higher than Jones and Stereophonics cover of Three Dog Night's Mama Told Me Not To Come which debuted at 4 on March 12th of the same year. The original hit no 3 in 1971.
Lyrics: Mama Told Me Not To Come (UK:4), Sexbomb (UK:3)