The hottest ticket in Las Vegas since the end of last year has been Janet Jackson. The music legend landed in Sin City to spice things up with her second-ever residency Janet Jackson: Las Vegas this past winter and spring at the Resorts World Theatre, garnering her even more accolades in the process — including recognition from Las Vegas Weekly as the publication’s Best Headliner of 2025. But, of course, all good things must come to an end, and this was true for the residency as well. But that didn’t stop the icon from going out with a bang in the residency’s final September 2025 dates — and we were on hand to capture all the magic.
As with her previous residency, Janet Jackson: Las Vegas was a journey through all of Janet’s hits and a few added surprises. Perhaps the biggest surprise, however, was that the set didn’t begin with a Janet song. Instead, it kicked off with a vocal edit of DJ MRV’s “Put Your Drink Down” tailored specially for the residence. Over the bumping house track, MRV could be heard beckoning the audience to put their phones and drinks down and get into the groove. That then segued into MRV’s “Jus Dance” — which those who attended the 2024 leg of Janet’s Together Again Tour will recognize. The songs not only got the audience in the mood, it also set the tone for the opening medley that was to come.
Janet was finally revealed to the crowd and proceeded to get busy with a rush of house-influenced, up-tempo cuts that spanned her catalog — from Unbreakable cut “Night” to Damita Jo floor fillers “Slo Love” and “All Night (Don’t Stop)” and freaky janet. single “Throb.” The opening set also gave way to the singer’s biggest costume moment as she shed a black, oversized coat to reveal a shimmering, gold-sequined bodysuit seemingly molded to her every curve.
The show’s first act wasn’t all heart-pumping cuts, though. She smoothed things out with slick performances of “Got ’Til It’s Gone” and “That’s The Way Love Goes” before delivering crowd-pleaser “Love Will Never Do (Without You).” She then offered up one of the show’s more surprising moments as she stood on a platform above the stage to kick off a slate of slow jams that began with her rarely performed cuts “Twenty Foreplay” and “I Want You.”
Miss Jackson was just getting started, though, as the two-hour show wove in even more of her hits and album cuts. A costume change by her and her troupe of five dancers into white, sheer numbers took us into her “Velvet Rope” for the second act. Playing just as fast and loose with the decades, she quickly moved between 2000s-era singles such as “All For You” and “Feedback” to her seminal Rhythm Nation 1814 hit “Miss You Much.” She soon slowed things down once again, though, to give us another collection of her slow jams, this time defying gravity at the center of a ring of lights mid-stage. The selections here relied heavily on ’80s jams like “Funny How Time Flies,” “Let’s Wait Awhile” and “Come Back To Me,” among a few others. She then turned up the heat with a soulful version of “I Get So Lonely” that culminated in a sexy dance session with her all-male dance crew before a brief moment with 20 Y.O.’s “With U.”
The third act was a plaid affair, with Janet rocking a gorgeous blue and black-sequined plaid ’fit during a set that heavily featured numbers from her Control-era. But she, once again, proved that she had some surprises up her sleeve with the inclusion of “You Want This” and her first-ever single “Young Love” sewn into the performance seamlessly before tossing one more bone with a fiery (and uncensored) performance of “Son Of A Gun.”
She saved the best for last for the show’s fourth and final act, which allowed her to indulge her harder-edged music that included elements of rock and funk. There is where she placed cuts like “If,” “Black Cat,” “Scream” and “Rhythm Nation” alongside songs like “Trust A Try” and “The Knowledge” while decked out in a voluminous black-and-white number that she soon shed to reveal a shiny, black leather catsuit. The final outfit change seemed to give her an extra blast of attitude, which she unleashed all over the stage, climaxing with a brief fireworks show as she proclaimed, “Rhythm Nation is our nation!”
The encore brought the energy down so that Janet could relish the final moments of the show. Beginning with well wishes on her All For You track “Better Days,” she then took some time to acknowledge her newly viral hit “Someone To Call My Lover” complete with clips from the many TikTok videos from new fans of the 2001 single.
- Advertisement -The show’s final note came with “Together Again,” with Janet taking the stage solo as she brought the crowd to their feet for one last moment. With love in her heart and a wish for more love to reside in this world, she left the stage triumphantly for one last time.
Janet’s return to the Resorts World Theatre coincided with the completion of renovations to the venue. The newly remodeled space offered an even more premium experience for fans, including an expansion of the venue’s capacity and the addition of a luxe VIP area that offered guests an opportunity to luxuriate before the show’s start and even mix and mingle with fellow fans before being treated to one of the performer’s best shows of her career.
- Advertisement -And the venue, which has hosted several high-profile performers — including Kevin Hart, Carrie Underwood and Katy Perry — will be adding more than a few headliners sure to catch the attention of the SoulBounce audience. First up is Erykah Badu, who will bring her essence to the Resorts World stage for her Mama’s Gun ’25: The Return Of Automatic Slim Tour on Saturday, October 4th. Following her will be Maxwell and special guest Lucky Daye for the former’s The Serenade Tour on Tuesday, October 28th and comedian Martin Lawrence’s Y’all Know What Is solo stand-up tour, which is set to crack up Vegas on Saturday, November 15th. And the venue promises much more in the future. For tickets and information for those and any other upcoming shows, you can head to the Resorts World website.
