Janet Jackson confirms pregnancy at 50

Janet Jackson has confirmed that she is pregnant at the age of 50, posing for a photograph showing off her baby bump.

The singer married Wissam al Mana, a Qatari billionaire businessman, in 2012, and the couple live in Dubai.

In April this year, she announced that she was taking a break from her tour to start "planning our family" and "rest up." 

She had not confirmed pregnancy rumours, however, until the publication of People magazine on Wednesday. 

The magazine carried an exclusive photograph of a smiling Jackson with her hand on her stomach.

Janet Jackson

"We thank God for our blessing," she said, giving no further details.

Jackson called off her year-long Unbreakable world tour in April after eight months on the road.

The tour was her first in four years, but since October she had cancelled numerous shows for medical reasons. She had to deny rumours that she had throat cancer, after alarming fans on Christmas Eve by announcing that she needed surgery.

Her brother Tito let the news of her pregnancy slip in June.

“Janet is very well pregnant," he said, in an interview on Sirius FM radio.

Janet Jackson confirmed her pregnancy in People magazine

"She’s doing very well, taking it easy. As you know, she’s off tour, so she’s protecting her health.” 

The singer, who has 27 nieces and nephews, had long spoken of her desire to have children. But, intensely private, she fought to keep the news of her own pregnancy under wraps.

Her marriage to Mr al Mana was not made public until a year after it had happened.

The couple met at a party to launch a hotel in Dubai, in April 2010.

The same year, aged 44, she said: “I’d love to have a family. But really, it’s in God’s hands. So, if it’s meant to be, I’ll have one. I hope it does.”

A year later, she returned to the subject, telling CNN: “I hope I’d be a good mother."

She continued: "Everyone tells me, for the longest time they’ve told me: ‘Oh, you’d make a great mother.’

"And I’m like, ‘Why?’

"People would tell me: ‘You’re very nurturing. You’re very mothering and you take care of people all the time.’

"And yada, yada, yada. And so, I don’t know."

Mr al Mana is the singer's third husband.

She married dancer Rene Elizondo in 1991, divorcing him in 2000.

She was also married to R&B recording artist James DeBarge from 1984 until 1985.