Janet Jackson at Mahiki, Mayfair, 2009

Mahiki, Dover Street, Mayfair, London · 2026

Taken 02:08:05 (camera clock), Wednesday 21 January 2009, Mahiki, Dover Street, Mayfair, London

Janet Jackson is in the news this week after a rare video message on Dancing With the Stars, cheering on her former backing dancer Jenna Dewan as she danced to All for You (E! News, https://www.eonline.com/news/1438005/dancing-with-the-stars-janet-jackson-makes-surprise-cameo-for-jenna-dewan).

All for You

All for You was the 2001 hit that won her the Grammy for Best Dance Recording. By then she had spent two decades at the top, from Control in 1986 and Rhythm Nation 1814 in 1989 to janet. and The Velvet Rope in the nineties. Dewan danced in the All for You videos and on the tour that followed, and Jackson looked back on those days in her message.

Mahiki, Mayfair, 20 January 2009

On the night of 20 January 2009 she was in London. Earlier that day, Barack Obama had been sworn in as president in Washington.

The pictures show her leaving Mahiki, the Polynesian-themed club on Dover Street, Mayfair, that was the late-night stop of choice for London's young royals and visiting stars in those years. It was a few minutes after two in the morning.

She steps out in a long black coat with the collar turned up, white cuffs showing at the wrist and a tan suede Birkin bag in her hand. Security clears a path through the crowd on the pavement. In the first two frames she is smiling straight down the lens; by the last she has her head down, picking her way through the crowd.

Janet Jackson in a black coat smiling and carrying a tan suede handbag outside a London club at night. — Janet Jackson leaves Mahiki, Dover Street, Mayfair, London, 20 January 2009. Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID.

Janet Jackson smiling towards the camera as security walks beside her on a Mayfair pavement. — Janet Jackson leaves Mahiki, Mayfair, 20 January 2009. Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID.

Janet Jackson looking down and smiling, holding a tan suede bag, in a crowd outside a club. — Janet Jackson on Dover Street, Mayfair, 20 January 2009. Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID.

Janet Jackson in a black coat with white cuffs walking through a crowd at night. — Janet Jackson leaves Mahiki, Mayfair, 20 January 2009. Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID.

Janet Jackson with her head down walking through a crowd at night, carrying a suede handbag. — Janet Jackson leaves Mahiki, Mayfair, 20 January 2009. Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID.

The pictures

Five frames from the set are here. The full set is available to license through BACKGRID. Faces of security staff and bystanders are blurred in every frame.

Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID. Licensing: Backgrid UK Sales, backgrid_uksales@shutterstock.com