Janet Jackson performs her hits as headliner at 2024 ESSENCE Festival in New Orleans

Janet Jackson electrified the 2024 ESSENCE Festival of Culture!

The 58-year-old Grammy Award winner transformed the Big Easy into Rhythm Nation with her dynamic performance on the final day of the 30th ESSENCE Festival of Culture in New Orleans.

She began her much-anticipated performance with “No Sleeep” and “Got ’til It’s Gone” before a record-breaking audience.

Her setlist included some of her timeless hits, such as “All For You,” “If,” “Escapade,” “Any Time, Any Place,” and “I Get Lonely.”

“Love Will Never Do (Without You),” a mashup of “What Have You Done for Me Lately” and “Get It Out Me,” along with “The Pleasure Principle,” “You Want This,” “When I Think of You,” “Control,” “Alright” and “Miss You Much” were also part of her massive setlist.

A mashup of “Nasty” and Juvenile’s “Back That Azz Up” was part of her performance at ESSENCE. The MTV legend also performed her duet with her late brother Michael Jackson, “Scream.”

To conclude her festival set, she thrilled the audience with her 1989 hit “Rhythm Nation.”

Jackson headlined the festival, joining stars like Usher and Birdman for the event’s star-studded 30th anniversary celebration.

Other performers over the four-day festival included Victoria Monét, Charlie Wilson, T-Pain, and Busta Rhymes.

Jackson recently shared with ESSENCE what she particularly enjoys about performing at the festival compared to other events. “I think the one thing people can expect more of that they really never got, I talk a little bit more during this show than I normally do,” she said in an Instagram video collab with ESSENCE.