Harpers Bazaar landed the first interview with Janet Jackson since the untimely passing of her brother Michael Jackson. In the article ‘Janet Jackson Takes Control,’ Ms. Jackson shares memories of her brother while embracing her new reality of life without Michael.

The 43-year-old singer said she has cut herself off from the media circus surrounding her brother’s death by not watching television since Michael died suddenly in Los Angeles on June 25. “It will drive you crazy,” she says. “People can have rhinoceros skin, but there’s a point when something’s going to hurt you. Not everyone is stone, stone. I haven’t watched the news in weeks. I had to ask my chef, How’s Obama doing? I haven’t read a newspaper. On top of that, [we've lost] a family member.”

The last time Janet saw Michael was on May 14, two days before her 43rd birthday. “We had so much fun that day,” she says. “We kept calling each other after and saying how great it was.” Janet left soon after to start work on Tyler Perry’s “Why Did I Get Married Too.” She was on set in Atlanta when she got the call that Michael had died.

Since then, Janet has kept herself busy by focusing on work and trying to block out the circus-like news still surrounding Michael’s death. “I’ve been doing okay,” she says. “Work helps focus all of that energy on something that is of value to you.” She’s just returned from a much needed 3-day beach vacation: “It was the first time I had to myself since Michael passed, the first time I could get away since all of that.”

Now that almost three months has passed, Janet is ready to open up about her brother, Michael, and the fond memories she has of him. In 1995’s futuristic “Scream” video, for which she collaborated with Michael, there is a telling scene where the space-age siblings are elbowing each other for the remote control. “We had so much fun back then. We would organize our days together and go out for vegetarian lunch at the Golden Temple in L.A. We were so busy, but we’d make time.”

Style is something that the Jackson family is known for. Michael was constantly photographed in embellished jackets and over the top bling. That last day Janet saw Michael, “he had a Balmain jacket on. He had a few of them — all black, jeweled, studded, with rhinestones.” Janet’s style is more low-key and she tends to lean towards curve hugging, classic 40s style pieces that evoke the sexy siren that she is. “I love shoulder pads, a nipped waist. Since I was 16, I used to shop at Maxfield in L.A. I loved Thierry Mugler, Gaultier…” Now Janet is a fan of Roland Mouret and Alexander McQueen and is so devoted to Louboutin, YSL, Alaïa, and Giuseppe Zanotti shoes that she actually had a room built for her shoes. I am jealous!

Now single since recently breaking off her seven-year relationship with music producer Jermaine Dupri, Janet sits atop an iconic empire and is very much in control of her life. She rarely reflects on her career accomplishments, but said Michael was the type to “stop and smell the roses” and urged her to do the same: “You know, I never look back on what I’ve done unless I’m asked,” she says, “but I remember Mike saying, ‘You need to stop and enjoy it. Think about everything you’ve done, all that you’ve accomplished.’  ”But there’s so much more I want to do.”

On taking care of Michael: “He’d have the same red shirt, the same black pants, the same white T-shirt. Mike was very simple. When I was 14 years old, I would shop for him. [Michael was then 21 and a megastar.] I washed his clothes, cleaned his room. When Mother would go out of town, she’d say, ‘I’m leaving you in charge. Take care of Mike.’ I would head home from school, see what he needed, then go straight to the stores.” She giggles a little and says, “You know something else? He loved to wear his shoes all the way down. His penny loafers would have huge holes in the bottom.”

On Michael’s famous white glove: “That was actually my brother Jackie’s idea at home one day,” Janet explains. “He just said, ‘You should wear one glove. A white glove.’ And then Mike studded it all. That was it.” Did he wear the glove to Jackson family dinners? She laughs. “Nooo.”

On Michael’s daughter, Paris, speaking during his memorial service: “I was really proud. People said to me that Michael’s daughter speaking really gave them a sense of how he was as a father, in her words. Paris is incredibly smart; they are all so smart. She’s a sweet girl. The kids are doing well. They’re with all their cousins; that family love will keep them going.”

On what she’s like the world to know about Michael: “He loved to laugh. The last time we were together, he’d laugh so hard, he would just start crying. Sometimes his humor would be corny, sometimes dry. He loved the Three Stooges, he loved slapstick, he loved Eddie Murphy in his silly comedies. He loved to have fun. He loved to play… He’s just got so much love, and so much heart, and so much power through his music. Children and his love for children. People have told me, ‘I am an American citizen because of your brother.’”

Janet will OPEN this year’s MTV Video Music Awards with a special tribute to her late brother, Michael Jackson, on Sunday, September 13 @ 9pmEST.