Janet Jackson has revealed that she broke down before her recent MTV Video Music Awards tribute to her late brother Michael.

Jackson, 43, appeared at the ceremony in September and admitted that she felt overwhelmed by the enormity of what she was about to do just before she went on stage.

She said: “It hit me before I was about to do the performance, and it hit me when we were in rehearsal. There was a huge image of him on this screen, and I started to cry. I had to step away.”

She added: “You know, a day doesn’t go by where you don’t think about him. It’s always there, in every sense. But it will get better.

“It’s not easy, but I know with time it will get easier. But it will never be easy. It’s my brother.”