Janet Jackson has recalled the last time she ever saw her late brother, Michael - saying it was “a lot of fun”.

The Rhythm Nation singer said she spent time with Michael two days before her birthday in May.

She said: “We had a lot of fun, laughing.

“I was being silly, acting silly.

“And he was sitting in front of me and just cracking up, laughing at me. I was being loud. And he thought it was so funny.”

In a television interview with ABC News, Janet, 43, the youngest of the nine Jackson children, also opened up about Michael’s drug problem - insisting her family wasn’t naïve.

Michael died at the age of 50 in June of a suspected drugs overdose.

Janet said she and her brothers and sisters had reached out to him over the years.

She said: “I did. Of course, that’s what you do. Those are the things that you do when you love someone. You can’t just let them continue on that way.

“And we did a few times. We weren’t very successful. It was out of love, because of caring.

“But when it’s something like that, people can tend to be in denial.”

Asked if her brother was in denial about his addiction, she replied: “Possibly. I wish he could answer this question for you and not me. I felt that he was in denial.”