Janet Jackson has stunned fans by showing off her newly toned physique as she embarked on her latest tour on Thursday.

The 51-year-old superstar kicked off her State of the World tour in Louisiana - although fans would be forgiven for thinking they had travelled back in time to see her during one of her tours embarked in her 20s.

Miss Janet - who gave birth to her first son, Eissa, just nine months ago - stunned in a number of figure hugging outfits that showed her to be in peak fitness as she effortlessly danced throughout her set.

The Rhythm Nature icon gave birth to her son on 3 January 2017 and confessed she had gained weight after giving birth.

Janet Jackson is hitting the road again in North America with her impressive State of the World Tour (
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Splash News)
The star is in incredible shape - four months after complaining her waistline had ballooned (
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Splash News)

In an video released via Twitter in May, Janet said: “Hey you guys. It’s me, Jan. Just in case you don’t recognise me because I have put on quite a few since having the baby.”

Her older brother, Randy, off camera added: “More than a few” - prompting the singer to hit back: “Can you please be quiet, Randy? Nobody’s talking to you."

Janet's baby was welcomed while married to her third husband - billionaire Wissam Al Mana who she has since filed for divorce from.

Since May, however, the star has clearly been working hard to get in shape in preparation for her tour.

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Janet whips through her biggest hits - and iconic dance routines - during her tour (
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Splash News)
The singer looks as youthful and toned as she did in the '80s and '90s (pictured here on stage in 1998) (
Image:
NCJ Archive)

Fans have flooded social media to comment on the singer’s stage performance with one writing: "Yessss #JanetJackson looking amazing performing during her world tour”.

While the singer previously explained the title of her tour, State of the World, was not for “political” reasons, the show is dripping with hard hitting political messages.

Video shows names of unarmed black people that have been shot recently in America during the show - and audio warns about right wing violence causing more death in America than terrorist attacks.

Fans have been overwhelmed by Janet's current tour (
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Splash News)
Janet performed her Unbreakable World Tour in 2016 before falling pregnant with her first child (
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Splash)

The Control singer has always been vocal about her fluctuating weight - which she traced back to cruel taunts from her late brother Michael (who died in 2009 aged 50).

"I got called slaughtered hog, cow, pig, dog… I got called a lot of names,” the star recalled in a 2011 interview when she revealed Michael would tease her about her weight as a child.

"He didn’t mean it in a malicious way at all. I know that sounds crazy,” she added - however she did confess the taunts had lasting damage to the way she viewed her own body.

“[They were] names of endearment. But you never know what affect they can play. For myself, I internalised it and it really took it’s toll on me and I carried it into my adult life,” she said.

Janet gained weight for a film role in 2006 - but was cut from the production before filming began (
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Splash News)
Janet welcomed her baby son, Eissa, on 3 January 2017 (
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Instagram)
Janet doesn't seem to have aged since her All For You World Tour in 2001 (
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Getty)

In her 2011 self-help book, True You: A Journey to Finding and Loving Yourself, the star opened up about her battle with weight gain and hoped to offer help to fans.

"It was really about helping people. Having people come to me is truly how it started. Saying ‘Your weight loss, your weight gain, how did you do it? How did you put it on? How did you take it off?’” she said of her decision to pen the book.

In 2006, the star even purposely gained weight for a film role but was ultimately dropped from the production.

"I didn't recognize myself. It was so hard on my body," she said after putting on the lbs to play Krystal in Lee Daniel's film Tennessee - only for Mariah Carey to steal the part.