Janet Jackson says she has married Qatari billionaire

Singer Janet Jackson said today that she married her Qatari businessman boyfriend last year, quashing media reports of upcoming nuptials.

Jackson, 46, the younger sister of the late singer Michael Jackson, was engaged to billionaire Wissam Al Mana, 37, last year but kept the news under wraps.

"The rumours regarding an extravagant wedding are simply not true. Last year we were married in a quiet, private, and beautiful ceremony," Jackson and Al Mana said in a statement to Entertainment Tonight.

"Our wedding gifts to one another were contributions to our respective favourite children's charities."

US singer is known for keeping her private life from the media, rarely speaking out about her ex-husbands.

She married soul singer James DeBarge in 1984, and the marriage was annulled a year later. Her 1991 marriage to music video director Rene Elizondo ended in divorce in 2000.