At 88, This Eagles Fan’s Dance Moves Caught the Attention of Janet Jackson and a Million Others

Marybelle Alston may live in Florida now, but this former longtime resident of Wayne and her family have never stopped being proud citizens of Eagles Nation.

This week, Alston, 88, officially became a citizen of the Rhythm Nation, too, after a video of her dancing to Janet Jackson’s “All For You” in a pair of Eagles sweatpants went viral, capturing the attention of Jackson and more than a million other people who’ve now seen Alston’s amazing moves.

Among the thousands of comments the video has received, there were dozens that read: “This made me smile,” “This made my day,” “This will be me at 88,” and “Go Birds.”

Danita Alston, 53, said she didn’t expect the response the video would receive when she posted it on Twitter Saturday, tagged Jackson in it, and wrote: “@JanetJackson⁩ in the effort to getting my 88 year old mom tired and ready for bed, she dances to your song. Good luck to me.”

“I just thought it would be fun to put it out there, I never imagined it would get to this extent,” Alston said. “And I never thought Janet Jackson would respond back.”

But respond Jackson did, when she retweeted the video of Marybelle Alston dancing and wrote: “I luv it.”

⁦@JanetJackson⁩ in the effort to getting my 88 year old mom tired and ready for bed, she dances to your song. Good luck to me 😅 pic.twitter.com/uRfu7tCDXR

— Nina Alston (@nina_alston) May 15, 2022

“I couldn’t believe it. I was jumping up and down,” Danita Alston said. “I showed my mom and she put her hands over her mouth and said ‘Oh my God, she actually responded!’”

A native of Henderson, N.C., Marybelle Alston and her husband, Virgil James, who died in 1996, moved to Wayne when they were in their 20s, raising their family of seven children there for nearly 50 years.

Danita Alston said her parents were always “the life of the party.”

“We’d all get together at different houses over the weekend and it would just be a dance party. So as far as I can remember back, she’s been dancing,” Alston said of her mom. “It’s been great. I’ve always videotaped her, I just never shared it as much as I’d like to, but I’m going to now.”

Trying to get mom tired – this could be a long night 😅🤣🥰🥰🥰 pic.twitter.com/VWqhEdbrgg

— Nina Alston (@nina_alston) May 15, 2022