IT LOOKS LIKE Cher’s inability to say goodbye is rubbing off on her younger progeny. To the delight of some gay music fans, some of the biggest names in dance pop are back in the studio, preparing releases for 2005.

Listeners who are into Janet’s moves, Madonna’s reinventions or Mariah’s high notes have an extra reason to celebrate in the new year.

Janet Jackson is at work on a new studio album, according to an MTV report. The embattled star is shrugging off last year’s Super Bowl firestorm and disappointing sales for “Damita Jo” by preparing a new album of dance music produced by her boyfriend Jermaine Dupri.

Dupri told MTV that Janet would work with music’s top producers, including Dr. Dre, on the new album, which he promises to release sometime in 2005.

“It’s gonna be straight ‘Control,’ ‘Nasty,’ hard-ass beats, memorable melodies. It’s directed to her fans, people who miss dancing, people who miss seeing videos with dancing,” Dupri told MTV

The timing marks a departure for Janet, who usually takes a few years off between albums. But after the Super Bowl tribulation and brother Michael’s upcoming trial on molestation charges, Janet likely has a lot to get off her, um, chest.

MEANWHILE, Madonna announced this month that she, too, is back in the studio during breaks from her photo shoots for an ad campaign promoting the spring Versace line. The woman responsible for unleashing the annoying Kabbalah trend is said to be working with William Orbit again, the producer behind her critically acclaimed and Grammy-winning “Ray of Light.”

According to the online rumor mill, she is also working with Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore on new material. No official word on whether this is for a new album or part of the soundtrack for hubby Guy Ritchie’s new film.

There’s also the reported spring release of her “Reinvention” tour on DVD to get fans through the cold winter months ahead.

Mariah Carey is working on a new album that is scheduled for release in the spring — possibly in June — titled, “The Emancipation of Mimi.” According to Carey’s official site, “Mimi” is a nickname that to date was known only to her closest friends.

“By naming the album Emancipation of Mimi, I am letting my guard down and inviting my fans to be that much closer to me,” she wrote in a statement on the site. “For the first time in my life I feel free and unashamed to be who I really am.”

And if you’ve always wanted to dress like Mariah, there’s good news. She who is prone to wearing revealing lingerie in public is launching a line of — you guessed it — lingerie. The line is called “Kiss Kiss” and will debut in ads featuring Mariah herself.

In other upcoming releases, watch for another greatest hits CD from the age-defying Tina Turner. It’s said to be a double-CD set titled “All the Best.” A track listing is not yet available, so it’s unclear how this set will differ from 1991’s dynamite collection “Simply the Best.”

Nearly 14 years have passed, but Tina hasn’t exactly been at the height of her musical productivity in recent years.

And in further proof that the ‘80s aren’t dead, Whitney Houston reportedly re-teams with longtime mentor Clive Davis to produce a new album. It will be their first collaboration in five years; no details on timing of the project are available yet.

From Janet to Tina, 2005 is shaping up to be a big year for gay fans of the old school dance pop queens.