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Joanna Noëlle Blagden Levesque (born December 20, 1990), professionally known as JoJo, is an American R&B singer–songwriter, and actress. After competing on the television show, ''America's Most Talented Kids, record producer Vincent Herbert took notice who asked her to audition for Blackground Records.
She rose to fame after releasing her self-titled debut album, which debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200, with sales of 95,000 copies, selling over 3 million copies worldwide. The first single off of the album, "Leave (Get Out)", was released in February 2004. It climbed to #12 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was certified gold by the RIAA. The single also rose 5 weeks to #1 on the Billboard Top 40 Mainstream, making her the youngest solo artist to have a number-one single in the United States.
She also has a film career. She made her first television appearance by The Bernie Mac Show. In 2006 She starred in two Hollywood films, Aquamarine, her first film debut and RV. JoJo's second album, The High Road, was released on October 17, 2006, and debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 108,000 copies, selling over 2 million copies worldwide. The first single of the album, "Too Little Too Late", was released in August 2006 and reached number three on Billboard Hot 100. The single was certified with platinum by the RIAA..
She has hosted the Ultimate Prom[title=JoJo Hosts the Ultimate Prom!] and appeared in the movie True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet which earned her a nomination at the Poptastic Awards
. Her third studio album, All I Want Is Everything is yet to be released.[blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=63557350&blogId=486373381]
Early life and careerJoJo was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, and raised in Keene, New Hampshire and Foxborough, Massachusetts. She has Irish, Polish, French, Scottish, and Native American ancestry. She grew up in a one-bedroom apartment in Foxborough, in a low-income family. Her father sings as a hobby, her mother sang in a Catholic church choir and was trained in musical theater. Her parents divorced when she was three.
During her early years, JoJo listened as her mother practiced hymns. She started singing when she was two years and three months old by imitating, everything from nursery rhymes to R&B, jazz, and soul tunes. On the A&E's show Child Stars III: Teen Rockers, her mother claimed that JoJo had a borderline genius IQ. As a child, JoJo enjoyed attending Native American festivals and acted locally in professional theaters.[title='Aquamarine' Outcast JoJo Had Help With Her Big-Screen Splash ]
At age 7, JoJo appeared on the television show Kids Say the Darnedest Things: On the Road in Boston with American comedian and actor Bill Cosby and she sang a song from singer Cher. After auditioning in the television show Destination Stardom, JoJo sang Aretha Franklin's 1967 hit "Respect" & Chain of Fools. Soon after, The Oprah Winfrey Show contacted her, inviting her to perform. She performed on Maury, on one of the frequent "kids-with-talent" episodes, as well as many others.[title=JoJo ] Reminiscing, she has stated that "when it came to performing, I just had no fear".
JoJo's stage name comes from a childhood nickname.[title=Joanna 'JoJo' Levesque Talks RV ] At 6 years old, JoJo was offered a record deal, but her mother turned it down because she believed JoJo was too young for a music career. After appearing on talk shows and the McDonald's Gospel Fest performing Whitney Houston's "I Believe In You and Me" and competing on the television show, ''America's Most Talented Kids, but have not win the show and lost to Diana DeGarmo. Record producer Vincent Herbert contacted her and asked her to audition for Blackground Records. During her audition for Barry Hankerson, Hankerson told her that the spirit of his niece, the late singer Aaliyah, had brought her to him. She was signed to the label, and had recording sessions with famed producers like The Underdogs and Soulshock & Karlin.
JoJo's live demo, Joanna Levesque, recorded in 2001, features covers of soul and R&B songs, including Wilson Pickett's 1966 "Mustang Sally", Etta James's 1989 "It Ain't Always What You Do (It's Who You Let See You Do It)", Aretha Franklin's 1968 "Chain of Fools" and 1969 "The House That Jack Built", The Moonglows' 1956 "See Saw", Stevie Wonder's 1972 "Superstition", and The Temptations' 1975 "Shakey Ground".
Music career2003–2005: Music career beginning with JoJoIn 2003, at age 12, JoJo signed with Blackground Records/Da Family and begin working with some producers on her first debut album. JoJo's platinum-certified[title=RIAA – Searchable Database ] debut single "Leave (Get Out)" was released in 2004. Before the album's release, JoJo embarked on her first ever tour, the Cingular Buddy Bash with Fefe Dobson, Young Gunz and Zebrahead. The tour went to nine malls, starting at Atlanta's Northlake Mall and ending at South Shore Plaza. When the single reached number one on the Top 40 Mainstream, she became at age thirteen the youngest solo artist to have a number-one single in America. The first single was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards, which made JoJo become the youngest MTV Video Music Award nominee. Her first album, the platinum-selling
Her second single, the gold-selling "Baby It's You" — which features rapper Bow Wow — peaked at number twenty-two in the U.S. and number eight in the UK. The final single from the self-titled album, "Not That Kinda Girl," was released in 2005 and peaked at number eighty-five in Germany. In mid-2005 rapper Eminem mentioned JoJo in his song "Ass Like That" along with many other popular teen female celebrities at the time.
In 2004, JoJo participated in "Come Together Now", a charity single to benefit the victims of the 2004 Asian Tsunami and the 2005 Hurricane Katrina. That year, she was requested by First Lady Laura Bush to perform at the 2004 Christmas in Washington special, broadcast by TNT and hosted by Dr. Phil and his wife Robin McGraw. Despite performing at other events for the Republican Party, she has stated that she "does not agree with the things that President George W. Bush has done in office. I'll leave it at that." JoJo hosted and performed at the Hope Rocks concert in 2005 to benefit City of Hope Cancer Center and co-hosted the 2006 TV Guide Channel's countdown to the Grammy Awards.
2005–2007: The High Road eraJoJo's second album, The High Road, was released October 17, 2006. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200. It was produced by Scott Storch, Swizz Beatz, J. R. Rotem, Corey Williams, Soulshock & Karlin and Ryan Leslie. It has received mainly positive reviews. JoJo says her next album really shows how she's grown up to her music and she feels more confident in her vocals and in the things that she sings about.[title=Teen Singing Star JoJo Set to Release New Album]
In the summer of 2006, the lead single from her second album, "Too Little Too Late", was released to radio stations. "Too Little Too Late" broke the record for the biggest jump into the top three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, moving from number sixty-six to number three in one week; this record was previously held by Mariah Carey with her 2001 single "Loverboy", which went from number sixty to number two. The album's second official single, "How to Touch a Girl", experienced less success. It charted just outside the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number seventy-six on the Billboard Pop 100. The single is one of her favorite songs from The High Road and was written by herself. On March 16 2007, The Second JammX Kids All Star Dance Special broadcast a new song by JoJo entitled "Anything", which samples Toto's 1982 hit single, "Africa" but it didn't have a music video.[title=http://www.ukmix.org/reviews/release.php?release_id=11151] The album has sold over 550,000 and since been certified gold by the RIAA.
On July 20, 2007, JoJo's answer to "Beautiful Girls" by Sean Kingston leaked on the Internet called "Beautiful Girls Reply".[title=WHO SANG IT BETTER? JOJO VS. SEAN KINGSTON] It debuted at number thirty-nine on the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 chart one month later.[title=http://www.mariah-charts.com/chartdata/PJoJo.htm] JoJo left a message that she wanted her fans' input in deciding between "Coming for You" or "Let It Rain" as the next single, but it was canceled to release a third single for The High Road. She has also stated that she will be touring in the summer of 2007 in the U.S. and Europe in support of The High Road.
Though there has not been an official tour, she has been performing with a live band as part of the Six Flags Starburst Thursday Night Concert series during the summer of 2007. During some of these shows she has included medleys of her favorite popular songs from Beyoncé ("Déjà Vu"), Kelly Clarkson ("Since U Been Gone"), SWV, Gnarls Barkley, Jackson 5, Justin Timberlake ("My Love"), Maroon 5, Usher, Carlos Santana, Jill Scott, Michael Jackson, George Benson, Musiq Soulchild, and Amy Winehouse ("Rehab", replacing the title with "Boston").[title=JoJo - My Love][title=JoJo - Deja Vu (Live) ][title=JoJo - "Since U Been Gone" ] In November 2007, JoJo she toured in Brasil at the Live Pop Rock Brasil.
On December 1, 2007, JoJo won the Boston Music Award for National Female Vocalist of the Year for "Too Little Too Late" and has performed.[title=JoJo Winning at the Boston Music Awards ]
In late 2007 JoJo stated that she had been writing songs for her third album, to be released when she turned eighteen.[title=JoJo working on 3rd album ] She wants her fans to see growth in her music. She is seeking a publisher so that she can sing some of her self-written songs.
2008–present: New record deal and All I Want Is EverythingIn an April 8, 2008 interview at the Hearst Tower for the "Ultimate Prom" party,[title=Prom Dresses, Hairstyles, Shoes And Makeup Tips For Prom - MyPromStyle.com] JoJo stated that she is writing and producing an album in Boston and Atlanta. She has lined up producers Tank, DJ Toomp, J. Moss, Toby Gad, The Underdogs, Danja, J.R. Rotem, Billy Steinberg, Bryan-Michael Cox, Marsha Ambrosius, Madd Scientist, Tony Dixon, Eric Dawkins and J. Gatsby.[title=JoJo Wants ‘Everything’ on Third Album ] Out of three quarters of the finished material, she wrote all but one song.[title=Joanna Levesque: Jo Jo to Deliver Most Personal Album, All I Want is Everything ] She said it will be her most personal album to date with inspiration coming from a romantic breakup to finding a new relationship, as well as feeling sexier and more confident becoming a woman. The self-written title track is described as an inspirational anthem.
On October 14, 2008, JoJo sang the National Anthem before Game 4 of the ALCS at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. On December 9, 2008, JoJo was nominated again at the Boston Music Awards and was nominated for Outstanding Pop/R&B Act Of The Year but the singing group Jada has won this award.[title=Boston Music Spotlight's picks for the 2008 Boston Music Awards ][title=Boston Music Awards winners ]
In January 2009 JoJo stated on her official MySpace that she has working with producers Chad Hugo, Jim Beanz & Kenna and she currently is working very hard for her new album. She stated she had problems with her record label and she has changed her label from Blackground to Interscope Records.
In April 2009, JoJo stated in her MySpace blog that she is still signed to Blackground.[title=Jovan Dais - Change 4 Anotha Dais ] In April 2009, JoJo announced on her MySpace blog that she will be attending Northeastern University[
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