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Joanna Noelle Levesque (born on December 20, 1990) is an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress who rose to fame in 2004 with her platinum-certified, self-titled debut album JoJo, which reached number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. JoJo has also begun a film career, starring in two 2006 Hollywood films: Aquamarine and RV. Her second album, The High Road, was released on October 17, 2006. In the summer of 2007, she embarked on tour in the United States, Europe, and Mexico. JoJo has sold more than five million albums worldwide. Her third studio album, All I Want Is Everything, is slated for a release in late 2008. Growing up on the outskirts of Boston, MA, JoJo listened and learned as her mother practiced hymns. She started singing by imitating her mother, but quickly put her own spin on everything from nursery rhymes to pop tunes. An ad in the paper announcing open auditions for the television show Kids Say the Darndest Things: On the Road in Boston lead to the young singer wowing the audience along with the show's host, Bill Cosby, and eventually led to a phone call from Oprah Winfrey offering Jojo a spot on her show. Appearances on talk shows and gospel festivals followed, but it was her appearance on the television show America's Most Talented Kids that brought the call from producer Vincent Herbert. The former Aaliyah, Toni Braxton, and Destiny's Child producer had the young singer signed to Blackground Records and arranged sessions with famed producers like the Underdogs and Soulshock & Karlin. Her eponymous debut album followed in June 2004. Since that time, Jojo has added actress to her rיsumי, starring in the comedies Aquamarine and RV with Robin Williams. She released her sophomore effort, The High Road, in 2006. JoJo was born in Brattleboro, Vermont and raised in Keene, New Hampshire and Foxborough, Massachusetts. She has Scottish, Irish, English and Polish ancestry from her mother's side, and French Canadian, Irish, and Native American from her father's side. She grew up in a one-bedroom apartment in Foxborough, in a low-income family. Her father, Joel Maurice Levesque, sings as a hobby, and her mother, Diana Levesque, sang in a Catholic church choir and was trained in musical theatre. Her parents divorced when she was three. During her earlier years, JoJo would listen and learn as her mother practiced her hymns. She started singing when she was two years and 3 months old by imitating her mother, putting her own spin on everything from nursery rhymes to pop and Jazz 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. After auditioning for the television show Kids Say the Darndest Things: On the Road in Boston, JoJo was given a spot to perform on the show, singing Aretha Franklin's 1967 hit "Respect". Host Bill Cosby and the crowd at Faneuil Hall responded overwhelmingly to her performance. Soon after, The Oprah Winfrey Show contacted her, inviting her to perform. She also performed on Maury, on one of the frequent "kids-with-talent" episodes, as well as many others. Reminiscing, she has stated that "when it came to performing, I just had no fear". JoJo's stage name comes from a childhood nickname. After appearing on talk shows and gospel festivals and competing on the television show, America's Most Talented Kids, 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 Karin and Elizabeth Aparicio. JoJo's live demo, Joanna Levesque, recorded in 2001, features covers of several well-known soul/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". The demo is sometimes available on Internet-auction eBay. JoJo's platinum-certified first 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 9 Simon malls, starting at Atlanta's Northlake Mall and ending at South Shore Plaza. The track became an international hit, peaking at number twelve on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, number two on the UK Singles Chart, and number two on the Australian Singles Chart. 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 and also the youngest nominee for a MTV Video Music Award ("Best New Artist" for "Leave (Get Out)", in 2004). Her first album, the platinum-selling JoJo, followed. It peaked at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number ten on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, selling about 107,000 copies and reaching the top forty of the UK Albums Chart. The album has sold a total of almost 1.5 million copies in the U.S. JoJo co-wrote two of the album's songs, as well as wrote and co-produced one full track. 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 album, "Not That Kinda Girl", released in 2005, failed to make waves on the charts. The song reached number eight on the TRL daily countdown for one day but then fell from the charts, never to appear on the countdown again. 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 personally 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 has also 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. In an interview with OK! magazine, JoJo stated that Beyoncé is her favorite singer and that she looks up to her. JoJo's second album, The High Road, was released on October 17, 2006. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 behind Diddy's Press Play and Evanescence's The Open Door. It was produced by Scott Storch, Swizz Beatz, J. R. Rotem, Corey Williams and Ryan Leslie. It has received mainly positive reviews. On March 16, The Second JammX Kids All Star Dance Special broadcast a new song by JoJo entitled "Anything", which samples Toto's 1982 hit single "Africa". In the summer of 2006, the lead single from her second album, "Too Little Too Late", was released to radio stations. The single debuted at number ninety on the Billboard Hot 100 and, in its fifth week on the chart, lept from number sixty to number one. This song has been JoJo's most successful single in the U.S. so far and showcases her ability to sing in the upper register. The October 27, 2006 issue of Entertainment Weekly refers to JoJo in the review for her latest album as "a vocal phenomenon, capable of Mariah Carey -style upper register flourishes." It has also reached number one on iTunes Top Songs after its release as a digital download on September 12, 2006. 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. "Let It Rain" was released for airplay only. JoJo later stated on her MySpace that the third single would be "Anything". Though it showed promise as a single it stalled on the American charts and a video was not made, or perhaps the lack of a video was the reason for it stalling. On July 20, 2007, JoJo's answer to Beautiful Girls by Sean Kingston leaked on the Internet called "Beautiful Girls Reply". It debuted at number thirty-nine on the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 Chart one month later. JoJo left a message saying that she wanted her fans' input in deciding between "Coming for You" or "Let It Rain" as the next single. 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 Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson, SWV, Gnarls Barkley, Jackson 5, Justin Timberlake, Maroon 5, Usher, Carlos Santana, Jill Scott, Michael Jackson, George Benson, Musiq Soulchild and Amy Winehouse. In her version of "Rehab" she changed the "Rehab" to "Boston". On December 1, 2007, JoJo won the Boston Music Award for National Female Vocalist of the Year for "Too Little Too Late" JoJo has stated numerous times that she has been writing songs for her third album which will be released when she turns eighteen. JoJo says that she wants her fans to see growth in her music. She has also stated that she is looking for a publisher so that she can sing some of her self-written songs. In an interview with BOP and Tiger Beat online, JoJo stated that she is hoping to start recording a new album early 2008. It is rumored that JoJo's new album will be through Universal Motown Records, instead of the combination of Blackground Records/DaFamily Entertainment/Universal Records that served as her record label for her first two albums. Rumors began when JoJo's official site was updated with credits to only Universal Motown, instead of the Blackground/DaFamily/Universal logo previously on the page. JoJo had also shown discontent with the label after they refused to make a video for her single, "Anything", as stated in her blog. In a blog posted on Myspace February 10, 2008 she wrote she that is working on her third album and hopes to have it out by fall and a single before that. In an April 8th, 2008 interview at the Hearst Tower for the "Ultimate Prom" party, JoJo stated that she is writing and producing her new album, titled All I Want Is Everything in Boston and Atlanta, due out in the final quarter of 2008. She has also lined up producers Timbaland, Tank, Polow da Don, DJ Toomp and gospel artist J. Moss, though the music will remain "secular". JoJo has been acting since she was 4. She did local theater, some radio, and tv commercials in the New England area, and then national TV shows from age 7 on. JoJo made her professional stage debut at age 8 in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in the role of Mustardseed at the Huntington Theater. She received her first union card from the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists (AFTRA) at age 10. After appearing on the television series The Bernie Mac Show and American Dreams, JoJo was cast opposite Emma Roberts and Sara Paxton in Aquamarine, playing Hailey, one of two teenage girls who discover a mermaid. The film opened on March 3, 2006 with mediocre success at the domestic box office, opening at number five with $7.5 million. Her second major film, RV, a comedy starring Robin Williams, was released on April 28, 2006. It opened at number one and grossed $69.7 million. JoJo had to audition for the part five times, and eventually replaced an actress who had already been cast in the role. Since the success of the film, JoJo has revealed that there are currently no future plans to make a sequel. JoJo had been acting and received acting training before being cast on Aquamarine. However this was denied by JoJo herself. She stated that "no one hired an acting coach for me on the set of Aquamarine. The acting coach was hired for another actress, but all the leads worked with her" on her newest MySpace blog. She will be billed as "Joanna 'JoJo' Levesque" in her film roles, but will still be credited as simply "JoJo" for her music work. On August 28, 2007, in an interview with BOP and Tiger Beat online, JoJo stated that she was working on a new film that was still under development. On September 10, JoJo revealed that she would be traveling to Toronto to film a small screen adaptation of Lola Douglas' True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet, to be broadcast on Lifetime television. Filming will begin in October 2008. She has stated that she was very excited to make this new film because it will be a different role for her. JoJo's music will remain her main focus, as she has stated that she prefers singing to acting. JoJo also frequently visits Foxborough, Massachusetts, where she was raised and still has family. JoJo, who has been home schooled for the past three years, has stated that "school was definitely a big part of my life". She performs well academically, receiving marks in the As and Bs. On February 28, 2007, JoJo was ranked number ten in Forbes Young Hollywood Top-Earning Stars. She dated American soccer star Freddy Adu from May 2005 to August 2006. |
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