JoJo (born
December 20, 1990) is a teenage American R&B and pop singer.
A singer. A songwriter. A prodigy. With just a few notes, she's
made some of the most influential men and women in America stop in their tracks
to find her, and meet her. She possesses a rare talent that has enchanted talk
show hosts, celebrities and audiences throughout the United States. And
she's determined to take the music world by storm.
In the outskirts of Boston, Massachusetts JoJo grew up in a home filled with
song. Her mother, a church soloist and trained musical theater performer, would
practice hymns and arias alike while a young JoJo watched, listened and learned.
She imitated her mother's incredible range as well as the sounds that breezed
through the family's home stereo: Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Whitney
Houston and Etta James. "When I was two years
old, I would sing nursery rhymes. I would do riffs on them and make them
jazzy," JoJo remembers. It was at this early age that she taught herself
to interpret the pop and blues tunes she heard with her own distinctive and
unique style.
Joanna Noëlle Levesque was born in Foxborough, Massachusetts. She is of
French (Levesque comes from French for Bishop and Noëlle means Christmas),
Native American, Irish and Polish descent. JoJo currently resides in Edgewater,
New Jersey, across the river from Manhattan, which is where she does her studio
recording.
JoJo
Beautiful Celebrity Video Collection
Early life and career
Growing up on the outskirts of Boston,
Massachusetts, JoJo's family was low income and lived in a 1 bedroom apartment.
JoJo listened and learned as her mother, a church singer, practiced hymns. She
started singing when she was two years old by imitating her mother, putting
her own spin on everything from nursery rhymes to pop tunes. Her parents divorced
when she was five years old.
An ad in the paper announced open auditions for Kids Say the Darndest Things
on the Road in Boston. Having immediately been given a spot to perform, she
sang Aretha Franklin's "Respect". Bill Cosby and the crowd at Faneuil
Hall responded overwhelmingly in favor. Soon after, The Oprah Winfrey Show contacted
her, inviting her to perform. Reminiscing, she says that "when it came
to performing, I just had no fear".
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Appearances on talk shows and gospel festivals followed, but it was her appearance
on the television show America's Most Talented Kids (even though she lost to
Diana DeGarmo) that brought the call from record 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, Soulshock and Karlin.
JoJo made her big musical break in 2004 with her platinum-selling debut single,
"Leave (Get Out)". The track became an international hit, peaking
at #12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and at #2 on the UK singles chart. When the
single hit #1 on the Top 40 Mainstream, she became the youngest solo artist
to have a #1 song in America. Her debut album, the platinum-selling JoJo, followed;
it peaked at #4 on the US Billboard 200 and within the top forty of the UK charts.
She co-wrote two of the album's songs, as well as writing and co-producing one
full track. Her second single, the gold-selling "Baby It's You", featured
a duet with Bow Wow (although the album version in the us did not but it was
on her uk album). The song peaked at #22 in the US, though it went top ten in
the UK.
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o l e s t p a r t n e r s i t e s
The final single off the album, "Not That Kinda Girl", failed to make
waves on the charts, due to underadvertisement and a music video considered
off-par with her previous work. The song achieved number 10 on TRL for one day
but then fell, never to make it on the countdown again. Unlike her previous
singles, Not that Kinda Girl was never promoted. JOjo decided to go film movies
and cancelled all her tours. Therfore, this single sold less than 100 copies.
Upcoming projects
According to The Hollywood Reporter, JoJo
is in talks to make her feature-film debut in the upcoming FOX telefilm Aquamarine,
opposite Emma Roberts. JoJo will also star in the film R.V.. Both films are
to be released in 2006. The trailer for R.V. and additional information about
the movie can be found here. It is confirmed JoJo's sophomore album will be
out in summer 2006. The first single is "Too Little, Too Late," and
is due to hit radio in February.
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