RSS FEED
FOLLOW JOJO-LEVESQUE.US ON TWITTER
JoJo was born in Brattleboro, Vermont and raised in Keene, New Hampshire and Foxborough, Massachusetts. She has French, Polish, Irish, and Native American ancestry. She grew up in a one-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of Boston, in a low-income family. Her father, Joel Maurice Levesque, is a blues singer, and her mother, Diana Anne Blagden, sang in a Catholic church choir and worked as a house cleaner. Her parents divorced when she was three, and she has since lived with her mother in Edgewater, New Jersey. Her father lives in New Hampshire.
She also received love and support from her cousins (also living in Massachusetts) Andrea Levesque, Arianna Levesque, and Athena Levesque.
During her earlier years, JoJo listened and learned as her mother 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. 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 legally changed her last name from her mother’s “Blagden” to her father’s surname “Levesque”. Also Jojo was asked to audition for the role as the lead role in Disney channel’s hit show “Hannah Montana” but unfortunately, she didn’t because she wanted to focus on her music which lead her to her hit “Leave (Get Out)”.
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 & Karlin.
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 eBay.
JoJo’s platinum-certified 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 9 Simon malls, launching 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 hit 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 debut 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 off the album, “Not That Kinda Girl”, released in 2005, failed to make waves on the charts. The song hit 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 charts 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 aired a new song by JoJo titled “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 three. This song has been JoJo’s most successful single in the U.S. so far. It also showcases that JoJo is capable of hitting notes in the whistle 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 #39 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 thrown in medleys of her favorite popular songs from Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson, Gnarls Barkley, Jackson 5, Justin Timberlake, Maroon 5, Usher, Carlos Santana, Jill Scott, Michael Jackson, George Benson, Musiq Soulchild, and Amy Winehouse, however in her version of “Rehab” she changed the “Rehab” to “Boston”.
In an April 8, 2008 interview at the Hearst Tower for the “Ultimate Prom” party, 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. Out of three quarters of the finished material, she wrote all but one song. 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.[38] On August 30, 2008, JoJo posted her own answer version of the song “Can’t Believe It”, which originally performed by T-Pain. On September 1, JoJo said that her album would be out early 2009. In 2008, R&B singer Ne-Yo sampled JoJo’s second single “Baby It’s You”.
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.
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. Singer-songwriter Jovan Dais said in an interview he will work with DJ Toomp on JoJo’s forthcoming album. He said: I’m really selective about who I work with because I’m not interested in it like that as far as working with so many different people. I really like JoJo. I like her music, I like her voice and I believe she’s a true talent. We came up with some great material.
JoJo’s song “Note to God” from her second album The High Road was recently covered by Filipina pop singer Charice.
On June 3, 2009 JoJo stated on her official YouTube account that she was waiting for her record label to sign a distribution deal to release her album, but apart from that she has finished work the forthcoming album. On June 10, 2009 samples of her songs written by Toby Gad “Fearless”, “Touch Down” and “Underneath” leaked on the internet. JoJo posted on her official MySpace: “These songs are not on the album nor do they represent the sound or direction of this record”. In few months time nearly 20 of her songs were leaked through a Youtube channel. She later stated that most of these leaked tracks will not make it to the new album. In mid July she said on her myspace that she’s writing songs for other recording artists and herself and vibing with some talented producers in Los Angeles.
In August 2009 it was reported that JoJo filed a lawsuit in New York against her record label Da Family Entertainment for putting her in musical limbo. The label won’t let her out of her contract or let her record a new album. She is seeking $500,000 for her troubles and to be released from her contract. JoJo was released from her contract in October 2009 and a deal was reached to make Interscope Records her distributing label.
In October 2009, finally a deal was reached with Blackground Records to have JoJo’s third album distributed by Interscope Records. JoJo had confirmed that on Twitter. She left Da Family Entertainment after six years and is now at Interscope. Her label is currently getting all the legal things together for her third album to be released in 2010.
In late 2009, JoJo appeared in Timbaland’s Shock Value II in a song called “Lose Control” and it’s her first official song on an album after two years. In an interview in November she said that she’s so excited to be on his record. She appeared in another song called “Timothy Where You Been” with the Australian band Jet as a background vocalist. In an Interview with Rap-Up, JoJo said about the album: “I wanted to do something that people would be like, ‘Wow, this girl has come a long way and she’s really taking the reins, I wanted people to get a sense of who I am” and that Timbaland, Jim Beanz, The Messengers, Kenna, Chad Hugo & Pharell Williams work on her new record and in 2010 she’s ready to come back and put the finishing touches on the album in January.
In the end of 2009, JoJo confirmed she was working with Clinton Sparks and Chester French on a mixtape for release in 2010. In July 2010, she confirmed in an Interview with Sam E. Goldberg that she will release her mixtape the month before the album. She announced on Twitter that her mixtape called Can’t Take That Away from Me with the first single “In the Dark” produced by Jordan Gatsby. In August 2010, she gave in an Interview with Rap-Up for more information about her upcoming mixtape, setting its release date to September 7, 2010. The singer said about the mixtape: “This mixtape is more experimental, I was able to explore the full spectrum of things that interest me and inspire me musically. Whereas the album, I wanted to make pop records and radio hits and things that satisfy me, but particularly for All I Want Is Everything, it’s more of a continuous body of work.” She added that the mixtape is more different than her upcoming album All I Want Is Everything. The first single “In the Dark” is different than anything people have heard from her. She said about “In The Dark”: It’s a very sensual record and there’s an undertone of sadness to it.
In November 2010, JoJo made a cameo appearance in Keri Hilson’s music video for “The Way You Love Me” from her second studio album No Boys Allowed and was known as “Boots” for the video, where she plays as one of the sexy hunter girls in Keri’s gang, alongside Faith Evans (Danja), Dawn (Money) as well as Rick Ross, Columbus Short, and Polow Da Don.
In December 2010, JoJo Announced that her upcoming album will be released in Early 2011 and is no longer titled All I Want is Everything
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 and performed mediocre at the domestic box office, opening at number five with $7.5 million. Her next 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.
JoJo had not had any professional acting training before being cast in the roles, but was given an acting coach on the set of Aquamarine. She will be billed as “Joanna ‘JoJo’ Levesque” in her film roles, but will still be credited as simply “JoJo” for her music work.
JoJo was offered the role of the title character of Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana, but turned it down because of her hectic schedule.
JoJo’s music will remain her main focus, as she has stated that she prefers singing to acting.
On August 28th, in an interview with BOP and Tiger Beat online, JoJo stated that she is in the planning stages for a new movie project which she can’t reveal too much of but will reveal all soon. On September 10th, JoJo announced that she will be traveling to Toronto to film her next role in a small screen adaption of Lola Douglas’ “True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet”, to air on Lifetime television. She also said that she wants to tour in Canada, Brazil and Egypt.
JoJo and her mother reside in New Jersey, and her recording studio is in Manhattan, New York City. 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.
JoJo is a good friend of actress/singer duo Aly & AJ, Alexa Vega, Emma Roberts, and Sara Paxton.
She dated then-D.C. United and current Benfica (Portugal) soccer player Freddy Adu from May 14, 2005 to about October 2006. The two met on the MTV show Fake ID Club while she was hosting it. JoJo made an appearance in the commentary box at a New England Revolution home game when they were playing D.C. United. Adu registered an assist in that game. A Washington Post article in November 2006 reported that the couple split after one year. JoJo mentioned on American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest that she and Adu were still good friends.
JoJo stated that she was single on the October 18, 2006 episode of Live with Regis and Kelly. In addition, she was in the October 2006 issue of Teen People magazine confirming her breakup with Adu: “I’m single right now and it’s good. I’m so young. I’m going to be 16 in December and I’m just so busy. It’s hard if you also want to date someone who has a high-profile profession; we were just both consumed with our own world …”
