JoJo

Biography

Joanna Noëlle "JoJo" Levesque (la-VEK; born December 20, 1990) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She began performing in singing competitions and local talent shows as a child. In 2003, record producer Vincent Herbert noticed her after she competed on the television show America's Most Talented Kids and asked her to audition for his record label Blackground Records. After signing with the label, JoJo released her debut album JoJo in 2004. It peaked at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 and was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), selling over four million copies worldwide to date. With her debut single "Leave (Get Out)" peaking atop the U.S. Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart, JoJo, aged just 13 at release, became the youngest solo artist in history to top the chart. The song peaked at 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold by the RIAA along with its follow-up single "Baby It's You". Her second studio album The High Road (2006) spawned her first top-five Hot 100 hit "Too Little Too Late". The album was later certified gold, selling over three million copies worldwide. By 2007, JoJo had sold more than seven million records worldwide, including 2.1 million albums in the United States. Record label disputes delayed JoJo from commercially releasing her third studio album; she released two mixtapes independently, Can't Take That Away from Me (2010) and Agápē (2012). After her contractual release, JoJo signed with Atlantic Records in 2014 and released her first commercial EP III (2015), followed by her third studio album Mad Love (2016), which became her third top-ten album in the U.S. She left Atlantic in 2017 and founded her record label Clover Music through a joint venture with Warner Records, where she re-recorded and re-released her debut and second albums as the label's first project in 2018. In 2020, JoJo released her fourth and fifth studio albums Good to Know and December Baby, followed by her sixth studio album Trying Not to Think About It in 2021. In addition to her music career, JoJo has also pursued an acting career. In 2006, she made her on-screen feature film debut in Aquamarine and later starred in R.V.. She has also had guest appearances on the television shows The Bernie Mac Show (2002), American Dreams (2004), Romeo! (2006), Hawaii Five-0 (2011) and Lethal Weapon (2017). Other films JoJo has appeared in include the Lifetime Television film True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet (2008) and G.B.F. (2013). Her Broadway credits include starring in Moulin Rouge! The Musical.

== Early life == Joanna Noëlle Levesque was born on December 20, 1990, in Brattleboro, Vermont, but raised in Foxborough, Massachusetts. She is of Polish, French and Irish descent. Her father, Joel Maurice Levesque (January 8, 1955 – November 14, 2015), sang as a hobby, and her mother, Diana Levesque (née Blagden) sang in a Catholic church choir and was trained in musical theater. JoJo's parents divorced when she was four years old, and she was raised as an only child by her mother. The name JoJo was a childhood nickname. As a child, JoJo listened as her mother practiced hymns. She started singing when she was two years old by imitating everything from nursery rhymes to R&B, jazz, and soul tunes. She also enjoyed attending Native American festivals and acted locally in professional theaters. In 1998, JoJo appeared on the television show Kids Say the Darndest Things: On the Road in Boston with American comedian and actor Bill Cosby, and she sang a song by singer Cher. In 1999, she auditioned on the television show Destination Stardom, singing Aretha Franklin's 1967 hit "Respect" and "Chain of Fools". In 2001, JoJo recorded a demo disc titled Joanna Levesque which features covers of soul and R&B songs. The following year, she performed on Maury during a "kids-with-talent" episode.

== Career ==

=== 2003–2005: JoJo ===

In mid-2003, JoJo competed on the television show America's Most Talented Kid (losing to Diana DeGarmo). Record producer Vincent Herbert contacted her and asked her to audition for Blackground Records. In 2003, at age 12, JoJo signed with Blackground Records and its imprint Da Family Entertainment and began working with producers for her first album. JoJo's gold-certified debut single "Leave (Get Out)" was released in 2004. Following the single's release, JoJo embarked on her first tour, the Cingular Buddy Bash with pop rock singer Fefe Dobson, hip hop duo Young Gunz, rap rock band Zebrahead, and teen pop stars Ryan Cabrera and Busted. It stopped at nine malls, starting at Atlanta's Northlake Mall and ending at South Shore Plaza near her hometown of Foxborough. When the single reached number one on the Mainstream Top 40 chart, she became, at age thirteen, the youngest solo artist to have a number-one single in the United States. The first single was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards, which made JoJo the youngest MTV Video Music Award nominee. Her first album, the platinum-selling JoJo, was released in 2004, peaking at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number ten on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, selling 95,000 copies in its first week and reaching the top forty of the UK Albums Chart. In September 2004, JoJo released her second single, the gold-selling "Baby It's You". The single version of the song features rapper Bow Wow. It 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", was released in 2005 and peaked at number eighty-five in Germany. In December 2004, she was nominated for Female New Artist of the Year and Mainstream Top 40 Single of the Year at the Billboard Music Awards, becoming the youngest artist ever to be nominated at the awards. Later that month, JoJo was requested by First Lady Laura Bush to perform on the 2004 Christmas in Washington special. In 2005, JoJo participated in "Come Together Now", a charity single to benefit the victims of the 2004 Asian tsunami and the 2005 Hurricane Katrina. JoJo hosted and performed at the Hope Rocks Concert in 2005 to benefit City of Hope National Medical Center. In 2005, she was offered a role on the Disney Channel television series Hannah Montana, but she turned down the role in favor of developing her music career.

=== 2006–2007: The High Road and acting ===

In 2006, JoJo was cast opposite Emma Roberts and Sara Paxton in Aquamarine, playing Hailey. The film opened on March 3, 2006, 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's second album, The High Road, was released on October 17, 2006. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, selling 108,000 units. It was produced by Scott Storch, Swizz Beatz, J. R. Rotem, Corey Williams, Soulshock & Karlin and Ryan Leslie. Received mainly positive reviews, the album was preceded by the release of the single "Too Little Too Late" in the summer of 2006. "Too Little Too Late" broke the record for the biggest jump into the top three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, moving from number 66 to number three in one week; this record was previously held by Mariah Carey with her 2001 single "Loverboy", which went from number 60 to number two. The album's second single, "How to Touch a Girl", experienced less success. It charted just outside the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number 76 on the Billboard Pop 100. "Anything" was released as the third single and charted moderately in the UK. The album sold over 550,000 copies and was certified gold by the RIAA in December 2006. As of 2007, JoJo's records including 2.1 million albums in the United States had been sold worldwidely over seven million. On July 20, JoJo's version of "Beautiful Girls" by Sean Kingston leaked on the internet titled "Beautiful Girls Reply". One month later, it was released as a promotional single and debuted at number thirty-nine on the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 chart. In late 2007, JoJo stated that she would be writing songs for her third album, to be released when she turned 18. She said she wanted her fans to "see growth" in her music.

=== 2008–2013: Label troubles, Can't Take That Away from Me, and Agápē ===