Joanna Levesque
JoJo -- birth name Joanna Levesque -- was born on December 20, 1990, in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Her father was a blues singer, while her mother, Diana, sang in a church choir. JoJo's parents divorced when she was 4 years old, and she lived with her mother, moving often. By the time of her parents' split, JoJo had already started singing nursery rhymes and pop songs.
When JoJo was 6, she tried out for and performed on Kids Say the Darndest Things, impressing host Bill Cosby with her rendition of "Respect." The exposure got JoJo additional appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Rosie O'Donnell Show; she went on to sing at a Celtics game and even at the Republican National Convention.
But JoJo's early fame had its dark side. Even before hitting it big, it was apparent that her schoolmates were jealous of her talent. "You could see very early on that the girls wanted to be like Joanna," said her first-grade teacher, Julia Haney. But when they couldn't, they got mean, especially once she made it on TV.
Adding to JoJo's childhood woes was her family's financial situation. Her mother Diana made a meager living as a cleaning lady, and the two shared a run-down, one-bedroom apartment. JoJo had to make do with reduced-price lunches, hand-me-down clothes, and shopping at Wal-Mart and Kmart.
In 2002, JoJo performed on TV's America's Most Talented Kids competition. She lost, describing the experience as "terrible," but some good came from it. An audience member, impressed with JoJo's performance, introduced her to producer Vincent Herbert. Herbert signed JoJo to a multi-album deal with Blackground Records.
In the summer of 2003, JoJo began recording her first album, the self-titled JoJo. Having written three of the 14 songs herself, JoJo found singing in the studio to be a different challenge from singing live. Once JoJo was released in June of 2004, the young singer became an instant star. Her single "Leave (Get Out)" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top 40 -- making JoJo, at 13, the youngest singer with that distinction. She was also nominated for an MTV Video Music Award as Best New Artist (also the youngest ever), and she beat Britney Spears' record as the youngest singer to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
As her album reached gold status, JoJo toured Europe as the opening act for Usher. She also contributed to the Shark Tale soundtrack, performing the song "Secret Love." She played a young Linda Ronstadt on the television show American Dreams, and is currently in negotiations to make her movie debut in Aquamarine alongside Emma Roberts.
JoJo lives in Edgewater, New Jersey, with her mother, who acts as her manager.
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