JoJo’s rise to stardom happened after she released a song titled Leave (Get Out). The song became a breakout single, reaching #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart. The singer, born Joanna Levesque, was just 13 years old at the time, and to this day she still keeps the record as the youngest musician.
Childhood Star
Only two years later JoJo had her breakout role as an actress, starring as Haley in the movie Aquamarine and Cassie in RV. Both were well-received roles, and it looked like the star was going to have a very promising future in the film and music industry.
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Industry Battles
Not long after the singer signed with Blackground Record Label, she was placed under a constricting “celebrity” diet. The label wanted to strictly manage her image. The singer recalls, “When I was 18, I remember being sat down in the Blackground office, and the president of the label being like, ‘We just want you to look as healthy as possible.” The musician says that she was forced to eat only a certain amount of calories per day, to the point where she felt physically ill, “I ended up getting put with a nutritionist that had me on a 500-calorie a day diet, and I was on these injections that make you have no appetite.”
The artist went on to create two albums under the label, however, barely any publicity or promotion was given for the music. JoJo shares, “I wish I had a better reason for the first two albums not being available, but I think the simplest answer is that my former label just didn’t make a deal with the streaming platforms. As far as I know, nobody’s music from that label is available on streaming, which includes Aaliyah‘s last two albums.”
After over a ten year legal battle with Blackground, the artist has broken free from the label and created her own, Clover Music. The artist has also gone on to re-record her previous two records.
New Beginnings
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The singer started her year off with a major career milestone, winning her first Grammy for the R&B song “Say So” which she collaborated on with musician PJ Morton. This was the artist’s first-ever nomination. Although a date has not been announced, the singer confirmed that her fourth official album will be released this spring.
In the meantime, the singer has been keeping busy harmonizing backstage with Mariah Carey in Las Vegas. Watch the musicians sing Carey’s song “Everything Fades Away”.
Watch JoJo’s latest live performance of her song “Joanna”.
