JoJo

With her catchy pop songs blending R&B and hip-hop elements, JoJo has built a reputation as both a vocalist and performer on screen. Early acclaim arrived through her self-titled 2004 debut, which entered the Billboard 200 at number four and yielded the breakout single "Leave (Get Out)." She has stayed visible on the charts with subsequent projects such as 2006's The High Road, home to the platinum-certified "Too Little Too Late," and the 2016 release Mad Love, which reached number six on the Billboard 200. Acting roles expanded her profile as well, among them a lead part in the 2006 comedy RV opposite Robin Williams, the 2008 Lifetime film True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet, and a 2017 stint on the series Lethal Weapon. Over time her music has grown more refined, a progression highlighted by her fourth studio effort, Good to Know, issued in 2020.

Born Joanna Noelle Blagden Levesque in Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1990, she spent her childhood in Foxborough, Massachusetts, where exposure to her mother’s hymn rehearsals sparked an early passion for singing. Imitating those performances at first, she soon began reinterpreting material ranging from nursery rhymes to contemporary hits. A newspaper notice for open auditions in Boston for Kids Say the Darndest Things: On the Road gave her the chance to impress host Bill Cosby and ultimately prompted a call from Oprah Winfrey, who invited her onto the show.

Further television spots and gospel-festival appearances followed, yet it was her turn on America’s Most Talented Kids that drew the attention of producer Vincent Herbert. The veteran behind projects for Aaliyah, Toni Braxton, and Destiny’s Child placed the young artist on Blackground Records and organized sessions with the Underdogs and Soulshock & Karlin. Her platinum-selling debut arrived in June 2004; the single "Leave (Get Out)" topped the Billboard charts, establishing JoJo as the youngest solo artist to achieve a number-one U.S. hit. Acting credits soon accumulated, including appearances in the comedies Aquamarine and RV with Robin Williams.

Her second album, The High Road, followed in 2006 and again featured a platinum single, "Too Little Too Late." Contractual disagreements with Da Family Entertainment then stalled progress until 2009. Although she contributed guest vocals to tracks by Timbaland and Jet, JoJo did not issue new material under her own name until late 2010, when she independently released the mixtape Can’t Take That Away from Me. Tours alongside Joe Jonas, Jay Sean, and Big Time Rush helped promote the project, yet further label complications postponed a proper album.

December 2012 brought another mixtape, Agape, and a headlining tour. After suing her label in 2013, she secured release from agreements she described as having caused “irreparable damage” to her career and moved to Atlantic Records. Three EPs appeared in 2015: #LoveJo, III, and #LoveJo2. Mad Love, her third full-length album, arrived the next year and included contributions from Alessia Cara, Wiz Khalifa, and Remy Ma; it peaked at number six on the Billboard 200.

JoJo left Atlantic in 2017 and formed her own Clover Music imprint through Interscope Records. The following year she reissued her first two albums with newly recorded vocals and updated production. Clover Music later shifted to the Warner Records umbrella, which supported the 2020 album Good to Know. That project featured the songs “Man,” “Lonely Hearts,” and “Comeback” with Tory Lanez and 30 Roc; it debuted at number 33 on the Billboard 200 and number 19 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Also in 2020 she issued the holiday set December Baby. In 2021 she reached the finale of season five of The Masked Singer as “The Black Swan” and followed the run with the single “Creature of Habit.”